Caitlin Clark Effect Hits Golf

Ticket Sales for This Year’s ProAm Are “12 Times the Typical Number”

November 14, 2024

Good morning! Caitlin Clark brings the spotlight—Plus a bunch of other women’s sports news

Clark in LPGA ProAm With Korda, Sorenstam
Fever G Caitlin Clark is playing in the LPGA's The Annika driven by Gainbridge pro-am today alongside World No. 1 Nelly Korda on the front nine and tournament host Annika Sorenstam on the back. Tickets sales for the Belleair, Fla., event are "12 times the typical number." Clark, who is a Gainbridge ambassador, also took part in the Women’s Leadership Summit yesterday before meeting with the media (GOLFWEEK, 11/12). Golf Channel announced last week that it created special programming around Clark’s pro-am appearance, including her warm-up and a walk-and-talk interview (GOLF DIGEST, 11/12).
^{Golf Week and Golf Digest via Sports Business Journal}

And Some Other Big News in Women’s Sports and Sports Media…👇🏼

PLL Launches Women’s Lacrosse League, Will Debut in 2025
The Premier Lacrosse League announced today it has launched the Women’s Lacrosse League. The WLL is slated to debut at the 2025 PLL Championship Series.  A news conference is scheduled for later today at NASDAQ. It will have four teams playing in an sixes format and competing for the inaugural WLL Championship Series trophy. The home cities and players for the four teams will be announced at a later date.
^{Sports Business Journal}

TSN’s Kenzie Lalonde to Make Canadian History on Senators Broadcasts This Season
TSN’s Kenzie Lalonde made Canadian television history on Tuesday night. The broadcaster is the first woman to be assigned regular NHL play-by-play television duties for a Canadian team, making her debut when the Maple Leafs hosted the Ottawa Senators. Lalonde’s first game will be followed by select regional games for the Senators this season, as she’ll split play-by-play duties with Gord Miller and Matt Cullen.
^{Toronto Star}

Women’s Baseball Players Could Soon Have a League of Their Own Again
AP News’ Alanis Thames writes, “If and when it debuts, it will be the first pro league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — the one immortalized in ‘A League of Their Own’ — dissolved in 1954.

“Heightened interest in women’s sports in recent years made this an ideal time to launch a women’s baseball league, said co-founder Justine Siegal, the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. The consulting firm Deloitte estimated that women’s sports will generate a billion dollars in global revenue in 2024 for the first time because of skyrocketing popularity and marketing deals.”
^{AP News}

Patrick Cantlay Gets His Way – US Ryder Cup Players Are Going to Be Paid
The Telegraph’s James Corrigan reports: “America’s Ryder Cup players are on course to be paid for the first time, in a break from a near 100-year tradition. Team USA are in line to receive almost £4 million collectively for next year’s showdown in New York.

“The organising body of the American team has drawn up proposals that would see its golfers paid directly for the first time in the match’s 97-year history. It is understood that a figure of $400,000 (£315,000) for each player has been put forward and insiders say it is likely to be ratified at board level.”
^{The Telegraph}

NBA’s Declining Viewership Gets Steph Curry Bump
FOS’ Colin Salao writes, “A splash of Steph Curry helped curb the NBA’s declining TV viewership to open the season. The first nationally televised game for Curry and the Warriors—a close win Wednesday over the defending champion Celtics—drew 2.14 million viewers on ESPN, the most-watched game since opening week and up 30% from the comparable game last year (Spurs-Knicks), according to Sports Media Watch.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Premier League, NFL Wild Card Success on Peacock Gave NBC Confidence to Go After NBA
"[Premier League] drove the most subs the first day,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordella. “A light bulb went off, so we pushed to put the rest of the Premier League schedule on Peacock, and it ended up being a big subscriber driver throughout the month of July and August. We started seeing sports were driving people through. A month later, how many people are going to stay with Peacock? How many people engage with other content on platform? [We saw] this really works, and it works at scale. What else can we buy? What else can we license? The NBA happened to be coming to the market a few months later.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

DSG to Offer Single-Game Pricing For NBA, NHL
SBJ’s Tom Friend reports: “Just two days before a hearing that will either confirm or foil its reorganization plan, Diamond Sports Group revealed today that it will for the first time offer a single-game pricing option on its NBA and NHL direct-to-consumer products. Rather than offer just monthly, annual or ‘Season Pass’ subscriptions, Diamond’s FanDuel Sports Networks will stream games on an individual basis for $6.99 a contest, beginning on Dec. 5.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei to Step Down After Two Decades
Sportico’s Eric Jackson reports: “Liberty Media will be under new leadership next year. The company has announced that CEO Greg Maffei will be stepping down when his contract expires at year’s end after nearly 20 years in the position. Liberty chairman John Malone will become the interim CEO…

“Maffei, 64, was at the helm during major growth to Liberty Media’s entertainment and sports assets, which include acquiring the Atlanta Braves (2007) and Formula One (2016).”
^Sportico

Bev Priestman Fired as Canada Women’s Soccer Coach After Review of Olympic Drone Scandal
AP News’ Anne M. Peterson reports: “Canada women’s coach Bev Priestman, suspended following a drone surveillance scandal at the Paris Olympics, was fired Tuesday following an independent review. Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were also fired as Canada Soccer released findings of the investigation.

“New Zealand complained about a drone flying over practices before the start of the Olympic tournament, prompting FIFA to fine Canada Soccer $228,000 and strip six standings points from the team.”
^{AP News}

Broncos Assistant Head Coach Mike Westhoff Resigning Due to Medical Reasons
Broncos assistant head coach Mike Westhoff, who helped oversee the turnaround of the special teams unit the past two seasons, is resigning for medical reasons, he announced Tuesday. Westhoff, 76, began experiencing blurry vision in a team meeting last week.
^{The Athletic}

F1 to Hold Season Launch With All 10 Teams at London's O2
Formula One will sell tickets to an unprecedented 2025 season launch event featuring all the teams and drivers at London's O2 Arena on Feb. 18 as the world championship celebrates its 75th anniversary. F1 said in a statement on Tuesday that tickets would go on sale on Nov. 15, priced between 58 to 113 pounds ($74 to $144).
^{AP News}

Braves Revamping, Expanding Area Outside Ball Park
The Braves are revamping and expanding the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Park in a new location outside Truist Park, a project that will be finished in time for the 2025 MLB season. The new park, measuring more than 30,000 square feet and designed by Rossetti, will be moved to the Left Field Plaza at Truist Park, with room to accommodate two times as many families as the current Hope & Will’s Sandlot does. The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta title sponsorship is new, though the Braves had an existing relationship with the healthcare network.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Report Questions Viability of Browns in Brook Park
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb yesterday released an economic analysis of the Browns' potential move to Brook Park, and the report "casts doubt on the demand for such an entertainment district and raises questions about its overall financial viability," according to a front-page piece in the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER via SBJ. The study concluded that "a successful Brook Park entertainment district would hurt the region as a whole" because it would "draw business away from downtown Cleveland."
^{Sports Business Journal}

Yahoo Sports AM: [College Athletes and] Olympic Athletes in Peril
More than a dozen parents of college athletes or recruits spoke to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger about the current reality playing out across the country. They were granted anonymity for fear of negative impacts to their children.

A beach volleyball recruit, committed to a Big 12 program for months, was recently told the spot no longer exists. A sophomore cross country runner for an SEC team was notified by email that she was cut from the team two days after the semester began.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

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