Women’s soccer players have been featured in primetime more than ever this year — and no, we’re not just talking about the matches on TV. Many active and retired women’s soccer stars are going from the pitch to the mic as they’re increasingly seen as assets in the media game.

This year’s WNBA All-Star Weekend (ASW) became an epicenter for women’s basketball culture like never before, and it was more than just brands (and celebs) showing up at the marquee event. As expected, fans tuned in on TV, which sponsors anticipated and prepped for with numerous ASW activations.

Women-first dating app Bumble is firmly embracing its sporty era. After past collabs in the e-sports and NIL spaces, the app announced a multiyear partnership with the WNBA last Wednesday The move followed a Bumble survey that helped it realize its users are all about love and basketball.

Unrivaled — the 3x3 pro women’s basketball league founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier — made its first major partnership announcement on Friday. Unsurprisingly, the first sponsor to sign with the new league is Ally, the financial institution that’s been transforming women’s sports through investment via its 50/50 Pledge.

Women-led sports nonprofit Ico For All is fighting to include women in the age-old sport of decathlon. On Wednesday, the org announced it would host the inaugural Women’s Decathlon World Championships in Geneva, Ohio, next month to coincide with the men’s Olympic event in Paris — where women still can’t compete.

The WNBA just netted another record — this time, for the most lucrative media rights contracts in women’s sports history. On Tuesday, The Athletic reported the WNBA signed three media rights deals alongside the NBA for a grand total of $2.2B over the next 11 years — and they’re likely not done yet.

After signing recent WNBA and NWSL partnerships, Google wanted to further support athletes in these leagues. So it worked with rights licensing agency OneTeam Partners to form a historic partnership yesterday with the WNBPA, NWSLPA, and USWNTPA that makes Google Pixel the official mobile phone of the unions and the sponsor of marquee union events.

Parity, the sponsorship platform dedicated to connecting brands with women athletes, helped land an especially delicious brand deal last week. Last Wednesday, the Minnesota Pork Board announced that synchronized diving duo Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon are joining Team Pork with the hashtag #CooknBacon.

On Friday, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finalized a 12-year deal that awards the Gulf nation hosting rights of next year’s inaugural Olympic Esports Games.

On Wednesday, SponsorUnited (SU) released its first “State of the Market Marketing Partnerships Report,” offering unparalleled insight into marketing dollars’ reach in various sports markets. The research shows that while the average team sponsorship deal cost $935K in 2023, the dollar goes further in some locales than others.

Following parent company Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) decision to add live men’s sports to HBO in October, revamped WBD-owned channel TruTV and Max — HBO’s streamer announced their first-ever USWNT alternative telecast (aka altcast) yesterday.

Today, ESPN will debut In The Arena: Serena Williams, an intimate behind-the-scenes docuseries reviewing the biggest moments of the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion’s career. As just the second athlete to headline the award-winning project —Tom Brady’s Man in the Arena won a 2022 Sports Emmy — Williams is (yet again) in rare company.