For the WNBA’s 30th season, the league is looking back — and abroad. Three of the first 12 WNBA Draft picks were international, including No. 3 Awa Fam Thiam from Spain. It makes sense to lure stars stateside as the league hopes to build fandom abroad: W commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she’s “heavily looking at” staging international WNBA games.

On Tuesday, the WNBA launched its campaign to celebrate its 30th season. The initiatives play into the nostalgia love among W fans, and we chatted with WNBA business growth AVP Keri Lenker last week about the league’s plans, the data that informed the campaign, and why brands are jumping on the bandwagon. All aboard.

On March 31st, WNBA star Lexie Hull co-launched Forta, a skincare brand designed for athletes. She’s amplifying her brand on Faves, a new platform that allows athletes to recommend products they actually use.

In March, we chatted with Flau'jae Johnson about her collaborations across sport, music, and business as she prepares to pick up her cap and gown in a few weeks before entering the WNBA. Let’s ball.

On Friday, the Mohegan Tribe — the longtime ownership group of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun — reportedly sold the team to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and family for a record $300M. The move solidified months of speculation that the W would steer the sale toward Houston after the league reportedly denied Boston’s even higher bid for $325M.

This month, Gen Z–focused basketball media company Overtime (OT) announced a content partnership with UConn women’s basketball — a first-of-its-kind deal for college sports. While embedded content studios aren’t new, head of OT Select and women’s basketball Sascha Malas told us earlier this month that universities haven’t partnered directly with media companies before.

The Bhathals are changing how the women’s sports game is played, from building the first-ever dual WNBA and NWSL practice facility to creating the first local channel dedicated to women’s sports. That synergy is helping the teams become a major draw for high-profile brand deals. This week, we spoke with Bhathal Merage in a rare interview ahead of her appearance at the Power Play Sports Sponsorship Accelerator about the benefits of owning both teams, both from an ownership and sponsorship perspective. As she put it, “one plus one equals five.” The math is mathin’.

The WNBA and WNPBA reached a verbal agreement on their CBA yesterday, just 51 days before season tip-off. The news is considered a major win for both parties as well as W fans, but there are other players at stake with a lot pinned on the success of this deal: The W’s confirmed and prospective brand partners. Let’s explore what this new CBA means for everyone.

The Sports Bra and the Women’s Premier Basketball Association (WPBA) — a developmental women’s league similar to the NBA’s G League — announced a strategic partnership that will use the sports bar’s reach among women’s sports fans to promote the WPBA as it looks to strengthen relationships with the WNBA and sponsors.