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National Womens Soccer League

Serena Williams joins possession group of WNBA enlargement crew Toronto Tempo

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

is increasing her portfolio {of professional} sports activities organizations to incorporate a crew.

was introduced Monday as a co-owner the Toronto Tempo, an enlargement crew that’s set to start out play in 2026. Williams is becoming a member of an possession group that’s , chairman of Kilmer Sports activities Ventures.

“I’m thrilled to announce my possession function within the first Canadian WNBA crew, the Toronto Tempo,” Williams mentioned in an announcement. “This second is not only about basketball; it’s about showcasing the true worth and potential of feminine athletes — I’ve all the time mentioned that girls’s sports activities are an unbelievable funding alternative. I’m excited to companion with Larry and all of Canada in creating this new WNBA franchise and legacy.”

In line with by the crew, Williams’ function as an proprietor will embody taking part in “an lively function in future jersey designs” and serving to to “forge distinctive merchandise collaborations with the crew.”

Learn extra:

Her inclusion within the Tempo possession is pending last league approval.

“Serena Williams is an icon, a task mannequin and a pressure for change on the earth” Tanenbaum mentioned in an announcement. “She’s earned each little bit of her unbelievable success with laborious work, tenacity and willpower within the face of numerous challenges. She exemplifies the perfect of what the Tempo stand for — we couldn’t be extra honoured to have Serena in our court docket.”

Williams received 23 main singles titles earlier than on the 2022 U.S. Open. A , Williams owns a minority stake in a number of groups throughout a wide range of sports activities, together with soccer (the NFL’s Miami Dolphins), soccer (the NWSL’s ) and golf (TGL’s Los Angeles Golf Membership).

“Serena is a champion,” Tempo president Teresa Resch mentioned in an announcement. “She’s the best athlete of all time, and her affect on this crew and this nation goes to be unbelievable. She’s set the bar for girls in sport, enterprise and the world — and her dedication to utilizing that success to create alternatives for different ladies is inspiring.”

Issues might get a bit awkward for Williams if she occurs to run into hip-hop star in his hometown of Toronto. Williams was seen onstage in the course of the Tremendous Bowl halftime present final month dancing gleefully a brutal that for report and track of the 12 months.

Williams has implied that her look in the course of the track had nothing to do with Drake, with whom she had been rumored to have been romantically linked in the course of the early 2010s.

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National Womens Soccer League

Serena Williams joins Toronto Tempo possession group, provides WNBA workforce to funding portfolio

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

Serena Williams has joined the Toronto Tempo’s possession group, the WNBA growth franchise introduced Monday.

Williams will “play an energetic function in future jersey designs and can assist forge distinctive merchandise collaborations with the workforce,” the franchise mentioned. The tennis icon may also “contribute to bringing the Tempo to life visually.”

“I’m thrilled to announce my possession function within the first Canadian WNBA workforce, the Toronto Tempo,” Williams mentioned in a press release. “It’s about showcasing the true worth and potential of feminine athletes — I’ve at all times mentioned that girls’s sports activities are an unbelievable funding alternative.”

The Tempo have been unveiled because the league’s 14th franchise final Could and can debut within the 2026 season. The workforce can be led by Toronto billionaire Larry Tanenbaum and Kilmer Sports activities Ventures, which additionally invests in Maple Leaf Sports activities and Leisure (MLSE), proprietor of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.

“I’m excited to companion with Larry and all of Canada in creating this new WNBA franchise and legacy,” Williams mentioned.

The proportion of Williams’ stake within the franchise was not introduced, and her funding continues to be pending ultimate league approval.

Williams, a 23-time main girls’s singles title-winner on the tennis court docket, isn’t any stranger to investing in different skilled sports activities franchises. In 2009, Serena and her sister Venus turned minority homeowners of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Serena, alongside her husband, entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, later turned founding members of the NWSL’s Angel Metropolis FC possession group. Alongside her husband, sister and daughter Olympia, Serena can also be an proprietor of one of many six founding groups of the TGL, a brand new golf league based by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Williams getting concerned in a WNBA franchise isn’t overly stunning. She advised CNN final April she was “tremendous ” in including a workforce to her funding portfolio.

“I completely can be (). With the correct market, I’d positively be tremendous involved in that,” she mentioned.

Tanenbaum mentioned in a press release that Williams “exemplifies the easiest of what the Tempo stand for” and that he’s “honored” to have her concerned with the franchise.

In 2026, the Tempo will initially use the 8,000-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum. The franchise will finally have its personal observe facility, however will practice on the College of Toronto’s Goldring Centre for Excessive Efficiency Sport till it’s prepared.

Final month, the franchise unveiled former Phoenix Mercury assistant normal supervisor Monica Wright Rogers . Wright Rogers performed within the WNBA for seven seasons after a embellished profession on the College of Virginia.

In December, Ohanian, a fellow Virginia alumni, offered the Cavaliers girls’s basketball workforce with the most important donation in program historical past. The multiyear present, the college mentioned, was the second largest present to girls’s athletics in UVA historical past.

In getting concerned with the Tempo, Williams can also be the newest retired skilled athlete to become involved in a WNBA franchise’s possession group. Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade, Sue Hen, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Brady and Renee Montgomery are all a part of numerous teams throughout the league.

What are the advantages of getting Williams on board?

