WNBA Stars Reap NIL Benefits

Sport & Story Daily July 17, 2025: NIL is carrying over into brand deals for WNBA stars.

July 17, 2025

“NIL, man, it is beautiful,” WNBA star Flau’jae Johnson said. “This year in March Madness, I had about five commercials running and you know it was so cool watching the game, then seeing myself come on.”

July 17, 2025

AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File

Women’s Basketball Stars’ Name, Likeness and Image Brands Carrying Over Into the WNBA
AP News’ Doug Feinberg writes, “Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers are part of the new generation of women’s basketball stars who have been able to profit off their name in college and build brands that have helped them excel off the court in the WNBA. All three players had national star power before stepping foot in the pros.

“The next group up in college that is led by Hannah Hidalgo, Flau’jae Johnson, Olivia Miles and JuJu Watkins has already benefitted from the name, likeness and image. According to On3, Johnson’s NIL valuation is $1.5 million.”

“NIL, man, it is beautiful,” Johnson said. “This year in March Madness, I had about five commercials running and you know it was so cool watching the game, then seeing myself come on. It’s just a great opportunity.”
AP News

Photo: Billie Weiss/Bolt Creative Group / Illustration: Lorenzo Gordon

Friedkin Forms Pursuit Sports to House Soccer Clubs, Hunt Big 4 Team
Sportico’s Brendan Coffey writes, “Billionaire Everton FC and AS Roma owner Dan Friedkin has formed a new sports-team group, Pursuit Sports, to manage his soccer teams while actively hunting for a franchise in one of the big four North American leagues.”

“The intention has been to form a parent company that would do two things: provide operational excellence—amplify our operations for the clubs we own now—and evaluate opportunities to grow,” Beeston said on a video call. “When I wake up I am thinking about how I am helping Roma, Everton, Cannes get to where they want to get to … and at the same time thinking about growing the company through acquisition.”
Sportico

WBD, Zaslav Say Media Coverage of NBA Deal Undercuts Investor Suit
Sportico’s Michael McCann reports: “Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels argue in a recent court filing that a federal securities class action brought by purchasers of WBD stock is without merit. The plaintiffs say they were misled by WBD’s statements and omissions about negotiations for a new NBA TV deal last year.”
Sportico

Silver Details Plan for NBA’s Local TV Issues
SBJ’s Tom Friend writes, “The importance of launching a national streaming RSN is not lost on NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who for the first time Tuesday night publicly described an ‘aggregated solution’ that could solve the league’s local television freefall.

“Previously, Silver has talked about a national streaming RSN only in vague bits and pieces. But at his post-Board of Governors news conference -- lamenting in-market rights fee deficits -- he said ‘we would be malpracticing if we didn’t figure out how local and regional television is going to work before expanding.’ And for the first time, he was more specific about a “hybrid” platform going forward.”
Sports Business Journal

ESPN Sees Best Wimbledon Audience in Six Years With New Names Taking Hold
ESPN drew its best Wimbledon tournament audience in six years, even with the departure of notable American women’s players early in the event. Matches across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 721,000 viewers, up 6% from last year and good enough for the fourth-best Wimbledon since ESPN became the exclusive media partner in 2012 (ESPN has been rights partner in some capacity dating back to 2003).
Sports Business Journal

Chelsea-PSG Final Delivers Top Club World Cup Audience for TNT Sports, TelevisaUnivision
Chelsea’s upset of Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final on Sunday delivered TNT Sports its second-best soccer audience on record. TBS drew 1.3 million viewers for the match, behind only the 1.5 million viewers for the 2019 UEFA Champions League final featuring Liverpool-Tottenham on TNT. The match Sunday peaked at 1.8 million viewers from 3:45-4pm ET as Chelsea scored its third and final goal. The audience for Chelsea-PSG outdrew any of the recent Concacaf Gold Cup matches that aired on FS1, but was well below the 2 million CBS drew for PSG-Inter Milan in the Champions League final this year.
Sports Business Journal

