The GIST

A classic New York meet cute. 🥰 • After announcing a buzzworthy WNBA partnership in July, Bumble confirmed a new partnership with the NY Liberty as the team’s first official dating app partner that includes contests, events, and social media activations. 📱 • Since the Liberty have already punched its ticket to the postseason, Bumble will serve as the presenting sponsor for one of the team’s home games during the first round. The sponsorship also includes in-arena activations at Barclays Center and a mixer where Liberty fans can flirt over their fandom. 👀 • The deal also offers two lucky Liberty fans an exclusive VIP date night experience for a WNBA playoffs game. Beloved Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant is also involved in the deal, headlining a novel social media content series that will offer dating tips and Bumble profile pointers. 💏 • According to a recent Bumble survey, nearly 31% of single Americans said a shared love of watching or playing sports is essential when dating. And for NYC singles, sports is the top interest badge on Bumble profiles, with basketball ranking high among users of all genders. Shooters gotta shoot. 🏀

The time to support women athletes is now, and rapper Flavor Flav understands the assignment. ⏰⁣ •⁣ Team USA women’s water polo’s official hype man has spent the past several weeks stepping up for Olympic women athletes across all sports. Do believe the hype. He invited Team USA women's water polo team — who he supported in Paris — to Las Vegas to go clubbing with him over the weekend. 🥳⁣ •⁣ We're in your inboxes with all the latest in women's sports biz! Subscribe for free today: https://lnkd.in/e8sEiSAD

Just like Taylor Swift, these ladies are selling out stadiums across the country. 💅 • The United Soccer League (USL) Super League—a new women’s pro soccer league—kicked off this weekend with three sold-out matches. Roughly 20,000 fans across Charlotte, Spokane, and Tampa combined snatched up tickets, with the Carolina Ascent drawing the biggest crowd of 10,553 attendees. What a slay. 🌟 • Women’s soccer has been gaining traction, with the success of the U.S. Women’s National Team driving excitement and attention to the sport. The league consists of eight teams: Brooklyn FC, Carolina Ascent FC, Dallas Trinity FC, DC Power FC, Fort Lauderdale United FC, Lexington SC, Spokane Zephyr FC, and Tampa Bay Sun FC. ⚽ • The league was created with a mission to expand opportunities for players, supporters, and communities. Clubs actively participate in local events and initiatives, making efforts to be visible and approachable within their communities. Queens. 👑 • It’s just the beginning for the new league, which already has a multiyear media rights deal with Peacock and whose Tampa Bay team inked a development partnership with Parity in February. Goals. 🙌  • GISTers, who are you picking as your new favorite team?  • For more sports biz news like this, subscribe to our free, 3x-weekly sports biz newsletter over at the #linkinbio! 💌 #thegist ⁣ • (c/o United Soccer League (USL), Forbes) • #womenssports #soccer

Who runS the world? GIRLS! 💃 • NewCo, the company that oversees two U.K. women’s soccer flights (the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship), has a new name and an all-women executive board. 💪 • After months of new hires and business development, NewCo will be known as the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL). 👀 • The WPLL had parted ways with the English Football Association (FA) to become an independent organization focusing on growing the women's game in England. 👏 • CEO Nikki Doucet was the company’s first hire last November and has since overseen the addition of key executive power players to the WPLL, like COO Holly Murdoch, CMO Ruth Hooper, chief football officer Mirelle Van Rijbroek, and chief revenue officer Zarah Al-Kudcy. All-stars. 🤩 • For more sports biz news like this, subscribe to our free, 3x-weekly sports biz newsletter over at the #linkinbio! 💌 #thegist ⁣ •⁣ #womenssport #soccer #sportsbiz

For fuboTV Network, this is part of a larger battle against the biggest sports broadcasters, which the streamer claims monopolize the market and stifle competition. They took this round, proving the Mouse doesn’t always win. 👀 • For more sports biz stories like this one, subscribe to our free, 3x-weekly sports biz newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eYH82ywF • 📱The app: Venu Sports is a joint brainchild of ESPN’s parent company The Walt Disney Company, Fox Corporation, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The trio — which collectively owns over 60% of broadcast sports content in the U.S. — proposed pooling their content into a single sports-only app. • 👩⚖️The lawsuit: On February 22nd — less than three weeks after Venu Sports’ announcement — FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit, alleging that the app’s existence would shutter its business. Unlike Venu, pay-TV distributors like FuboTV must pay for non-sports channels to access sports programming — meaning the proposed app wasn’t playing by the same rules as every other sports streamer. • Launched in 2015, FuboTV initially focused on soccer-specific content but has since added NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL rights. The company now claims that Venu would render FuboTV unable to compete in the space. • As the Wild West of streaming begins to resemble an ironically cable-like format due to streaming mergers and acquisitions, consumers are shelling out for multiple subscriptions each month. To some extent, a joint app like Venu could help eliminate that problem. 🤔 • This setup is ideal for consumers and the giant companies behind the consolidation — but not for their competition. An app like Venu creates a real David vs. Goliath situation, which is what FuboTV has argued. • The judge agreed with FuboTV’s claim that Venu is playing by different licensing rules, making it impossible for smaller companies to compete, thereby creating a monopoly. • Venu’s owners are appealing the injunction, but the project could fall apart if one of the companies abandons the venture. While there’s no certainty this will happen, Disney — the trio’s top sports media rights heavy-hitter — did say it would “weigh its options.” ⚖️