There’s a lengthy historical past of profitable professional athletes investing in professional sports activities possession and Williams has a historical past within the possession area.

Whereas Serena’s funding within the Tempo is probably going small — the Tempo declined to remark when requested by in regards to the share of her pending possession stake — the advantages of getting Williams a part of possession are large, notably from a media-centric and brand-building perspective.

One of many nice athletes in international sports activities is now related to the Toronto Tempo product and that can be referenced usually on social media and legacy retailers at any time when the workforce is talked about. Williams may assist with potential high-end sponsors who would possibly need to be a part of a model linked with Williams.

Lastly, the Tempo has pitched itself not simply as Toronto’s workforce however because the face of ladies’s basketball throughout the entire nation of Canada. For that, you could broaden your model past the larger Toronto space and the Serena Williams model does that.

In the present day is an enormous ‘W’ for one of many W’s latest franchises. —

This text initially appeared in .

WNBA, Sports activities Enterprise, Tennis

2025 The Athletic Media Firm

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National Womens Soccer League

WNBA enlargement: Which cities are within the working to earn the sixteenth group?

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

As free company kicked off final month and star gamers started shuffling across the WNBA, one other necessary date loomed on the league’s calendar.

Bids for the sixteenth WNBA franchise had been due on Jan. 30, based on a league supply briefed on the matter, leading to a flurry of curiosity. Greater than 10 potential possession teams submitted formal bids, based on folks concerned within the course of.

Because the WNBA determines the place it ought to award its subsequent enlargement group, listed here are the cities and teams we all know have made formal bids for group No. 16 and what the timeline is more likely to appear like for when a brand new franchise will likely be awarded.

Which cities submitted bids?

By means of the final six months, potential possession teams from throughout the U.S. indicated public curiosity within the WNBA sixteenth franchise.

The brand new group will be a part of latest enlargement groups in Golden State (launching this season) and Portland and Toronto (2026). Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has mentioned she felt assured the league may broaden to 16 groups by 2028.

Extra teams than these listed beneath might have submitted bids, however listed here are 9 teams has confirmed are nonetheless concerned within the course of:

Austin

A bunch making an attempt to carry a group to town has filed a proper bid with the WNBA, three sources briefed on the matter informed . Former Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry is the lead investor within the group making an attempt to carry one other group to Texas, by way of his funding agency, Avenue Capital, whereas perennial NBA All-Star Kevin Durant and former College of Texas star and Houston Comets participant Fran Harris are each concerned with the bid, based on an individual briefed on the bid. The group would possible play on the Moody Heart, the place the Longhorns compete. The group plans to construct a observe facility for the potential group if it wins the bid.

An NBA participant, like Durant, should buy as much as 4 p.c of a WNBA group, and NBA gamers in mixture can come clean with 8 p.c of a WNBA group, based on new guidelines handed within the NBA’s 2023 collective bargaining settlement. However a participant can’t be invested in a group if any of the opposite possession stakes belong to a present NBA proprietor; Lasry offered his share of the Milwaukee Bucks two years in the past.

Charlotte

A bunch that entails the Charlotte Hornets possession group is making an attempt to carry a group again to town, which was as soon as the house of the Charlotte Sting.  that Erica Berman is main the bid. A Hornets spokesperson confirmed to that the franchise is concerned within the effort. “Hornets Sports activities & Leisure believes strongly sooner or later progress of girls’s basketball and the WNBA,” the group mentioned in a press release. “The Charlotte Sting have a storied historical past and a passionate fanbase inside our neighborhood. We’re proud to again the Berman household and be part of this bigger group that’s bidding to carry the WNBA again to Charlotte.”

Cleveland

Dan Gilbert, the bulk proprietor of the Cleveland Cavaliers, formally put in a bid with the WNBA to carry an enlargement franchise to town, a spokesperson for Rock Leisure Group, the corporate that oversees Gilbert’s sports activities properties, confirmed to . Cleveland had been a WNBA market from the league’s debut, in 1997, to 2003, when the Cleveland Rockers folded. The potential Cleveland group would play at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the place the Cavaliers play. The bid additionally features a plan to get the WNBA group its personal observe facility.

Denver

A bunch led by the Dimond household submitted a proper bid with the WNBA to carry an enlargement group to Colorado. Ashley Dimond, who confirmed the bid to , would function the group’s governor if it had been to get a group, whereas her father, Stonebridge CEO Navin Dimond, is part of the bid as properly. Ibotta CEO Bryan Leach and his household are additionally a part of the investor group. They intend for the potential Denver group to play in a purpose-built area if the WNBA chooses their bid.

Detroit

Tom Gores, the proprietor of the Detroit Pistons, introduced {that a} group together with NBA Corridor of Famers Grant Hill and Chris Webber in addition to Lions proprietor Sheila Ford Hamp and quarterback Jared Goff submitted a bid to carry the WNBA again to Detroit. The brand new WNBA group would play at Little Caesars Enviornment, the house of the Pistons, however it could assemble a devoted WNBA observe facility. Detroit was a WNBA market from the league’s second season in 1998 till 2009.

“I really assume it’s actually only a query of when the Shock comes again,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver informed Pistons.com. “Over time, there’s going to be lots of enlargement within the WNBA. That’s a first-class group led by Tom, and Detroit must get a WNBA group once more.”

