2024 Was the Year of the WNBA

WNBA Named 2024’s “Biggest Breakthrough”; More Coaching Shakeups

December 13, 2024

Reader Survey 2024: Major Jump
SBJ’s Ted Keith writes, “Throughout 2024, Sports Business Journal has been reporting on the surge in visibility and popularity surrounding women’s sports…

“The first question asked respondents to select the biggest sports business story of the year from a list of 14 choices that included massive changes in college sports and the continuing changes to the RSN model. Yet, the No. 1 choice was ‘the breakthrough year for the WNBA.’ The WNBA also rocketed to second choice, behind only the NFL, on the list of ‘hottest sports properties’ (after ranking 13th in 2022 and 10th last year).”
^{Sports Business Journal}

WISE Names Its Woman of the Year Honorees
USA Gymnastics CEO Li Li Leung, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe, CBS Sports EVP/Operations & Engineering Patricia Power and Morgan Stanley Managing Dir and Head of Global Sports & Entertainment Sandra L. Richards have all been named Women In Sports and Events (WISE) Woman of the Year honorees. WISE has given the award since 1993, honoring women for their impacts on in sports business.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Global Fight League Reveals Massive List of Signings, Including 8 Ex-UFC champs, for New Team-Based MMA Organization
Yahoo Sports’ Drake Riggs writes, “The Global Fight League (GFL) is ready to take the MMA world by storm. The news comes after three years of preparation and a name change from World Fight League. Former UFC champions Luke Rockhold, Tyron Woodley, Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Benson Henderson, Frank Mir, Junior dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski are expected to be among the launch group of GFL athletes.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Travis Hunter Signs With Adidas Ahead of Heisman Ceremony
SI’s Elizabeth Swinton writes, “Travis Hunter is making moves before starting his professional football career. The announcement adds to an eventful week for Hunter leading up to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He is a finalist for the prestigious award after his groundbreaking season with the Buffaloes alongside fellow Adidas QB Cam Ward from Miami, Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty and Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel.”
^{Sports Illustrated}

WNBA, Players Association Engaged in Preliminary CBA Talks
This fall, the WNBA’s executive committee and board of player reps voted to opt out of their current CBA following the 2025 season, potentially leading to a work stoppage in 2026 if a new agreement isn’t reached. The players’ core complaints are the league’s hard salary cap in which the average player contract is worth roughly $102,000 annually along with disjointed family planning, a limited pregnancy clause and a nonexistent retirement plan.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Diamond Baseball Holdings Buys SoCal Affiliates
Diamond Baseball Holdings is adding a trio of minor-league affiliates in Southern California—the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels High-A), Modesto Nuts (Mariners Single-A) and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers Single-A). The additions bring DBH’s total ownership to 41 MiLB teams. All these affiliations will remain the same for the 2025 season.
^{Sports Business Journal}

NBA Cup Viewership Down Nationally, But Sees Uptick in Local Markets
According to Nielsen, this year’s NBA Cup national broadcasts on ESPN and TNT have dipped 10%, with 1.33M viewers compared to last year’s average audience of 1.49M. But group-play games were up 7% over non-group-play games (excluding opening week) across ESPN and TNT.

Meanwhile, according to Playfly Sports CEO Craig Sloan, NBA Cup ratings were up 6% on local team broadcasts, which he said aligns with the trend that local fanbases generally drive the highest NBA viewership numbers.
^{Sports Business Journal}

YouTube TV Raises Prices Ahead of Super Bowl
Sportico’s Jacob Feldman reports: “YouTube TV will increase its monthly price from $73 to $83 starting in January … YouTube said the jump is in response to ‘the rising cost of content and the investments we make in the quality of our service.’

“YouTube pays more than $2 billion per season for the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, a deal that one estimate projected will lead to nearly $10 billion in losses between 2023 and 2029…”
^Sportico

Coach Calipari in the Spotlight
The Follow gives Razorback fans unmatched access inside the first season under John Calipari. Now, thanks to Arvest, each new episode will premiere live, for FREE, for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Following each live premiere, a Hogs+ membership will be required for on-demand viewing.

