August 15, 2024

Read in Browser [[link removed]]

POWERED BY

Good morning! Interest in the WNBA is soaring. After the Summer Olympics elevated women’s basketball further, can the league sustain its incredible trajectory in the season’s second half?

— Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

The WNBA Is Back and Looking to Maintain Momentum [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The WNBA season resumes Thursday after a month-long break. But for WNBA executives, the month off was spent working, as the league looks to carry over momentum from the first half of a game-changing season.

Dan Gadd, SVP for growth with the Atlanta Dream, tells Front Office Sports that his staff clocked in to ensure a successful second half of the season—and also focus on 2025. Gadd, who has worked with three NFL teams in the past, says the WNBA’s unprecedented growth this year has altered data and changed forecasting methods for business decisions like ticket prices and sponsorships.

“I’ve never seen a year-over-year change in sports like this, and how to handle that’s been one of the biggest questions. It’s been phenomenal,” Gadd says.

The league’s growth is driven by the arrival of the 2024 rookie class that features Caitlin Clark (above) and Angel Reese. The WNBA has 16 games with at least one million viewers this season—including the All-Star Game—14 of them featuring Clark, and the top two most-watched games between the Indiana Fever and Reese’s Chicago Sky. Not a single game breached the one-million-viewer mark last year, including the Finals.

The Dream, whose home arena, Gateway Center, holds just 3,500 people, moved [[link removed]] two home games [[link removed]] against the Fever to the State Farm Arena, the home of the NBA’s Hawks, which can seat around 19,000 fans.

“From the minute that they declared for the draft, our website went crazy, and the number of leads coming in was fantastic,” Gadd says.

Bridging the Gap

There is some risk for the WNBA in maintaining its viewers coming from this break. Clark and Reese were not included [[link removed]] on the gold-medal-winning USA team, and have been away from the spotlight for the last month. The NFL and college football are also set to return and their games will coincide with the WNBA playoffs.

But Gadd says he’s not worried about a lapse in fan interest, citing the visibility of WNBA stars in the Olympics and pointing out that the Dream are “close” to selling out all 20 home games for the first time.

“I’m not losing any sleep over that,” Gadd says. “The women’s team won gold, the women’s 3×3 team with our Rhyne Howard won bronze. It’s not like we’ve just become irrelevant overnight.”

Team USA’s one-point victory in the Olympic final over France on Sunday averaged 7.8 million viewers—including 10.9 million in the second half.

A Media-Rights Win

Near the start of the break, the WNBA—together with the NBA—agreed on a media-rights deal [[link removed]] with ESPN, NBCU, and Amazon worth $2.2 billion over 11 years.

Gadd says it was a “strong deal” for the WNBA, and pointed at two specific reasons. First, the deal significantly raised the value of the league since it more than tripled the estimated $60 million per year the league currently receives from media deals. He also says the ability of the league to reevaluate [[link removed]] the price in 2028 gives it “flexibility” to increase its value.

“It allows us to both raise the bar right now and continue to grow over time, and that’s all you can ask,” Gadd says.

The Caitlin Clark Effect

The WNBA has seen a TV ratings explosion this season. Some of that is due to the continued growth of the league, which we’d seen in recent years. But it’s hard to argue against Caitlin Clark’s popularity and her effect on viewership.

As you can see in the chart above, 14 of the 16 highest-rated WNBA games this season featured Clark. The league is leaning into her popularity and scheduling the Fever for as many high-profile games as possible. When the 11–15 Fever become contenders someday, the sky is the limit.

SPONSORED BY U.S. BANK

Beyond the Fairway With Collin Morikawa

Behind every great athlete is a dedicated team that turns personal aspirations into collective triumphs. From coaches and mentors to family and friends, this support system plays a crucial role in an athlete’s success. That’s the power of us [[link removed]].

Collin Morikawa began his PGA Tour career with 22 consecutive made-cuts—second only to Tiger Woods’s 25 cut streak. He is also a two-time major champion and two-time Olympian. Behind his success, he has a team committed to building his legacy and perfecting his game.

Learn how JJ, Kip, and Rian are dedicated players on Collin’s Untold Team [[link removed]].

