BUSINESS NEWS

June 17, 2024

Carlyle completes purchase of Seattle women’s soccer club

Private equity giant Carlyle is getting into women's professional soccer, but it doesn't plan to spread its money around. The firm on Monday confirmed that it purchased Seattle Reign FC, a National Women's Soccer League club, from France's OL Groupe. Deal terms are $58 million for a 97% stake. Axios

June 17, 2024

Women’s Sports Audio Network Announces Slate of Original Shows Across a Range of Sports, Adding Capital One and e.l.f as Founding Partners

WSAN, founded by iHeartMedia and Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment, reveals new programming from top athletes and personalities including Madison Packer and Anya Packer, Tisha Alyn, Sheryl Swoopes, Rennae Stubbs, Khristina Williams and Sarah Spain "Women’s Sports Reports" Go LIVE June 18 Across more than 500 iHeartMedia Broadcast Radio Stations NEW...

June 13, 2024

Investigation into WNBA Champs just got more serious

The back-to-back champion Las Vegas Aces are facing some adversity, not just because of their current three-game losing streak. The Aces franchise was placed under investigation last month after the announcement of an arrangement between the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and the Aces players that would have...

June 13, 2024

USL Super League and Peacock Ink Multiyear Media Rights Agreement as Part of New and Expanded NBCUniversal Streaming & Technology Partnership

Peacock to stream every regular season and playoff match as the “Official Home of the USL Super League” NBC Sports Next’s SportsEngine Play is named streaming home for USL League Two, USL W League, and USL Youth As an official USL technology partner, SportsEngine will provide its club registration and...

June 11, 2024

Jetboil® Embarks on Adventure with Bound For Nowhere Partnership

June 11, 2024 -- Racine, WI /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - Jetboil®, the #1 choice of backpackers, campers, and adventurers*, proudly unveils its collaboration with the renowned adventurers behind Bound For Nowhere, MAK and Owen. This first-of-its-kind partnership from Jetboil includes sponsorship of the couple’s latest film, “Press On: A High Sierra...

June 10, 2024

The Highest-Paid WNBA Centers

The highest-paid WNBA center is Brionna Jones, who earns $212K annually. She signed a 1-year contract in February to extend her stay with the Sun. Jones was drafted by Connecticut in 2017 and has spent her entire career there. She has netted $618K in salary during her time with the...

June 5, 2024

Simone Biles’ Ex-Coach Looks to Launch Pro Gymnastics League

Former Olympic gymnastics coach Aimee Boorman is hoping to raise money through an equity crowdfund to stand up a “first of its kind” professional women’s gymnastics league. In an offering statement filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Pro Gymnastics Invitational—otherwise known as the Global Impact Gymnastics Alliance—disclosed...

June 3, 2024

Investment in WSL Could Be ‘Spectacularly Successful’

Last week, Chelsea F.C. announced it hired a bank to help with potentially selling a minority stake in its women’s team. In its announcement, Chelsea said the women’s side will be “repositioned so that it sits alongside, rather than beneath” the men, which will bring “dedicated resources, management, and commercial leadership” exclusively...

May 30, 2024

FOS PM: A Record U.S. Women’s Open

The U.S. Women’s Open teed off Thursday at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania with a record purse on the line for the third straight year. The $12 million up for grabs this week is up $1 million from last year, when American Allisen Corpuz took home $2 million for her...

May 30, 2024

New basketball league Unrivaled lands star-studded investor lineup, aims to pay highest average salary in women’s …

A new women’s basketball league has attracted a star-studded roster of investors from the media and sports world at a time when ratings and general interest in the WNBA and other professional women’s leagues is rising. Unrivaled, the pro women’s basketball league founded last year by New York Liberty’s Breanna...

May 30, 2024

Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier Launching Women’s 3-on-3 League

The women's basketball boom will continue this winter with the launch of a new women's 3-on-3 basketball league called Unrivaled. Shams Charania reported that WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier co-founded the league which will set the record for "paying the highest average salary in pro female sports history." With...

May 28, 2024

Canada’s New Women’s Soccer League Unveils Name, Logo

The foundations of Canada’s newest soccer league unveiled its name and logo, along with two new teams and a schedule. League CEO and co-founder Diana Matheson — a former Canadian national women’s team midfielder — announced the league would henceforth be called the Northern Super League and unveiled a league...