Houston

Tilman Fertitta, the proprietor of the Houston Rockets, submitted a bid for a WNBA franchise, a spokesperson for the Rockets confirmed to . The franchise would play at Toyota Heart. The Houston Comets gained the primary 4 WNBA titles however disbanded after the 2008 season.

Kansas Metropolis

A bunch led by the NWSL’s Kansas Metropolis Present co-owners Angie Lengthy, Chris Lengthy, Brittany Mahomes and Patrick Mahomes submitted a proper bid to carry an enlargement group to Kansas Metropolis. Present co-owner Chris Lengthy informed that the group has already signed an settlement with T-Cellular Heart to be the downtown stadium’s anchor tenant and that the Kansas Metropolis WNBA franchise would construct a 60,000-square-foot privately-financed observe facility on land the group already owns in the identical space because the Present’s facility.

Lengthy mentioned that if chosen the franchise would even be the one WNBA within the geographic area, as there’s not a WNBA group inside 400 miles of Kansas Metropolis. “I actually consider this isn’t only a metropolis play for the WNBA, however a regional play the place you set an anchor proper in the midst of the nation that clearly we predict is effective,” Lengthy mentioned.

Patrick Mahomes talks about why he’s making an attempt to carry a WNBA group to KC

‘I like sports activities, I understand how a lot town loves sports activities so let’s carry as many sports activities in right here and showcase how nice Kansas Metropolis is.’

The Chiefs quarterback, who joined the Present’s possession group in Jan. 2023, has repeatedly been outspoken about his want to carry a WNBA franchise to Kansas Metropolis. This fall he mentioned doing so was a “no-brainer” and cited the Present’s success as a replicable roadmap.

“I do know if we had been capable of get a WNBA group to Kansas Metropolis, it could be packed each single evening,” Mahomes mentioned final week. “That’s simply the kind of environment that we’ve got. I’m hoping we will get that achieved and we will proceed to push girls’s sports activities ahead.”

A Kansas Metropolis franchise can be the second WNBA group to share majority possession with an NWSL membership, becoming a member of the Portland WNBA group which additionally owns the Thorns.

Nashville

Nashville Predators proprietor Invoice Haslam and his spouse, Crissy, introduced they’d for a franchise. The group can be referred to as the Tennessee Summitt, a nod to former Tennessee Girl Vols coach Pat Summitt. Candace Parker, Peyton Manning, Religion Hill and Tim McGraw would even be a part of the possession group.

Philadelphia

The possession group behind the Philadelphia 76ers, Harris Blitzer Sports activities & Leisure, is trying to carry a franchise to town, a HBSE spokesperson confirmed to . The 76ers had made their curiosity identified earlier final month when proprietor Josh Harris, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker introduced a plan to construct a brand new stadium within the metropolis. Comcast purchased a minority stake in HBSE — which owns the Sixers, New Jersey Devils and different sports activities properties — and will likely be part of the bidding group.

What the WNBA mentioned in regards to the course of

At her annual WNBA Finals information convention final October, Engelbert mentioned the WNBA want to have its sixteenth franchise start play in 2027 however goals to launch it no later than 2028. She added that there are “10 to 12 cities which are very viable that we’re evaluating.” Key elements embrace a franchise’s area, observe facility, participant expertise facilities, possession dedication and metropolis demographics and market analysis.

“It’s complicated since you want an area and a observe facility and participant housing and all of the issues, you want dedicated long-term possession teams,” Engelbert mentioned. “The good factor is we’re getting lots of calls.”

What the WNBA beforehand seemed for

Possession ties to the NBA are one commonality between the three latest enlargement teams. Joe Lacob, the bulk proprietor of the NBA’s Warriors, can also be the bulk proprietor of the Valkyries. Larry Tanenbaum and Kilmer Sports activities Ventures personal and function the Tempo in addition to the NBA’s Raptors.

Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal personal the Portland WNBA franchise. Their household is an investor within the NBA’s Kings, and their father, Raj, is the Kings principal co-owner and serves as majority proprietor Vivek Ranadive’s alternate on the NBA’s board of governors. In trying towards its subsequent franchise, the WNBA may select an possession group with NBA ties or look to an impartial group. Among the many 9 teams listed above, solely Nashville, Austin and Kansas Metropolis should not in NBA markets.

Services — each arenas and observe gyms — have been particularly necessary within the WNBA’s decision-making course of, and up to date participant motion in free company displays the significance gamers are placing on high-quality experiences. It’s no shock that potential franchises have typically made clear their major and second facility plans.

Timeline for a brand new franchise

October 2023

The WNBA introduced it awarded the Golden State Warriors possession group the league’s thirteenth group. The Valkyries, as they’d later be named, had a 12 months and a half to arrange for his or her first sport, which is able to tip off in Might.

Might 2024

The league introduced its 14th franchise, later named the Toronto Tempo two years earlier than they play their first sport.

September 2024

The WNBA named Portland as the location of the league’s fifteenth franchise final September, giving the group round 20 months of preparation between its announcement and tip.

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If the sixteenth franchise had been to start play in 2027, it wouldn’t be shocking to see an announcement this fall with the intention to give that group an analogous quantity of preparation. If the league determines a sixteenth franchise ought to enter in 2028, then it’s truthful to count on an announcement in 2026.

What’s the newest with Toronto, Portland and different cities?

