The GIST

Flava Flav encourages brands to close the gender gap in sports after President Trump’s hockey debacle

Things happen fast when you’re rapper Flava Flav. The ‘90s icon is known for his avid women’s sports fandom after supporting athletes during Paris 2024. Initially a fan of the Team USA women’s water polo team, Flav extended his endorsement to many more athletes, and the same happened at the Winter Olympics.

February 26, 2026

Parity SVP Alana Casner explains why brands adore athlete moms

Let’s be clear: Advertisers do portray mothers across advertising, more so than women without children. But the standard portrayal features mothers as caretakers engrossed in domestic tasks and has changed little since the 1950s.

February 14, 2026

Athletes, celebrities, and executives illustrate brand opportunity at Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics are underway and seem to be trekking in the footsteps of Paris 2024, a.k.a. the “Social Media Olympics.” Once again, we’re seeing trends play out in real time as athletes and celebrity fans play an increased role in driving brand engagement. We’re breaking down the top headlines out of Milano Cortina this week.

February 12, 2026

AI prominence in Super Bowl ads ignites conversation about its role in women’s sports

Super Bowl (SB) ads are often a pulse check on trends in the year to come, at least from an advertising perspective — after all, these are the companies betting big on reaching the most Americans possible in a single spot. And this year, many SB ads featured AI companies and some were even created by AI, although a majority of SB viewers didn’t like them.

February 10, 2026

The brands backing a 24-year-old’s push for the Olympics

Annika Malacinski has the kind of Olympic story media outlets and marketers dream of. The 24-year-old daughter of a ski instructor grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado — one of the only areas in the U.S. with the infrastructure to facilitate Nordic combined, a marriage between cross-country skiing and ski jumping.

January 24, 2026

Naomi Osaka walks onto the court in couture at Australian Open

January 23, 2026

Brands turn to emerging women’s sports leagues to reach young digital natives

Softball. Baseball. Lacrosse. What do these sports have in common? In 2025, they all fielded brand-new professional women’s leagues.

January 10, 2026

Wasserman publishes latest report on private equity, asset appreciation in women’s sports

Sports Business

Wasserman publishes latest report on private equity, asset appreciation in women’s sports

December 23, 2025

On Monday, Wasserman’s The Collective published the third part of its extensive research on the economy of women’s sports and the influence of women fans. In this edition, The Collective focused on the growth of the women’s sports ecosystem, studying macrotrends exemplified by increased private equity (PE) investment and infrastructure investment.

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The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #534

Back to business: What’s happening in Unrivaled and the PWHL?

February 26, 2026

Listen on Apple Music Listen on Spotify

Back to business: What’s happening in Unrivaled and the PWHL?

And exhale.

Still catching your breath post-Milano Cortina Olympics? Us too — that’s why today’s episode of The GIST of It is a sporty catch-up on two of our favorite leagues: Unrivaled and the PWHL. Tune in to see what’s happening in the hottest 3v3 hoops league in the game ahead of the playoffs, before hearing all the storylines you need to know for the second half of the PWHL season.