May 28, 2024

Professional softball looking for ‘viable’ options to expand amid growth of women’s sports

College softball has seen “monumental growth” over the past decade, but there still “isn’t currently a viable pro option for past and current collegiate softball stars to continue building their brands or for diehard fans to follow,” according to Colton Sulley of the OKLAHOMAN. The broadening of the college game...

May 27, 2024

Could the U.S. Women’s Open Get Its Own Media-Rights Deal?

NBC Sports will air the U.S. Women’s Open. What is the broadcaster paying for the tournament’s rights? That’s complicated. The United States Golf Association owns and operates a variety of championships, like the U.S. Open, for both men and women. Traditionally, it has sold all of its media rights together...

May 23, 2024

The WNBA Is Coming to Toronto—and Vancouver and Montreal

Toronto was officially named as the home of the league’s 14th franchise Thursday. The yet-unnamed team will be the league’s first outside the United States and second in a recent wave of expansion. It will begin playing in the 2026 season under owner Larry Tanenbaum of Kilmer Sports Ventures. Tanenbaum...

May 22, 2024

WNBA Star Angel Reese Becomes Part Owner of Professional Soccer Club

Former college basketball star and WNBA rookie Angel Reese has added a new title to her impressive resume: professional sports owner. The Maryland native is now a part-owner of DC Power Football Club, Washington, D.C.’s new professional women’s soccer team, which will debut in the USL Super League this summer. The team, one of the eight founding...

May 16, 2024

Largest global study of its kind reveals women’s sports fandom is moving from “a moment” to mainstream

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 16, 2024 /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - SurveyMonkey, a global leader in online surveys and forms, and Parity, the sports marketing and sponsorship platform dedicated to closing the gender income and opportunity gap in professional sports, today announced the findings of the largest global survey ever conducted to...

May 15, 2024

Why Aren’t There More Women Running Coaches?

The number of women track and field and cross country coaches in collegiate and pro spaces is still stunningly low, especially in comparison to other sports. A 2023 report put out by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at The University of Minnesota in collaboration with WeCOACH...

May 15, 2024

The WNBA’s challenge: How to translate the Caitlin Clark hype into sustained growth for the league

The stars seemingly have aligned for the WNBA with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese joining the ranks of A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi and others. The league is getting unparalleled attention. Now the challenge for the WNBA after opening its 28th season Tuesday night is translating the hype and...

May 15, 2024

Why Aren’t There More Women Running Coaches?

A 2023 report put out by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at The University of Minnesota in collaboration with WeCOACH found that just 18.6 percent of head coaches of college-level women's track and field and 19.3 percent of head coaches in college-level women's cross country were...

May 14, 2024

Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Debut Marks the Start of a New Era for Women’s Basketball

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 will go down as the beginning of a new era in the WNBA. Caitlin Clark has arrived, and with her come logo threes, eye-popping passes, and, above all, unlimited promise for the business of women’s basketball. The WNBA has been building to this moment. The league...

May 14, 2024

Mountain Hardwear Wants You to Be Sun Wise: Launches New Sun Protection Apparel and Partnership with The Skin Cancer Foundation

Richmond, Calif. [May 14, 2024] /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - Mountain Hardwear, a leader in high-performance equipment and apparel for climbers, mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, and outdoor athletes, today announced new additions to its sun protection line of apparel, as well as a new partnership with The Skin Cancer Foundation. Since 1979, The...

May 11, 2024

Interest in women’s sports rises, but participation gap remains

A congressional watchdog in a new report called on the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to improve its enforcement of Title IX compliance in college athletics. The U.S. Government Accountability Office in the report issued Thursday appeared critical of the OCR’s oversight in expanding opportunities for women in college...

May 10, 2024

Toronto Set to Be WNBA’s 14th Franchise, First Outside U.S.

Toronto will be the WNBA’s 14th team and first outside the United States, beginning play in May 2026, according to the CBC. Billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment and a minority owner in the Maple Leafs and Raptors among other investments, was awarded the franchise, with...

May 9, 2024

Gainbridge® Announces Parity Week to Empower Girls and Women in Sports and Education

Zionsville, Ind. (May 9, 2024) /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ - As part of this year’s “Parity Week by Gainbridge®: Investing in the Future of Women’s Sports,” Gainbridge® announces grants totaling $150,000 to deserving organizations that support girls and women through sports and/or education from Gainbridge®, Parity, and Women’s Sports Foundation®. Gainbridge®, a...