With the Valkyries debuting this Might, the league’s enlargement course of is popping to franchises in Toronto and Portland, each of which is able to start play in 2026. In late January, the Toronto Tempo employed former Phoenix Mercury assistant normal supervisor Monica Wright Rogers as their first GM, a league supply confirmed to . Wright Rogers, who performed within the WNBA for seven seasons after a embellished profession on the College of Virginia, was additionally into account for the GM position in Washington this offseason earlier than she was employed as Toronto’s prime basketball decision-maker, league sources mentioned.

Though Toronto already unveiled its title, started promoting merchandise, and employed each its group president and GM, Portland has but to make many public bulletins. It plans to create a observe facility that may home each town’s WNBA franchise in addition to the NWSL’s Thorns (the 2 share possession). In accordance with Entrance Workplace Sports activities, it hopes to have a reputation by the spring.

Some teams that had reportedly proven curiosity haven’t positioned formal bids. Former WNBA president Donna Orender was a part of a bunch that explored the opportunity of bringing a WNBA franchise to Jacksonville, however she informed that she didn’t submit a bid. As an alternative, Orender lately helped launch a brand new skilled girls’s basketball league, the Upshot League, based mostly in 4 cities, together with Jacksonville. Although the Milwaukee Bucks possession group reportedly had an curiosity in bringing a WNBA group to Wisconsin, it didn’t file a proper bid with the WNBA, a Bucks spokesman mentioned.

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Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Solar, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA, Sports activities Enterprise

2025 The Athletic Media Firm

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National Womens Soccer League

Thorns FC homeowners announce plans for $75 million dual-sport facility to be shared with Portland WNBA franchise

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

The Bhathal household has had a busy 12 months, final January and in September. Now, the household is investing additional within the two groups, asserting plans to construct a $75 million dual-team coaching facility that can accommodate each groups.

In a from the Thorns on Thursday, the group outlined plans for the formidable complicated, which can be designed particularly for feminine athletes. The efficiency middle will embrace two full-sized soccer pitches, a apply gymnasium with two full-sized basketball courts, a power coaching facility, dressing rooms for every group with “spa like” facilities, eating room with a chef and nutritionist, rooms for gamers’ households and extra.

The Bhathals plan to spend $150 million or extra on the venture, which is about to happen throughout a number of phases; the primary of those phases would be the coaching facility. Lengthy-term, the Bhathals plan to show the campus into a middle for girls’s sports activities efficiency and restoration, per the discharge.

The power can be created with RAJ Sports activities, the sports activities funding wing of the Bhathal household’s funding agency, RAJ Capital. RAJ Sports activities additionally within the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and minor league baseball’s Sacramento River Cats. The agency is operated by brother-sister duo Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage; Bhathal Merage is the controlling proprietor and governor of each groups, whereas Bhathal is an alternate governor.

“Once we acquired the Portland Thorns and the Portland WNBA franchise our household dedicated to investing into the Thorns, the WNBA franchise, and the Portland metro area” Bhathal Merage stated within the press launch. “Constructing an progressive coaching facility that gives the very best atmosphere for our athletes throughout skilled soccer {and professional} basketball can be a recreation changer for girls’s sports activities.”

In constructing the power, RAJ Sports activities will repurpose a former Nike workplace complicated west of Portland, which it says is a part of its “dedication to sustainability.”

Portland’s WNBA franchise will be part of the league alongside , with each group starting play in 2026. The Portland group doesn’t but have a reputation or branding.

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National Womens Soccer League

Caitlin Clark is all for Patrick Mahomes bringing a WNBA crew to Kansas Metropolis

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

Jason and Travis Kelce lined a variety of matters with WNBA star Caitlin Clark on the most recent New Heights podcast episode — all the pieces from NBA viewership suggestions to was mentioned. The trio even dipped into potential WNBA enlargement rumors.

Clark, who was the 2024 Rookie of the 12 months with the Indiana Fever, was absolutely on board with the concept of Travis Kelce’s Chiefs teammate, Patrick Mahomes, bringing a WNBA crew to Kansas Metropolis. Mahomes and his spouse Brittany are already energetic in supporting girls’s sports activities as a part of the possession group of the NWSL crew in Kansas Metropolis, the KC Present.

That possession group is now what it might take to increase the WNBA into their dwelling city.

Extra Caitlin Clark!

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National Womens Soccer League

2025 WNBA schedule launch: Why doesn’t the winner earn extra? Plus, crypto as prize pool cash?

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

The Monday afternoon. The slate for opening weekend and the timing for a number of the league’s marquee matchups had been the massive information, however there have been additionally some noteworthy numbers in the event you dug deeper into the information launch.

Let’s begin with the whole prize pool. The league introduced the prize pool for the Commissioner’s Cup might be $500,000 this season, matching final season’s quantity. It’s also in step with how a lot the league has put up for grabs in each version of the Cup because it started in 2021. (By comparability, every participant on the profitable NBA Cup crew this month will get $514,971). So why does that quantity elevate an eyebrow? It’s decrease than what the ’s collective bargaining settlement requires.

The CBA, ratified in 2020, says the WNBA has the best to create a contest or match through the common season and that any “particular competitions or tournaments shall embody a minimal combination participant prize pool of fifty thousand {dollars} ($50,000) for the 2020 season and 7 hundred and fifty thousand {dollars} ($750,000) for every subsequent season hereunder.”

