A league of her own
From The GIST Sports Biz (hi@thegistsports.com)
Hey there!
The competition at Grand Slams isn’t limited to the court — each of these four marquee tennis tournaments pushes to grant the biggest prize, with the US Open leading the way in fair pay. On Wednesday, the NYC–based event upped the ante by offering a record $90M in prize money this year, with singles champions each winning $5M (up 39% YoY). Everything’s coming up aces.
NWSL
📚 Booked and busy
The GIST: This week, Gotham FC is rolling out a first-of-its-kind partnership with longtime sponsor Dove and girls empowerment brand Rebel Girls (RG), which also signed existing partnerships with LOVB and AUSL after launching its dedicated sports vertical this year.
- Together, these partners published Changing the Game: A Playbook for Champions in Training, featuring former and current Gotham stars. The move illustrates increased investment from women’s sports leagues — and interested brands — to reach Gen Alpha girls and keep them in sports. There she is.
The details: The unique book aims to inspire young players by sharing the stories of USWNT legend and Gotham FC ambassador Ali Krieger and several other soccer internationals. It also includes educational tools and training tips, dovetailing with Gotham FC’s “Keep Her in the Game” initiative, which reached over 1.7K girls in NY and New Jersey last year.
- The free book is available for digital download, with physical copies gifted to girls in the “Keep Her in the Game” program, local libraries, schools, and other nonprofit partners, and given out at Gotham’s game tomorrow. Through these various channels, these organizations hope to reach over 1M readers.
The sponsors: Between Dove and Rebel Girls, there’s a lot of brand alignment with Gotham, a surging club with access to NYC–area programs dedicated to uplifting girls in sports. Dove’s involvement builds on its “Body Confident” initiative, which examined dropout rates for girls in sports and created online coaching tools to keep them in the game.
- This tracks with RG’s mission to educate and inspire girls, which it extended to sports after observing the ROI of sports storytelling. Last December, nearly half of its 20 most-watched YouTube videos focused on sports, and after launching Rebel Girl Sports in January, the channel has 8.4M views and 236K hours watched.
Zooming out: Projects like this help leagues and brands reach Gen Alpha, which boasts a higher share of avid soccer fans than older generations. This generation may be primed for sports fandom, but it takes investing in kid-friendly experiences and resources to keep them and their parents coming.
- Plus, centering young girls in sports marketing can go a long way in building brand affinity and loyalty for the whole family — especially since these kids overwhelmingly drive brand awareness in their households. Who’s really the boss?
NWSL
📈 Hitting their stride
The GIST: Yesterday, data insights platform SponsorUnited followed up its inaugural WNBA Partnerships Report with its first-ever NWSL Partnerships Report. It includes insights from the 2024 and 2025 season so far, including which brands are investing in the women’s game and the teams that are driving the league’s value. So much green.
💰 Sponsorship revenue across NWSL teams reached $75M for the 2024 season. Teams bagged 441 total sponsorship deals and 401 brand sponsors across 167 distinct categories, which is 16% more categories compared to 2022. The average team generated $5.4M in sponsorship revenue and banked an average $170K per brand deal.
- The NWSL welcomed 200 new brand partners in 2024, with half of the league’s top 15 highest-spending deals from newcomers. And among the top 10 new sponsors by total spend, three brands — KC Current stadium rights holder CPKC, multi-team sponsor United Way, and Bay FC founder Sixth Street — spent over 90% of their pro sports sponsorship budget in the NWSL.
⚽ Three NWSL teams are responsible for nearly half of this revenue. Angel City FC (ACFC), the Current, and San Diego Wave FC drove 46% of total league sponsorship revenue in 2024. While this shows the impressive marketing power of these teams, there’s risk in the league’s sponsorships being disproportionately distributed.
- The NWSL’s highest-valued team continues to demonstrate its brand value through savvy marketing: ACFC outperformed 15 MLS and 25 MLB teams in sponsorship revenue on a per-game basis. The club generated $29 per social follower, much higher than the $8 per NY Yankees fan and $13 per LA Dodgers fan.
⚕️ Healthcare led all categories in spending, followed by finance and transportation. Healthcare partnerships drove the most revenue, including Bay FC’s $13M jersey patch deal and the Utah Royals’ Intermountain Health agreement. The next biggest category was finance, spurred by numerous regional banks and credit unions, then transportation in third largely thanks to CPKC.
💸 Racing Louisville leads the league in sponsorship deals. Though ACFC generated the most revenue (almost $20M), Louisville has secured the most sponsorship deals with 94, followed by the North Carolina Courage (61), Current (47), and ACFC (43). ACFC’s Ali Riley led players with the most deals at 11 — even we teamed up with her last year. Tiny mic, big impact.
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🏀 Unrivaled filled 90% of next year’s roster, added six spots for injury substitutions, and bumped up salaries from last year’s $220K average. On to the next one.
🎥 Amazon Prime debuted its three-part documentary on retired WNBA legend Diana Taurasi’s illustrious career this week.
🦁 Michele Kang’s London City Lionesses named former Krause Group Soccer CEO Martin Semmens as its CEO following its first-ever promotion to the WSL.
🥇 Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles officially launched the SHERO Athlete Collective, a first-of-its-kind branding and mentorship program for young elite women athletes.
👀 Disney CEO Bob Iger discussed adding sports content from other networks to ESPN’s forthcoming streaming platform, which launches August 21st. Sound familiar?
⚡ Sports drink Electrolit secured a multiyear partnership with WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
🍪 Dick’s Sporting Goods launched Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, the sports retailer’s new content and production arm set to debut a documentary on ESPN next week.
🧀 Global snack brand Kellanova partnered with U.S. Soccer as its official snack in the brand’s first-ever sports sponsorship across its entire portfolio.
⚾ Minor League Baseball umpire Jen Pawol will become the first woman ump to work a regular-season MLB game this Saturday. A league of her own.
Here’s what passed The GIST squad’s vibe check this week:
🏈 Who to know
Kristin Juszczyk. The viral designer and friend of The GIST is running an NFL-licensed line featuring the perfect gameday looks.
🗣️ What to say
Slavic names...correctly. If you’ve ever stumbled through Jokić or Dončić, you’re not alone, but the NBA is here to help.
🎓 What to check out
Polo Ralph Lauren for Oak Bluffs. Polo Ralph Lauren just debuted a new collab with Morehouse and Spelman Colleges inspired by Oak Bluffs, a historic Black summer haven on Martha’s Vineyard.
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