This is our place
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
TGIF!
After its launch earlier this summer, the WNBA’s “Line ‘Em Up” initiative — which aims to paint the W’s three-point line on local courts across the U.S. — is going international. Before today’s first-ever regular-season game abroad in Vancouver, Canada, the W painted five public courts in the city and hosted a launch event with Swin Cash.
- Even better? Women’s basketball fans around the world have been inspired to paint the three-point line on their own courts, proving the love of the game is truly global. It’s called traveling.
WNBA
☀️ Sun, two, three
The GIST: This week, Front Office Sports (FOS) shared updates on the ongoing saga surrounding the sale of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. In early August, weeks after Steve Pagliuca pledged a record $325M to bring the Sun to Boston, FOS reported the Mohegan Tribe approved the deal, but the W never did.
- Because of that, the exclusivity window for the Boston deal closed, allowing a Marc Lasry–led group to match Pagliuca’s offer and leaving room for Houston to enter the chat. Let’s recap what we’ve learned so far and the business case for relocation…or not. So much in motion.
The backstory: The Sun began exploring sale options in May, with Pagliuca’s offer seeming like a done deal pending approval by the WNBA Board of Governors. The sale was reportedly presented to W commissioner Cathy Engelbert but never brought to the board, meaning Lasry’s bid to relocate the team to Hartford, CT could enter and match the Boston bid.
- Boston has proven it has the facilities and fans to support a move, yet the W has “emphasized Boston was not one of the 12 cities to bid for an expansion team” in recent months and the nine cities that lost out have priority over Beantown. Additionally, FOS sources said the W doesn’t want a team in Hartford.
- Without these options, where does the league want the Sun to shine? Houston, apparently. That’s reportedly the preferred location for the team after Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta threw his hat in the ring months ago. According to a league source, the W likes Houston if Fertitta can match the other bids and pay an additional relocation fee.
The context: Although the Sun relocated from Orlando in 2003, moving a sports franchise is always a brand risk, especially with the W seeing healthy expansion success. It’s worth considering safer options since relocations garner mixed reactions from fans: The new market may embrace the team, but regional fandom may never follow.
- Plus, a 2023 Morning Consult study found relocation doesn’t drive fandom, with two-thirds of sports fans saying a team’s move to a nearby city within five years had no influence on why a team was their favorite. That’s a tough metric, considering the New England–based fans, businesses, and partners that would be less affected by a move to Boston or Hartford.
Lingering questions: With multiple qualified, motivated parties nearby, does it make sense to move the Sun to Houston now, or grant a separate franchise in the future? Would it be better to uproot this New England institution, or would it be better to revive the Comets or launch a brand-new franchise? Ask the SuperSonic fans who remain sleepless in Seattle.
NFL
🎙️ The life of a (sports) girl
The GIST: Earlier this week, Taylor Swift broke the Internet by announcing she would join her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, for the first time to release initial details for her 12th album. Unsurprisingly, early data around Swift’s announcement further demonstrate the power of Swifties crossing over into the sports world. This is our place, we make the rules.
📱 Instagram: Shortly after Taylor Swift teased her appearance on New Heights in an Instagram Reel, the video was the platform’s most-reposted post in the U.S. since it launched the feature last week. As of Wednesday afternoon, the video had over 170M views — the highest of any reel on Swift’s Instagram.
🎶 Spotify: According to the audio platform, Wednesday’s New Heights episode was one of the top-performing podcast episodes of the last year with new listeners streaming at an increase of over 3000%. So far, there’s been a 2500% overall bump in average show streams with a 1100% jump at 8:45 PM this Wednesday, 1:45 into the episode’s release.
- Spotify also shared that the number of women listening to this episode is already 618% higher than the average for the previous five episodes, and that’s even with women typically comprising the majority of the show’s listeners (58%).
The Swiftie Effect: While Swift joked about the men tuning in, she knows the loyalty from her women fans are changing the face of NFL fandom. She has generated nearly $1B in brand value for the NFL since she began attending games, with viewership up 24% among women aged 18 to 24 and NBC’s Sunday Night Football ratings on the rise among teens and women over 35.