There may be presently just one such competitors through the WNBA season: the Commissioner’s Cup. However the prize pool doesn’t match what the CBA requires. So, the place is the opposite $250,000?

The unique purpose when that CBA was written was for the WNBA to have a number of competitions, in accordance with league sources. The CBA says they might have been held throughout coaching camp, the common season or within the playoffs. However that plan modified, and the league has launched only one. The remaining cash that was purported to be for these new competitions was reallocated elsewhere across the league, these sources mentioned.

Then there may be the opposite a part of the gamers’ compensation for the Commissioner’s Cup. The WNBA additionally mentioned Coinbase, the cryptocurrency market that sponsors the Cup, will give out $120,000 in cryptocurrency as an extra prize pool; that additionally started final season when Coinbase gave $120,000 in complete to 2 finalists. It doesn’t rely as a part of the league’s official prize pool.

That cash might be doled out, in accordance with a WNBA spokesperson, by the corporate. Coinbase will give $5,000 price of Bitcoin to every participant, immediately into their accounts. The worth of that crypto can, in fact, fluctuate.

If members of the and — the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup finalists — stored their Bitcoin since taking part in in that sport, it will be price roughly $7,900 (assuming they obtained it proper across the day of the sport). However the value of Bitcoin has different throughout that point, and the way a lot that allotment is price to every participant just isn’t uniform. In accordance with CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was price $61,789 the night time of the Cup closing, dipped to as little as $53,991 on Aug. 5, was as excessive as $99,006 on Nov. 22 and is price $95,579 on the time of this writing.

Nonetheless, the thought of getting paid in cryptocurrency introduced again some tough recollections for ladies’s sports activities followers. In 2021, the made Voyager associate and mentioned the corporate would fund crypto accounts for all gamers. A couple of months later, Voyager filed for chapter and the , in accordance with a Sportico report.

Within the WNBA’s case, the crypto prize package deal would at the least possible put cash into the gamers’ arms in comparison with earlier prize swimming pools. it will donate a complete of $2,500 per regular-season Cup sport to organizations and charities chosen by every crew, and one other $15,000 after the Cup closing. , it mentioned there can be at the least $165,000 in charitable donations.

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Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Solar, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA

2024 The Athletic Media Firm

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National Womens Soccer League

Ion Boasts ‘Unimaginable’ NWSL Returns Utilizing WNBA Playbook

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

By borrowing from its WNBA playbook and capturing a big contingent of feminine viewers in contrast with different networks, Ion believes that its first season broadcasting NWSL video games was a hit.

Mirroring its WNBA Friday night doubleheader, the community recorded a median viewers of 145,000 viewers throughout 50 NWSL matches, with most video games featured as a part of Saturday evening doubleheaders all through the common season.

Extra from Sportico.com

Ion’s top-rated NWSL telecast came about on July 6 when 234,000 viewers watched a battle of the then-undefeated Orlando Satisfaction and Kansas Metropolis Present. The Satisfaction snapped Okay.C.’s 17-match unbeaten streak, which dated again to 2023. Orlando prolonged its personal streak of 16 straight wins going into the league’s Olympic break. (Its run ended at 23 video games final month in opposition to Portland.)

This was the primary season of the NWSL’s four-year, $240 million association with CBS, ESPN, Scripps Sports activities (through Ion) and Amazon’s Prime Video.

“NWSL followers persistently confirmed as much as watch Ion each week,” mentioned Scripps Sports activities president Brian Lawlor in an announcement. “It was an unbelievable first yr. We anticipate to proceed rising the viewers and serving to the league develop its fan base.”

Ion’s protection of the soccer league is a facsimile of what it created for the WNBA final season, with a primetime doubleheader and devoted studio present. In its second season with WNBA rights, the WNBA Friday Evening Highlight averaged 670,000 viewers within the 2024 season, greater than doubling viewership marks throughout the board from 2023.

In fact, a famous person rookie guard performed in these elevated Nielsen numbers, as all seven of Ion’s million-plus viewership video games concerned Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.

Simply because it did with the W, Ion boasted the biggest feminine share viewers of any of the NWSL’s media companions. For its NWSL broadcasts, 57% of the coveted age 25-54 promoting gross sales demo and 55% of all viewers, no matter age, had been feminine. The community added over 20 advert companions, together with having Capital One because the presenting sponsor for the Saturday evening doubleheaders.

For the WNBA, 45% of complete viewers and 50% of the age 18-49 advert gross sales demo had been feminine. (The WNBA additionally has broadcast offers with ESPN and CBS Sports activities.) Twenty new advert companions got here onboard in 2024 versus a season in the past.

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National Womens Soccer League

These NFL and NBA gamers are eyeing WNBA enlargement groups

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

The WNBA is coming off a report 12 months and in search of its subsequent enlargement market, and no less than two star athletes are eager to get entangled.

Patrick Mahomes and Jayson Tatum are each reportedly excited by bringing the WNBA to their cities.

When will the WNBA increase?

The WNBA at the moment has 12 groups however will increase to 13 subsequent season with the Golden State Valkyries after which to fifteen groups in 2026 with groups in Toronto and Portland, as beforehand reported by the .

“The expansion and demand for the WNBA have led us to enlargement,” forward of the WNBA draft. “Ladies’s basketball shouldn’t be a fad. We’ve been steadily constructing this momentum for years, and we’re prepared for what’s subsequent.”

