BUSINESS NEWS

April 21, 2022

Chelsea Bid Gets Backing From Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton

Final bids for Chelsea FC were submitted last week — and now two of the world’s top athletes are entering the mix. According to Sky Sports, 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams and seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton have joined Sir Martin Broughton’s consortium, agreeing to invest roughly $13 million each should the group win...

April 20, 2022

Duquesne University Becomes 10th NCAA Division I School to Add Varsity Women’s Triathlon

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. / SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ – USA Triathlon, along with Duquesne University Vice President of Athletics Dave Harper, today announced that Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will become the 10th NCAA Division I program to offer women’s triathlon at the varsity level. The team will begin competing in fall 2023. ...

April 19, 2022

Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park Ventures, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and R/GA Ventures to Launch First Venture Studio Focused on Women and Sports

NEW YORK, April 19, 2022 -- Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park Ventures, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and R/GA Ventures are launching the Trailblazer Venture Studio, a new venture studio focused on the biggest growth opportunity in sports: women. The Trailblazer Venture Studio sets out to accelerate the future of women and...

April 19, 2022

Serena Williams’ venture fund invests seven-figure sum into OpenSponsorship

Launched in 2015 by British entrepreneur Ishveen Jolly, OS’ tech platform allows athletes to sign up for free and apply directly to brands to work with them on certain campaigns. Brands themselves are able to pay a flexible subscription fee. By end of 2021, the business had facilitated more than...

April 19, 2022

Hipcamp and REI Partner to Champion Women’s Mental Health via #WeHikeToHeal for Second Year

SAN FRANCISCO-- For the second consecutive year, Hipcamp and REI will partner to sponsor Outdoor Journal Tour's #WeHikeToHeal, a month-long outdoor wellness initiative focused on improving mental health outcomes for women across the United States. This continued partnership marks the brands’ shared commitment to promoting access to the outdoors and encouraging diversity in outdoor spaces....

April 19, 2022

Serena Williams Teams Up With Karat to Double the Number of Black Software Engineers in the U.S.

SEATTLE -- Karat, the world’s largest interviewing company, today announced a strategic investment from Serena Williams to significantly scale Brilliant Black Minds, a program that improves access and inclusion across the technology industry. By opening the program to all current and aspiring Black software engineers and serving as Karat’s “Champion of...

April 18, 2022

NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Dominates ESPN Social Media Engagement

Division I women’s basketball isn’t the only NCAA women’s sport that drew impressive fan engagement this year. Women’s gymnastics drew more engagement on ESPN social platforms than any other women’s sport in 2022, the network announced, garnering 100 million impressions. Front Office Sports

April 14, 2022

Women Now Make Up One-Third Of NBA Audience

Full-season NBA viewership for the 2021-22 regular season rose 19% to 1.6 million average game viewers. But the growth of female viewers outpaced that overall average, with viewership up 23% from last season – and 11% from the 2019-2020 season. Front Office Sports

April 12, 2022

Liv Debuts Latest “Liv Committed” Global Brand Campaign, “All In”

NEWBURY PARK, Calif. /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - Liv, the brand dedicated to getting more women on bikes, today introduced the third installment of its global brand campaign “Liv Committed,” introducing “All In.” Featuring Liv Racing athletes, global ambassadors, and women cyclists, the new campaign explores the many expressions of commitment, and...

April 11, 2022

Brooks Appoints Chief Running Advisor

Brooks has named the two-time US Olympian Des Linden its chief running advisor. Linden will help the running brand conceive and create new products and technology. SGB Media

April 9, 2022

First ever women’s sports bar open in Portland

Chef Jenny Nguyen is proving the phrase “if you build it, they will come” true after opening the first sports bar in the country to exclusively show women’s sports. Customers are already pouring into “The Sports Bra” as ratings for the WNBA, women’s soccer and softball are reaching record highs. Today

April 8, 2022

Gotham FC bolsters women-led front office with key management hire for new season

Pagnanelli began her role earlier this year and hit the ground running. Since she joined the women-led front office at Gotham, the franchise signed a major tech partnership with the blockchain company Algorand — the company’s logo will be emblazoned on Gotham’s jerseys for the 2022 season. North Jersey