Audience Analysis: MLB Draft Down 10%; Big3 Seeing 8% Gain
The MLB Draft saw a 10% drop this year, with ESPN and MLB Network on Sunday night combining for 776,000 viewers. That’s down from 863,000 last year. However, the audience was above the 744,000 from two years ago. Since the MLB Draft returned to ESPN airwaves in 2020, the telecast has averaged just over 800,000 viewers. The MLB Draft drew a little over half of what this year’s WNBA Draft got in April (1.25 million on ESPN), but was above the 534,000 that the NHL Draft drew on ESPN in late June.
Sports Business Journal

Fox Sports Nearing Deal for Dave Portnoy on ‘Big Noon,’ Barstool on FS1
FOS’ Ryan Glasspiegel writes, “Fox Sports is poised to make another big bet on Big Noon. The network is nearing an expansive deal with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy that would include him appearing on its college football pregame show. The deal would also involve Barstool content being featured on FS1, sources told Front Office Sports.”
Front Office Sports

Kena Krutsinger/Getty Images

NASCAR Evaluating Chicagoland Speedway Return
SBJ’s Adam Stern writes, “NASCAR has been evaluating a possible return to Chicagoland Speedway for next year, according to people familiar with the matter, and the chances of the move happening are said to be increasing. Once derided as a cookie cutter’ 1.5-mile oval that produced predictable racing entertainment, the venue in Joliet, Ill., was removed from the NASCAR schedule in 2021. But amid a revival in interest in 1.5-milers due to the characteristics of the seventh-generation race car that debuted in 2022, NASCAR fans have asked in stepped-up droves for a return to the sprawling venue.”
Sports Business Journal

Utah Jazz. Director of Corporate Partnerships
The Director of Corporate Partnerships handles top-tier account management and represents a higher leadership role with accompanying responsibilities for the greater Smith Entertainment Group revenue team. This role is crucial to finding unique ways to improve assets and improve the greater partner experience. This position must forge strong relationships on certain key accounts and may also be tasked to oversee, track sales efforts, and update leadership on progress during contract renewal periods. This Director must be proficient in regularly using positive communication, implementing creative solutions, and coordinating efforts with various departments throughout the organization. Apply Now.

University of South Florida. Director of Marketing and Communications
The Director of Marketing and Communications for the College of Education serves as the strategic leader responsible for developing and executing comprehensive marketing, branding, and communication initiatives that support the college's mission, enrollment goals, community engagement, and advancement priorities. This position oversees internal and external communications, digital and print content strategy, media relations, and design to elevate the college’s visibility, research profile, and impact locally, nationally, and globally and to maximize funds raised, donor participation, and engagement of undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni. Apply Now.

Florida Atlantic University. Senior Associate Director, Marketing & Brand

Some of the responsibilities include:

  • Serves on the Athletics Senior Staff with sport supervisory role, along with administrative oversight of band, spirit and mascot.

  • Provides leadership and is accountable for day-to-day operation of Athletics Marketing Staff to create and implement comprehensive marketing campaigns for each sport with the objective of increasing attendance and engaging students and external fans at all events.

  • Provides leadership for day-to-day operation of Athletics Creative Staff, overseeing the department’s social and creative content planning and strategy.

  • Directly responsible for managing and executing all facets of football marketing plan. Apply Now.

Looking to fill an open position with top talent in the sports media industry? Advertise in the Sport & Story Daily to reach over 25,000 senior-level executives and professionals—and connect your job opportunity with the right audience.

AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File

Kalen DeBoer is Looking to Escape Nick Saban’s Shadow and Lead Tide Back to Playoffs in 2nd Season
AP News’ Charles Odum writes, “Four years without a national championship feels like a severe drought for veteran Alabama players.

“Similarly, one year of missing the College Football Playoff has second-year coach Kalen DeBoer feeling the pressure to restore the Crimson Tide’s status as one of the nation’s top teams in 2025.

“DeBoer’s task is especially difficult because he’s the coach who followed Nick Saban, who led Alabama to its last national championship in 2020. It was Alabama’s sixth championship under Saban since 2009.”
AP News

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