Engelbert mentioned she is “assured” the WNBA will increase to 16 groups by 2028.

That sixteenth market has but to be introduced. It’s the one Mahomes and Tatum are vying for.

The addition of 4 groups will enhance WNBA roster spots by 30%, including a complete of 48 to the 144 roster spots the league at the moment has.

Does Patrick Mahomes wish to purchase a WNBA enlargement staff?

The possession group of Kansas Metropolis’s NWSL staff, the KC Present, which incorporates Mahomes and his spouse, have “met with the WNBA” and are “in competition” to convey a staff to Kansas Metropolis, reported Wednesday.

Mahomes was the primary lively NFL participant to put money into an NWSL staff, per the .

“We wish to get basketball to Kansas Metropolis typically after which WNBA. The success that they’ve had this final season and these previous few seasons, it’s form of a no brainer,” Mahomes mentioned Thursday throughout his media availability.

Mahomes thinks the possession group’s success with the Present makes them the fitting group to convey a staff to Kansas Metropolis.

“It was cool that we have been capable of get this soccer staff, this ladies’s soccer staff right here within the Present and so they’re going into the playoffs now and also you see the help that they’ve. So let’s attempt to get a WNBA staff in right here as nicely (with) that very same possession group. They’ve completed the Present the fitting method, and I wish to proceed to work with them to take that subsequent step and get a WNBA staff right here,” Mahomes mentioned, per .

Does Jayson Tatum wish to be concerned in a WNBA enlargement staff?

Tatum can also be eyeing involvement in a WNBA enlargement staff, however not in Boston, the place he performs for the Celtics.

He’s been tied to a bid in his hometown of St. Louis.

The reigning NBA champion “has informally agreed to put money into the staff ought to it come to fruition and contribute behind the scenes to the group’s pitch, each to different potential big-name traders and the league itself,” reported.

Tatum’s potential involvement is made potential by way of the brand new NBA collective bargaining settlement ratified final 12 months. The CBA permits NBA gamers as much as 4% possession in a WNBA staff.

St. Louis is not any stranger to skilled basketball. The town was dwelling to the NBA’s St. Louis Bombers from 1949 to 1950 and the St. Louis Hawks from 1955–1968. It’s also at the moment the house of girls’s skilled basketball staff, the St. Louis Surge.

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National Womens Soccer League

Tweaking the playoff format, getting extra world: 8 ideas to enhance WNBA

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

The offseason is about enchancment and, even after a yr of , the WNBA nonetheless has rather a lot to work on.

The league has by no means had extra eyes or extra media consideration, largely due in 2024 to Caitlin Clark and a rookie class that greater than . Given the incoming expertise and upcoming enlargement ‒ the Golden State Valkyries will , and franchises in and will observe in 2026 ‒ the WNBA’s rise in recognition is more likely to proceed.

Some options on how commissioner Cathy Engelbert & Co. could make the league higher:

1. Repair the playoffs

Engelbert learn our minds and introduced two massive, and lengthy overdue, modifications earlier than the Finals started. The primary is that the Finals are increasing to a seven-game format starting subsequent yr, matching that of just about each different league that does not have a one-game, winner-take-all championship.

The second is that the format of the primary spherical will change to home-away-home, making certain lower-seeded groups get to host a playoff sport. That is massive for progress as a result of it offers each groups the monetary advantage of internet hosting a playoff sport and it permits their followers to expertise the exhilaration of the playoffs in individual.

That does not imply we do not nonetheless have beef, nonetheless!

The primary spherical needs to be expanded to a best-of-five collection. Whereas the best-of-three collection shall be fairer now that the primary two video games will alternate between groups, a best-of-five collection continues to be a greater manner to make sure the perfect crew is advancing. Plus, who would not need extra basketball?

And might we please cease scheduling playoff video games, the Finals specifically, in opposition to the NFL? It’s true that the WNBA’s summer season schedule is difficult, particularly if you throw in each 4 years and a looming World Cup some falls. However there needs to be a greater manner than scheduling video games on Sunday afternoons when the NFL overshadows the whole lot.

Sure, the W has proven that it . However think about how a lot better it may do if it wasn’t going up in opposition to a slate of NFL video games. On the very least, push the beginning time again to 7 p.m. ET, when CBS and Fox’s protection is wrapping up and Sunday night time’s sport hasn’t began.

Or, higher but, if the Monday Night time Soccer matchup is meh, schedule the W playoffs for Monday night time. All of America would have rejoiced if there’d been a substitute for that Titans-Dolphins sport a couple of weeks again.

2. Broaden rosters

With 12 groups and 12 roster spots, the WNBA is extensively thought of the to make. For the final decade-plus, there’s solely been 144 whole spots, and plenty of groups solely carry 11 due to the wage cap. This whole will improve with enlargement, however solely 12 spots per roster places groups in a bind in the event that they endure a rash of accidents (see the Dallas Wings and Phoenix Mercury).

There’s an apparent repair for this: Add two to a few developmental gamers per roster. This offers youthful, unpolished gamers a possibility to play their manner into the league and if a crew suffers a big damage, they received’t be left scrambling to signal somebody – who doubtless doesn’t know their system – to a short-term contract.

