Women's Sports is a Whole Vibe

PWSL to Expand; Women’s Pro Baseball League; Major Media New

October 30, 2024

Good morning! Expansion is “on the table” for six-team Pro Women’s Hockey League

Pro Women’s Hockey League Says it Could Add as Many as Two Teams for 2025-26 Season
AP News’ John Wawrow writes, “Expansion is on the table for the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League, and executives aren’t placing limitations on which North American markets they’ll consider in a bid to add as many as two franchises for the 2025-26 season.

“The only certainty is a vision of the timing being right to build on the support the PWHL generated in its inaugural year, and the growth the league projects entering its second season, which opens on Nov. 30.”
^{AP News}

New U.S.-Based Women’s Professional Baseball League Set to Debut in 2026
The Women’s Pro Baseball League will feature six teams, based in the northeastern United States, and will be the only professional women’s baseball league in America, the release says.

The Athletic’s Kamila Hinkson reports: “The league’s co-founders are Keith Stein, a lawyer and businessman, and Justine Siegal, founder of Baseball For All, a nonprofit that provides opportunities for girls to play and coach baseball. In 2015, the Oakland A’s hired Siegal as a guest instructor for their club in the Arizona Instructional League, and she became the first female coach in Major League Baseball. She has also pitched batting practice for a handful of MLB teams.
^{The Athletic}

Gatorade Signs Duke Freshman Cooper Flagg as First Men's CBB Endorser
Gatorade is signing its first men’s college basketball NIL deal with Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who is a pre-season All-American ahead of what is likely his lone year in Durham.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Blake Griffin in Talks With Amazon, NBC for Charles Barkley–Esque Role
Blake Griffin has become a sought-after TV free agent among the NBA’s next group of TV partners, Front Office Sports has learned.

The six-time NBA All-Star, who retired this year, is in talks with Amazon Prime Video about becoming part of their NBA coverage during the 2025–2026 season, according to multiple sources. Griffin could be poised to become “the face” of Prime’s coverage, said one source. 
^{Front Office Sports}

NBA Renews Motion to Seal Media Rights Deal
Per the SBJ, the NBA, spurned in its initial attempt to permanently seal its media rights deals with NBCU and Amazon, filed a renewed motion with the New York Supreme Court today asking for a “much narrower sealing order" that includes “very limited redactions," while still hoping to keep escrow terms, annual fees and other propriety information private.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Six Biggest Companies to Spend Record $126 Billion on Content in 2024, up 9%, Led by Disney
According to Variety, market challenges in TV and film production will not prevent the six biggest global content companies—led by Disney—from increasing their aggregate spending by 9% in 2024 to a record $126 billion.
^Variety

Lionel Messi's MLS Playoff Debut Was Apple TV's Most-Watched Sporting Event, Company Says
Lionel Messi’s MLS Cup Playoffs debut was the most widely viewed sporting event ever presented by Apple, the company said Monday without releasing viewership figures.

As USA Today notes, the match was available to live stream for free worldwide via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV behind a massive campaign centered around Messi’s first MLS postseason match, where he failed to score but delivered an assist in Inter Miami's 2-1 win against Atlanta United on Friday.
^{USA Today}

Here’s When NBA Games Will Air on NBC and Amazon Starting Next Season
The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reports: “The NBA ushered in two new media rights partners with the deal—Amazon and NBC—and retained ESPN and ABC. Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns TNT Sports, sued to retain a part of the NBA’s rights. Warner Bros. Discovery claims that matching rights in the current agreement allow the company to maintain Amazon’s package. That court case remains ongoing.
^{The Athletic}

Analysis: NBA and WNBA Coaching Jobs ‘Don’t Have a Long Shelf Life.’ Lately That’s Been 1 to 3 Years
AP News’ Tim Reynold reports: “The WNBA — coming off one of its most successful years ever in terms of attendance and attention — had 12 teams this season; seven of those teams currently do not have coaches. The Dallas Wings are about to hire their fourth coach in seven seasons. The Atlanta Dream made the playoffs; they let Tanisha Wright go anyway. The Indiana Fever, with Caitlin Clark coming off her record-setting rookie year, fired Christie Sides over the weekend after a 1-8 start was turned around into a playoff berth. And on Monday, the Connecticut Sun and coach Stephanie White parted ways after back-to-back trips to the WNBA semifinals.”
^{AP News}

Paycor Stadium Dome Expected to Cost Between $900M to $1 Billion
Studies commissioned by Hamilton County showed it "cost $900 million to $1 billion to enclose Paycor Stadium," according to Chris Wetterich of the CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER via the SBJ. Two county commissioners declared that the expected price was "far too expensive given the potential other renovation expenses other examinations have produced." Commissioner Denise Driehaus said after a Tuesday presentation the study would “close the chapter” on any discussion of a dome.
^{Sports Business Journal}

USWNT Players Support Nashville as Potential NWSL Expansion
Current USWNT players are “warming to the idea” of Nashville becoming the NWSL’s 16th franchise, according to Jacob Shames of the Nashville TENNESSEAN via the SBJ. The NWSL currently has 14 teams and will expand to 16 in 2026 with the addition of BOS Nation FC and another expansion team and Nashville is one of five reported finalists for that franchise.
^{Sports Business Journal}

College Venues, Premium Experiences Driving Investment Opportunities
“There’s clearly an opportunity,” Francesca Bodie, COO of Oak View Group, said onstage at SBJ Dealmakers in Washington, D.C. “We saw that all too well with the Moody Center. If you look at Austin from a marketplace perspective, it has 1.3 million people on paper, [but] it had no professional sports team—no disrespect to the Longhorns because they pretty much are a pro team — it’s not a market that would have been top 20 in the traditional boxes you’d check. There’s not a lot of infrastructure, but it’s a top five venue in the nation for gross ticket sales.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Will Florida-Georgia Stay in Jacksonville? Mayor Says Announcement Could Come 'Very Soon'
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said she was “extraordinarily optimistic” that the city will sign a new contract with the University of Florida and the University of Georgia to keep the rivalry game in the city from 2028 and beyond, following the completion of the EverBank Stadium renovation project that will send the game to two other neutral sites in 2026 and 2027. 
^{The Florida Times-Union}

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