Now this is what we call levelling up. 💪 • Long-running sports video game franchise National Basketball Association (NBA) 2K announced expansive in-game WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) upgrades for its forthcoming NBA 2K25 title yesterday, giving gamers innovative offerings around the league’s biggest players. 🎮 • The NBA video game series has been released annually since 1999 but didn’t introduce the WNBA component until 2019. Candace Parker became the first W athlete to grace the cover of NBA 2K in 2021, while A’ja Wilson will become the game’s first WNBA global cover athlete this year. 🙌 • Notably, Wilson enters the game with a 99 OVR, the highest rating for a WNBA player in 2K history. This girl is on fire. 🔥 • The update: Launching next month, NBA 2K25 will feature a Pursuit of Greatness WNBA story mode feature that lets users play through an in-game narrative. There will also be fully-voiced WNBA press conferences and players will be able to compete in the 2024 Rookie of the Year race against Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. 👀 • The why: In May, GameRant highlighted critiques about NBA 2K’s WNBA mode, which has historically had fewer gameplay modes and more simplistic avatars compared to the NBA version. However, some players are still upset as the W games appear to only function on PS5 consoles. • This is particularly problematic considering at least 88% of U.S. gamers have played online before, and many PS4 users haven’t upgraded yet. 😬 • Bringing W players into the NBA 2K world is one thing, but involving rookies like Clark and Reese in a game mode devoted to pursuing greatness compounds the narrative that they are the stars to watch, and are quantifiably bringing more money and attention to the league. No lag here. ✨ • For more sports biz news like this, subscribe to our free, 3x-weekly sports biz newsletter over at the #linkinbio! 💌 #thegist ⁣ •⁣ (c/o 2K) • #womenssport #basketball #sportsbiz

It's the network’s biggest for the Olympics since London 2012! 🙌⁣ • For more sports biz stories like this one, subscribe to our free, 3x-weekly sports biz newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eYH82ywF •⁣ U.S. Olympic media partner NBCUniversal released their final numbers from the 2024 Paris Olympics, proving the post-pandemic slump is over. The sky-high numbers also position them to cash in when they broadcast the Summer Games’ return to North America during LA28. Hella stoked. 📺⁣ •⁣ The 17 days of competition averaged 30.6M U.S. viewers across CNBC platforms. This figure is the network’s biggest for the Olympics since London 2012 and is 82% higher than the average U.S. audience during Tokyo 2020. 📈⁣ •⁣ Paris’ popularity allowed NBC to continue the Summer Games’ 152-night streak as primetime’s No. 1 show and put USA Network atop cable TV through two weeks of competition. The Olympics also pushed NBC to the top primetime spot and USA Network into second among the 18-49 demo for 2024. 👀⁣

Please join us in welcoming Jayashree Pathak and EMMY RAINE CURTIS to our full-time team here at The GIST as our two new social coordinators! 👏 So excited to have you both here on the squad, looking forward to seeing all the amazing content you cook up! 👩🍳 📱

The Dallas Wings usurp the Las Vegas Aces' $140M valuation from June to become the most valuable WNBA franchise. 👀⁣ •⁣ The WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) has seen a dramatic rise in popularity, largely attributed to superstar rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. However, neither Clark’s Indiana Fever nor Reese’s Chicago Sky WNBA are the league’s most valuable team. That title belongs to the Dallas Wings, despite their struggles on the court this season. 👑⁣ •⁣ The Wings, who are tied for last place with a 6-19 record, have recently been valued at $208 million, making them the most valuable franchise in the WNBA. This represents a significant increase from the $75 million valuation in June when the Wings were ranked 11th in the league. 🏀⁣ •⁣ The jump in value came after two investors, Jed Kaplan and Randy Eisenman, purchased a 1% stake in the team for $2.08 million. Greg Bibb, the Wings’ CEO and part-owner, facilitated the sale, which more than doubled the team’s valuation. 🤯⁣ •⁣ The surge in interest and investment highlights the growing prominence of the WNBA, with the Dallas Wings’ recent valuation serving as a testament to the league’s expanding influence and commercial appeal. We love to see it! 🤩⁣ • c/o Sports Business Journal

It’s a smart play for both sides as the NWSLPA pushes for improved conditions and the league looks to get ahead of labor demands as it expands. 🙌 • Specific details aren’t available yet — league and union representatives are waiting for players to share on their own terms — but sources revealed a few vague aspects of the deal. The new CBA will follow the current one once it expires after the 2026 season, although some parts of the deal will kick in sooner. ⚽ • The new agreement reportedly includes increased pay for players and more freedom in player movement, a positive development for a league still learning from its free agency system instituted only two years ago. 👏 • Notably, the new CBA will cover the league when it negotiates a new media deal in 2027 — one that is expected to surpass the historic $240M deal secured last year. Without a CBA in place in 2027, NWSL players could potentially hold out until terms are met — and if the league is making millions more, it would be tougher to argue against new CBA conditions. 👀 • As the NWSL grows in value, so does the NWSLPA’s leverage. And although the league has started to pass on its gains to players with moves like doubling its salary cap this January — which resulted in several record player contracts — it's critical to use that leverage to get things in writing. 📈 • The NWSL may be new to the CBA game after signing its first one in 2022, but it’s made strides in a few short years. Coming back to the negotiating table preemptively is something other leagues could learn from, especially the WNBA, which just signed its own massive $2.2B media rights deal and the WNBPA able to opt out of its CBA this November. Studying the tapes. 💰