We all know this might be robust financially, however we’ve bought a plan for that, too. Bear in mind the Residence Depot partnership with U.S. Olympians that ran for years, the place the house enchancment large labored with athletes to present them full-time pay and advantages for part-time work? Why not companion with small companies in every of the WNBA markets – like the businesses that sponsor the jersey patches – and work out the same setup, the place athletes are given versatile jobs that might permit them to attend practices and residential video games. It could additionally assist athletes really feel extra related to the communities they’re taking part in in – and if the deal is nice sufficient, it’d entice athletes to remain within the metropolis within the offseason, as a substitute of going abroad.

3. Get bullish on globalization of the sport

The WNBA is rising in reputation throughout the U.S., as evidenced by skyrocketing rankings, attendance and enlargement. It’s time to unfold that love the world over, each by engaging extra international gamers to affix the W and taking part in video games abroad.

The prioritization rule, which gamers say between being paid effectively abroad and taking part in within the WNBA, must be revisited and revamped. That can permit a number of the world’s greatest gamers to play within the WNBA yearly, rising viewership the world over. It’s a downright disgrace that gamers like Emma Meesseman weren’t within the league this season ‒ and that’s a straightforward repair. (And sure, WNBA League Go works in international international locations.)

Moreover, the league needs to be taking part in preseason video games abroad. The NBA already does it. So, too, do big-time school applications, with Notre Dame and South Carolina starting their season in Paris final yr. Why should not worldwide followers get an up-close take a look at A’ja, Stewie, Sab and Caitlin, too?

As soon as once more, Engelbert appears to have peeked at our to-do checklist, mentioning in her pre-Finals information convention the potential of taking part in in Asia, Africa and South America. She additionally stated Mexico Metropolis has expressed curiosity in internet hosting a sport.

4. Adam Silver wants extra of a presence across the WNBA

The NBA owns and operates the WNBA, and likes to say they’re companions. If that’s actually true, NBA commissioner Adam Silver must be round extra. He ought to at the very least be an everyday presence at New York Liberty video games ‒ Barclays Middle is only a subway trip from his workplace, in any case ‒ and journey with Engelbert extra typically.

Extra persons are catching on to the truth that together with additionally boasting a number of the greatest athletes on this planet, who’re greater than worthy of watching, girls’s sports activities is booming enterprise. Silver wants to higher perceive this, to advocate for the WNBA as a lot as he does the NBA. Each WNBA participant ought to really feel snug strolling as much as Silver and speaking to him ‒ that’s solely carried out if he’s extra seen.

5. Everybody wants a follow facility. Proper now.

There’s nothing like just a little public shaming to get the ball rolling.

Each WNBA crew ought to have had this season. It’s downright embarrassing {that a} crew just like the Connecticut Solar needed to with a neighborhood middle occasion 24 hours earlier than their first-round collection vs. Indiana. Engelbert, Silver and the league have to publicly lean on possession teams to maneuver into the twenty first century and supply their gamers with a state-of-the-art follow facility, someplace gamers can prepare (and rehab) year-round.

No metropolis ought to even be thought of for enlargement if the possession group doesn’t simply have a dedication however a plan ‒ like, design plans — for a follow facility. Established groups that don’t have one, like Los Angeles, an authentic WNBA franchise, must be publicly pressured to repair this.

The times of homeowners with the ability to run their groups on a budget are over. If groups aren’t keen to spend money on their gamers, these gamers will go elsewhere. Simply ask the Chicago Sky.

6. Get aggressive about saying you need enlargement

Talking of public shaming, it’s time for cities that haven’t invested in both a WNBA or NWSL franchise to be referred to as out for it. Investing in girls is stylish proper now, and extra cities ‒ {and professional} sports activities possession teams — ought to wish to be concerned. There’s nonetheless yet another enlargement metropolis to be named. Why not entice potential websites to point out how, and why, they deserve a crew?

7. Broaden the preseason

Once more, the WNBA’s summer season schedule is hard. However the league has bought to discover a solution to increase the preseason to 4 full weeks. Gamers and coaches desperately need it, and rookies want it. (Someplace, Clark is nodding her head.) It’s superb to maintain preseason video games at two or three, however gamers want extra follow time collectively. There’s one straightforward manner to do that …

8. Transfer up the WNBA draft

Proper now, the draft is per week after the Ultimate 4. Why not mix these enormous occasions, when the ladies’s basketball neighborhood is already in a single place ‒ together with a lot of the prime prospects, who’re often on the town to gather awards — and in a celebratory temper? There’s no query it will be a problem logistically, however it will in the end end in extra preseason follow. That’s a win for everybody.

Bonus suggestion: For the love of humanity, give us good mascots

Ellie the Elephant , however she wants some firm. Chicago lastly bought with this system this season, retiring “Sky Man” and introducing “Skye the Lioness“. However all WNBA followers deserve higher.

Let Ellie run some offseason coaching camps or one thing. There’s no query they’d be a sellout.

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National Womens Soccer League

2024 WNBA season winners and losers: TV scores increase forward of league growth

by Soccer-News
written by Soccer-News

Correction: A earlier model of this story incorrectly reported Candace Parker’s tenure in Chicago. She performed with the Sky for 2 years.

NEW YORK — The WNBA season is over, and what a season it was. Skyrocketing TV scores. Huge attendance spikes. Jerseys of high gamers flying off the cabinets. Constitution flights and extra purpose-built amenities.