April 7, 2022

Sports Emmy Nominations Put a Spotlight on Women’s Sports

Nominees for the 43rd annual Sports Emmy Awards were announced Wednesday, with women’s sports featured in a number of categories. Nominees focused on women’s sports include ESPN’s “144” documentary on the 2020 WNBA season, Facebook Watch’s “Simone vs. Herself” docuseries on Simone Biles. JWS

April 7, 2022

Wild Rye Launches Spring Collection and Partners with OutsidePR

Sun Valley, ID (April 7, 2022) /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - Wild Rye, the women-founded, women-led and women-specific mountain bike, snowsports and outdoor apparel company, today announced its new Spring ‘22 Collection drop, along with its public relations partnership with boutique consumer and outdoor lifestyle public relations agency, OutsidePR. Created to inspire...

April 6, 2022

Behind the unusually high sale price of D.C.’s women’s soccer team

Washington, D.C.'s women's soccer team, the Spirit, is hot - on the field and on the open market. Last season, they won their first-ever championship. They signed a huge contract for a star player, and last week, the team officially sold for the highest valuation ever for a women's soccer...

April 5, 2022

Title Nine’s Pitchfest Girls Announces 2022 Winners

Emeryville, Calif, April 5, 2022/SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ – Title Nine, the adventure and outdoor apparel retailer that encourages women to lead, risk and own, is proud to announce the winners of its first-annual Pitchfest Girls. Pitchfest Girls is the newest edition to Title Nine’s Pitchfest series, an entrepreneurial competition in which women...

March 30, 2022

DC professional sports teams create Washington Coalition of Women’s Professional Sports

Owners, players, coaches, and representatives from the Washington Mystics, Washington Spirit, DC Divas, and the DC Shadow came together for a press conference to go more in-depth on the creation of the Washington Coalition of Women's Professional Sports. WJLA

March 29, 2022

USA Gymnastics restructures leadership in women’s program

USA Gymnastics is overhauling its leadership structure in its women's elite program. Instead of having one person serve as the program's high-performance director, USA Gymnastics is dividing the job into three "equitable" positions, each of whom will report to the program's vice president of women's gymnastics. In an email to...

March 29, 2022

Parity welcomes Group 1001 as majority stakeholder, partner in promoting elite women athletes

NEW YORK (March 29, 2022) /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - In a bold step to create lasting and meaningful change in women’s sports, Group 1001 will become a majority stakeholder in Parity, a startup created for both elite women athletes and their fans to combat gender pay inequities in professional sports. As...

March 28, 2022

The GIST Makes A Move Into Sports Business Coverage

Investment and a newsletter list that now tops 400,000 subscribers means a series of newsletters are ahead, along with podcasts and other expansion efforts. Yet The GIST turned to veteran women’s sportswriter Pardeep Cattry with a very specific assignment for the second-ever newsletter, following the success of the main offering:...

March 28, 2022

Former WNBA player Lisa Leslie joins gaming platform

Former WNBA player and current coach and broadcast analyst Lisa Leslie has joined multiverse blockchain gaming platform LootMogul as a brand ambassador and business partner. Her level of investment in the company was not disclosed. Biz Journals

March 22, 2022

NHL needs to make ‘substantial offer’ to unite women’s pro hockey

The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association and Premier Hockey Federation are set to meet at the request of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Sportsnet's Jeff Marek first reported the news, saying the NHL's intention is to attempt to bring the two sides together. TSN also reported during NHL trade deadline day that all...

March 22, 2022

Women Are Dominating Ski Films This Year, on Both Sides of the Camera

If you want to watch lady shredders rip it up this year, you’re in luck. A ton of female-led ski films recently launched, with appearances from up-and-coming skiers like Madison Ostergren, as well as new and unique stories from industry legends like Ingrid Backstrom. Outside Online

March 22, 2022

Naomi Osaka gets equity stake in FTX as part of ambassador deal

Cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX has named Naomi Osaka as a global ambassador in a partnership that also sees the tennis star handed an equity stake in the company and some payments made in digital currency. SP

March 16, 2022

Pay equity software startup gains more big-name backers, including WNBA’s Candace Parker

Pay equity software startup Syndio has gained a new set of high-profile investors. The new investors, announced Monday, are contributing to Seattle-based Syndio's $50 million Series C round it raised in September and include WNBA star Candace Parker and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff through his 75 and Sunny venture fund. The Business Journals