Burnin’ up
From The GIST Sports Biz (hi@thegistsports.com)
Allo!
While we move onto the quarter-final round of the Women’s UEFA Euro 2025, early numbers illustrate how the tourney is benefiting Switzerland’s economy. In its first week, the tournament drove a 12% YoY boost in visitors in the country and a 27% YoY increase in spending. That’s a lot of (Swiss) cheese.
WNBA
🔥 A fiery debate
The GIST: Yesterday, Portland’s WNBA expansion team finally launched its long-awaited brand reveal, showcasing its name and logo as the Portland Fire. While there are some local criticisms about the name, Portland made this decision with significant intentionality, which may have influenced the overall positive response to the name. Burnin' up.
The brand: While the name is a callback to the original Portland Fire franchise, which played for three seasons in the early 2000s, its current iteration conveys a deep investment in local culture. The brand portfolio — designed by local creative agency Adopt — incorporates visual references to the city’s 12 bridges, nearby Mount Hood, and roses, the city’s official flower.
The critiques: Though plenty are fans of the name, some have described returning to the original name as insensitive considering the state’s recent uptick in wildfires, which burned a record 1.9M acres in Oregon last year and cost the state an estimated $132M.
- While there are many sports teams that have endured decades despite problematic branding, fielding pushback against expansion team branding is especially difficult as the team tries to win over a new market. Boston’s NWSL team experienced a disastrous brand launch that eventually resulted in a name change.
Lingering questions: It’s a tricky situation in Portland, where locals are already incredibly invested in the team — there are now almost 11K season ticket deposits to date. Can the Fire franchise count on local fan support regardless of name, or could branding issues cause a rift with fans the way it has for some in Boston?
- There’s a lot on the line with women’s sports fans, and W fans in particular, buying merch at increased rates. Shopify sales for WNBA accessories are up 101.5% YoY as of this May, while W merch sales skyrocketed 601% YoY in 2024.
- As seen with the NWSL’s Bay FC, merch can be a major revenue opportunity for an expansion team — and considering how consumers can pressure companies to revert logo changes, banking on the wrong brand identity can be a tough call for an expansion team getting its footing. So much to handle.
Giveaway Alert
🥎 Contest alert: It’s All-Star time
The best softball players in the world compete right here in the U.S. — and we want you to see them do their thing on the diamond. That’s why we’re sending a lucky GISTer to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) All-Star Cup this August, with a prize pack that includes:
🎟️ Two tickets to a doubleheader in August,
👋 An athlete meet and greet, plus AUSL gear,
💰 And $1K in cash for travel and accommodations.
Enter now to win, and we’ll see you in the bleachers.
🤖 Meta Quest capitalizes on rising WNBA popularity with NBA Store takeover
VR headset ecosystem Meta Quest is stepping beyond its existing NBA partnership to court the WNBA. Yesterday, Meta announced it will partner with the women’s league to transform NYC’s NBA Store into the first-ever WNBA store for a 24-hour event today. The event will feature W legend Sue Bird, NY Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant, and Meta Quest demos and limited-edition merch.
- Plus, the platform features free access to 20 live WNBA games this season, including five immersive experience broadcasts. This comes as social media companies like Apple and TikTok double down on VR experiences.
🍺 NCAA may tap alcohol brands to cover cost of additional March Madness games
While fans want additional March Madness games, it’s a hard sell for the NCAA since broadcasters CBS, Warner Bros. Discovery, and ESPN will not pay for any additional games added to the bracket. However, the NCAA may be willing to bend precedent and finally welcome alcohol advertisers into the college game in order to add these games. Tapping the keg.
📱 Google features Instagram links in searches according to Gen Z preferences
Last Friday, Google began indexing content from Instagram, which means posts now show directly in search results. This is a response to how Gen Z prefers searching for information on social media platforms instead of Google: Zoomers are 25% less likely than Gen X to use the search engine, and 46% of those surveyed preferred searching on social media over traditional search engines.
🦈 Alexis Ohanian will become one of the many famous guest sharks on Shark Tank for its upcoming 17th season. Follow the green.
📺 The Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever game averaged 2.1M viewers in ABC’s fourth most-watched WNBA game ever, while a Fever–Atlanta Dream matchup averaged 1.5M viewers for Ion’s most-watched W game this season.
🥊 The third edition of the boxing bout between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano averaged a global audience of of 6M viewers on Netflix, making it one of the most-watched women’s sports events of 2025 so far.
⚽ Manchester City finalized a 10-year extension with Puma reportedly worth $1.3B, a record amount for a deal between an English club and a kit manufacturer.
🎤 Rappers Busta Rhymes, Clipse, and GELO (basketball player LiAngelo Ball) will perform at the ESPYs tonight. So be it.
💼 Future University of Miami golfer Kai Trump banked a new NIL partnership with Accelerator Active Energy that makes her an equity partner alongside Livvy Dunne and Travis Kelce.
🥇 Olympic gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson is the newest addition to track meet Athlos NYC 2025.
🏀 Chicago Sky guard Ariel Atkins is one of several WNBA athletes that will join the Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball league for the first time in its upcoming 2026 season.
Together With The Hustle
👀 Have you noticed that mascots are having a moment? You’re not alone, and if you subscribe to The Hustle — our favorite source for wild, weird, and wacky business stories — you’d understand why.
- Join 1.5M Hustlers who start their day with a bite-sized dose of funky business and tech news. Trust us — there’s so much to learn from The Hustle.
Here’s what has The GIST team currently hyped:
⚽️ What to learn about
Malala’s new project. She’s turning her sports fandom into a global push for gender equality in athletics — from schoolyard cricket all the way to the pro leagues.
⚾️ What to watch
"Eephus," a heartfelt film about playing one last pickup baseball game before the local field is torn down.
⛳ What to play
Coffee Golf. What better way to start your day than with a quick round and a cup of coffee?
Today's email was brought to you by Aryanna Prasad and Briana Ekanem. Fact checking by Bonnie Lee. Operations by Elisha Gunaratnam and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Molly Potter and Ellen Hyslop. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.