Global interest in women’s soccer is rising, making for an increasingly competitive international market. And as covered in last week’s episode of The GIST of It, the women’s side differs from the men’s: The NWSL has historically had top billing when it comes to developing and recruiting talent.

Sportico shared insights yesterday about U.S. insurance giants backing away from advertising in the big game. While insurers aren’t activating around the (very expensive) Super Bowl as much as they used to, companies like State Farm are stepping up spend in a low cost, high ROI space: women’s basketball.

Another group has entered the WNBA expansion chat. Yesterday, the NHL’s Nashville Predators’ chairman and former Tennessee state governor Bill Haslam and wife Crissy announced a bid to bring the W’s 16th team to Nashville, Tennessee.

A new Nielsen report illustrates how Black Americans are “power TV viewers” who consume video content at a higher rate than the general population and are loyal women’s sports fans. In fact, they have been a critical demographic in driving the growth of women’s basketball over time and have favored committed advertisers in the space.

This week, Deloitte shared findings from the Athena Pledge, a research collaboration driven by key sponsors to evaluate the marketing potential in women’s sports. According to the data, sponsorships grew 22% YoY across women’s professional leagues, teams, and athletes in 2024.

A new report from Front Office Sports revealed that PWHL attendance has risen about 30% thus far compared to last year’s average, but the gains aren’t being felt everywhere. While neutral site and Canadian games have drawn higher-than-average crowds, U.S. attendance remains flat YoY, which could have ramifications on the PWHL’s expansion plans south of the border.

As seen from the craze surrounding Victor Wembanyama’s first NBA game on French soil yesterday, the European nation is quickly becoming a basketball hotspot. And it’s not just the NBA that stands to benefit — women’s basketball is primed to capitalize on the American sports trend of going overseas.

Unrivaled saw solid viewership numbers for its opening night doubleheader, indicating the 3v3 pro women’s basketball league is off to a strong start. Keep scrolling for some major takeaways from Unrivaled’s early numbers.

Private equity (PE) giant and Bay FC majority owner Sixth Street is launching a new multi-club women’s soccer organization called Bay Collective. Similar to trailblazer Michele Kang’s Kynisca, the collective aims to foster growth in women’s soccer by investing in clubs worldwide while also creating opportunities to further capitalize on the women’s game.

On Friday, Deloitte released its third annual Deloitte Football Money League report profiling 15 top revenue-generating women’s soccer clubs during the 2023–2024 season. Deloitte’s data included leagues throughout most of Europe, Brazil, and Japan, but didn’t include data from the U.S. or Australia.

A U.S. ban on social media app TikTok is set to go into effect Sunday, which will have broad repercussions across the sports landscape. While major media networks may be minimally affected by the ban, casual sports fans and content creators — especially women athletes — will feel the loss.

It’s been a year since the NCAA extended its ESPN media rights partnership, which includes coverage of the women’s March Madness tournament. While women’s college hoops fans wanted it to have a separate media deal like the men’s, the tourney has still been able to make meaningful progress toward getting its athletes paid.