A Hogs+ Membership gives fans access to the entire library of on-demand content, including every episode of all 4 seasons of The Follow in addition to original films, expert analysis, exclusive interviews, behind-the scenes access, and lots more premium video content not available anywhere else.
^{Arkansas Razorbacks}

Scott Van Pelt to Lead ESPN’s TGL Broadcast Team
ESPN will have a trio of well-known announcers make up its broadcast team for TGL, which is expected to be announced later this morning. The three-man crew will be made up of Scott Van Pelt, Matt Barrie and Marty Smith. Van Pelt, one of the most well-known ESPN personalities who worked at Golf Channel in his early years, will serve as a host for TGL matches at the SoFi Center.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Yahoo Sports AM: Old Man on Campus
Yahoo Sports and Ross Dellenger report: “In one of the most shocking coaching moves in sports history, six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick is headed to North Carolina. Belichick (72 years old) is now the oldest head coach in the FBS. While jarring for many, the hire is understandable and timely given the state of college football, which looks more like pro football with each passing year.

“The transfer portal is basically free agency. NIL deals are basically contracts. Heck, there are even two main conferences (SEC and Big Ten) with around 16 teams each. Kiss goodbye to the college football you once knew. These are now the minor leagues.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Gus Malzahn Chose Coordinator Job at Florida State Because Head Coaching Has ‘Changed Dramatically’
AP News’ Bob Ferrante reports: “Malzahn walked away from $15 million guaranteed — he was set to make $5 million in 2025 and had three years remaining on his contract with the Knights — for a different coaching lifestyle. He signed a three-year deal with FSU that will pay him $1.5 million in 2025.

“The job description of a head college football coach has changed dramatically in the last two years with everything — transfer portal to collectives to agents and everything that goes with that,” Malzahn said. “I’m just an old-school football coach.
^{AP News}

MLB CMO Karin Timpone to Exit Next Year
Major League Baseball’s chief marketing officer Karin Timpone is leaving her role at the end of this year, both she and MLB confirmed to ADWEEK. She has yet to announce her next move.
_ADWEEK

Rich Rodriguez Officially Returns to West Virginia
The Mountaineers have announced that they had re-hired Rodriguez 17 years after he left for Michigan, with WVU athletic director Wren Baker saying, “I am convinced Coach Rodriguez wants what is best for West Virginia, WVU and West Virginia football, and I am excited about the future of our program."
^{Yahoo! Sports}

NBA Cup: One Final Roll of the Dice for Las Vegas?
SBJ’s Tom Friend writes, “If T-Mobile Arena can’t draw raucous crowds this time, with a schedule specifically designed to avoid the NFL and replicate college basketball’s Final Four, the event could move destinations in Year 3. Amazon — which will exclusively stream the event for the next 11 seasons starting next year — will be watching intently this weekend, as will NBA team executives, some of whom wonder if the NBA Cup Final Four should be staged in home arenas.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Galaxy Unveil Dignity Health Sports Park Reno Plan
Fresh off winning the MLS Cup, the L.A. Galaxy and AEG are unveiling a multiyear renovation that will refresh Dignity Health Sports Park, the league’s oldest existing soccer-specific stadium, opened in 2003. The multimillion-dollar project will occur in annual phases of work through 2027, due to the increasingly short MLS offseason.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Florida State, Still Suing ACC, Claims It Never Wanted to Leave
Florida State’s athletic director Mike Alford has claimed the Seminoles never expressed interest in leaving the ACC, despite an ongoing lawsuit that explicitly says otherwise.

“We’re in the league the last time I looked,” FSU’s Mike Alford said. “We never said we wanted to leave the league.”

As FOS’ Amanda Christovich reports, “The Seminoles explicitly stated in court documents last December that they intended to leave the ACC as long as they didn’t have to pay exit fees.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Thanks for reading!

Sport & Story Daily is the sports industry’s daily resource for business news. In addition to serving up exclusive trends, Q&As, and columns, the newsletter connects readers to top platforms and stories from across the sports landscape.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here!

Feel free to read our Privacy Policy