- And with the fanbase of Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs growing an astounding 30% since the pair first went public in 2023, it’s hard to ignore the power of Swiftonomics.
Zooming out: While we often discuss the fierce brand loyalty, awareness, and consideration women’s sports fans demonstrate, Swifties seem to be in a league of their own. Each Eras Tour concertgoer spent an average $1.3K to attend, which is about as much as the average fan drops at the Super Bowl.
- While the NFL economy benefits from this, they don’t have to be the only ones. Teaming up with cult-fave celebrities or influencers means their passionate fanbases will follow, making these kinds of collabs an easy lay-up with outsized impact. Touchdown.
🏒 PWHL sees record player salaries as league expands in year three
The PWHL has shattered another record, this time for player salaries. Last week, the AP reported that Ottawa Charge forward Emily Clark extended her contract and will earn more than $100K per year, a new single-season record. While the PWHL has a $35K salary minimum, there’s no maximum outside of team salary caps, although at least six players must earn over $80K.
- While WNBA players may envy the CBA guidelines in the NWSL and PWHL, it’s worth noting that the women’s hockey league is a single entity that owns all teams, making overall decisions more streamlined. But like these other leagues, it seems teams are spending more when making more — the PWHL continued to rack up partnerships in year two. Count it.
🏟️ LA28 sells naming rights to venues in an Olympics first
Yesterday, LA28 event organizers, Team USA, and Comcast announced their decision to offer sponsors naming rights at LA28 venues as the Games push to land $2.5B in domestic corporate sponsorship. This is new for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with these events previously having strict policies for non-sponsored venues.
- So far, these Games need all the help they can get. Despite an 11-year runway, the organizing committee remains behind in sponsor count due to COVID-19 disruptions, but is trying to ramp things up after announcing a $2B sponsor commitment goal and signing Comcast and Honda. Go big or go home.
🏆 Angel City FC and PNC Bank hope to claim the Guinness World Records title for the largest soccer ball sentence by using 1.5K balls to spell “Rise Up L.A.” in support of local wildfire relief.
🎵 Billboard and The Players’ Tribune are co-launching Switching Stages, a video series bringing together top musicians and athletes trying a hand at each other’s field.
⚽ Netflix bagged the exclusive Canadian broadcasting rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cups to complement its existing U.S. rights. Score.
👟 A’ja Wilson and Nike are expected to debut her second signature shoe next summer.
💸 Crux Football — a firm founded by former pro soccer player Bex Smith — is looking to raise about $50M to buy five women’s soccer teams across Europe.
🇨🇦 Ontario public broadcasting channel TVO announced its upcoming release of The Pitch, a documentary chronicling the journey to build Canada’s Northern Super League.
📈 Paramount Skydance shares closed at 36.74% on Wednesday following news of the network’s $7.7B UFC deal.
🎾 Venus Williams earned a wild-card entry for the US Open’s women’s singles event, making the 45-year-old tennis legend the oldest Grand Slam entrant since 1981. No retrograde here.
Hi. It’s us. We’re the recommenders, it’s us.
💍 What to check out
Gorjana Sport Club. The California jewelry brand is launching its first athlete-focused initiative with a roster of professional and collegiate women athletes, including LA Sparks star Cameron Brink, to celebrate the pivotal moment for women's sports and how jewelry is used to express themselves on and off the court.
⚾ What to study
Banana Ball. The fast-paced, backflipping brand of baseball, created by the Savannah Bananas, has taken the sports world by storm, generating millions of fans. As one former manager said, it's like a “Caribbean World Series game on steroids.”
👟 What to wear
The Cloudzone Moon sneaker by On. The shoe updates the original Cloudzone silhouette and features a breathable mesh upper with supportive heel and forefoot padding for comfort. It was co-created by Zendaya and her longtime stylist, Law Roach, so you know it’s good.
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