The good points made throughout this season have been transformative and can assist push the league to the subsequent degree. Growth is on the best way, a brand new TV deal goes to assist considerably bolster salaries and incoming expertise will solely assist elevate the extent of play.

There’s been a lot demand this season that earlier than the 2024 WNBA Finals – in an exciting Sport 5 – commissioner Cathy Engelbert introduced the , mirroring the NBA. Moreover, first-round video games will swap to a 1-1-1 format, permitting each groups to host video games.

Merely put, there’s by no means been a greater time for this league.

With that in thoughts, listed below are the winners and losers from the 2024 WNBA season.

WINNERSPlayers

These paltry salaries are quickly to be a factor of the previous.

The present collective bargaining settlement doesn’t expire till after the 2027 season, however nobody expects it can final that lengthy. Not when a league that was already trending upward has skilled the form of explosive development the WNBA has.

The brand new media-rights deal alone is value a reported $200 million a 12 months, greater than thrice the present package deal. Sponsors are flocking to each the league and the person groups. The growth payment for the Portland staff was $125 million, and there’s one other staff nonetheless to come back.

Whereas gamers are nonetheless weighing their choices, they’re extensively anticipated to choose out earlier than the Nov. 1 deadline for each the WNBA Gamers Affiliation and the league. If both facet does so, the CBA would expire on the finish of subsequent season.

“It’s a tough factor to navigate whereas the season remains to be occurring. I feel that we’re just about in a spot the place we all know what we need to do,” Breanna Stewart, the vice chairman of the WNBPA, advised the Related Press just lately.

Whereas gamers are prone to additionally need enhancements in working situations and household advantages, salaries are anticipated to be the highest precedence. The league’s minimal wage is $64,154 whereas the supermax is $241,984.

New followers

We see you, W followers whose allegiance was initially centered round one participant.

You rooted for Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese once they have been in school, and adopted them to Indiana and Chicago, respectively. However as soon as you bought there, you realized there was much more to the league than only one or two gamers. You have been dazzled by A’ja Wilson’s record-breaking season and impressed with Napheesa Collier’s stifling protection. You fell for Kahleah Copper’s all-around brilliance and may’t imagine Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith have solely been taking part in collectively a 12 months.

By embracing the entire league, you’ve made it higher and we’re glad you’re right here.

Sponsors who bought in early

It’s not solely stylish to spend money on girls’s sports activities lately, it’s good enterprise, too. However kudos to the businesses that have been early adopters of the WNBA (and NWSL, too). Corporations resembling American Categorical, State Farm and Pepsi. And let’s not overlook the OGs, Gatorade and Nike. They noticed the potential many years in the past reasonably than ready to comply with the herd.

Germany

New York’s first title wouldn’t have been potential with out the play of rookie Leonie Fiebich (13 factors, seven rebounds, two steals) or Nyara Sabally (13 factors, seven rebounds, 71% FG), two younger German stars who performed this summer time on the . Germany is a staff on the rise internationally, and the subsequent step within the evolution of the WNBA entails globalization of the sport. May extra younger Europeans be headed over to the States to play in the summertime quickly?

Free company

Free company was by no means thought-about that large of a deal within the WNBA till the previous few years. Candace Parker leaving LA for her hometown of Chicago – and main the Sky to a title in one in every of her two season there – began the development. Then the Liberty made a tough play for Stewart, a seven-year Seattle Storm star, and veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot, then of Chicago. The Liberty have been daring of their declaration of eager to win a title and promised to deal with gamers the fitting approach in the event that they dedicated to New York.

It took an additional 12 months, however their plan labored. And you’ll wager different groups will attempt to comply with go well with and get much more aggressive in free company.

LOSERSOther new followers

The one upside to the season ending is we not have to listen to or see the trash people who used Caitlin Clark as an excuse to direct racist and homophobic abuse at different gamers. The W shouldn’t be determined sufficient that it wants these people in its fan base, and league officers now have six months to determine a solution to weed them out.

Homeowners who nonetheless suppose they’ll function on a budget

One tremendous staff gained all of it (New York), the opposite tremendous staff (Las Vegas) went to the semifinals. The opposite two groups to play within the Finals (Minnesota) and semifinals (Connecticut) are franchises which have made severe commitments to successful.

A transparent message has been despatched throughout the league, and gamers are being attentive to which homeowners are investing of their groups (like with state-of-the-art apply amenities) and which aren’t. The hole between the have and have-nots within the WNBA goes to get wider if all homeowners don’t meet the second.

HBO

How has the cable large not but dedicated to “Onerous Knocks: WNBA” and what do we now have to do to get them there?

Whereas we’re at it, now that Unequalled has signed a TV cope with TNT to broadcast the brand new 3-on-3 league, can the W get its personal model of “Contained in the NBA,” fairly please? Sydney Colson commenting on girls’s hoops could be must-see TV.

Us

No extra WNBA for six entire months. Good factor the regular-season schedule is increasing in 2025 and going as much as 44 video games, plus a best-of-seven Finals sequence.

For those who want a girls’s basketball repair, don’t have any worry, as a result of the school season is simply across the nook. The perfect half about school hoops, after all, is which you could see the way forward for the WNBA once you watch younger superstars resembling Paige Bueckers (UConn), JuJu Watkins (USC), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Flau’jae Johnson (LSU) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (South Carolina), amongst others.

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