Golf Remains Divided As PGA Tour’s $100 Million Playoffs Get Underway [[link removed]]

Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

Men’s professional golf remains a fractured sport for now, but the world’s top players continue to compete for more money than ever before.

As LIV Golf members play for a $25 million purse in the league’s West Virginia event this weekend, the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs are teeing off in Memphis on Thursday, with two $20 million tournament prize pots and a record $100 million in bonus money up for grabs over the next three weeks.

The 70 PGA Tour players who qualified for the postseason will be whittled down to 50 for next week’s tournament in Colorado, and eventually 30 for the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The winner of that final event will take home $25 million as this year’s FedExCup champion, up from the $18 million that Viktor Hovland won last year. Second place will receive $12.5 million. The top 10 finishers in the FedExCup collectively will take home $68.25 million. Mark Your Calendars

The PGA Tour released its 2025 season schedule Wednesday, which likely means negotiations with LIV’s financial backers, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, are not far enough along to expect a reunion of top players on a singular circuit next year. “I think that’s fair,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said when asked about that proposition ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Monahan stuck to his previous stance of not sharing specific details of talks with the PIF, but he acknowledged he has taken part in a lot of meetings on the subject. “We continue to be in regular dialogue,” he said. “I’m encouraged by that.”

LIV will finish its season next month, but it has not released a schedule for 2025. Last year, LIV formally announced its 2024 calendar in November, about a month after its 2023 season finished in October.

Drake, Durant Continue Euro Soccer Ownership Trend for U.S. Celebrities [[link removed]]

Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

The growing trend of U.S. celebrities buying stakes in European soccer teams received a major boost this week from two of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.

Fresh off his Olympic gold-medal performance with Team USA, Suns superstar Kevin Durant (above) purchased a stake in French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain, and rap phenom Drake became an investor in Venezia FC, which was just promoted to Italy’s top division. Both celebrities invested in their respective teams through private equity firms that already have stakes in the clubs.

Durant and Drake join a long list of other athletes, entertainers, and actors who have ownership stakes in soccer clubs across the pond, including household names like LeBron James (Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group), Tom Brady (Birmingham City), and, of course, Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

French Connection

Durant’s company, Boardroom Sports Holdings, bought an undisclosed portion of the 12.5% stake in PSG that Arctos Partners acquired [[link removed]] in December. That transaction valued the soccer club at roughly $4.6 billion at the time. Arctos also has stakes in franchises across the NBA, NHL, and MLB.

This is Durant’s third minority ownership stake of a soccer team, following previous investments in the Philadelphia Union (MLS) and NJ/NY Gotham FC (NWSL). He’s also a co-owner of a Major League Pickleball club.

The PSG deal puts Durant in business with club majority owner Qatar Sports Investments—the entity controlled by the Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. That last year, QIA paid [[link removed]] $200 million for a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Washington Wizards and Capitals.

Musical Chairs

Drake acquired his stake in Venezia by joining Apex Capital, which purchased a minority stake in the club last month. In addition to the investment, the rapper’s apparel company Nocta, which is a sub-brand of Nike, is becoming Venezia’s uniform provider. Apex also has investments in the Alpine Formula 1 team and the Tiger Woods–back TGL golf league.

Meanwhile, Drake’s chief brand officer, Matte Babel, told GQ Italia [[link removed]] that before the investment was made, the rapper and his team helped Venezia raise more than $40 million to avoid bankruptcy before earning promotion to Serie A.

Drake and James are also passive investors in AC Milan through their partner fund, Main Street Advisors, which has a minority stake in the Italian soccer giant owned by RedBird Capital Partners.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is an investor in Front Office Sports.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Rapoport on NFL Star Holdouts, Cowboys’ ‘Infinite’ Value

FOS illustration

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport joins the show to discuss the holdouts of Haason Reddick, CeeDee Lamb, and Brandon Aiyuk, plus major changes to the NFL as we know it. The “RapSheet” gives his take on new gameplay rules, private equity in the NFL, and the league’s gambling integration.

We also get a breakdown of USA Gymnastics’ options regarding Jordan Chiles’s disputed bronze medal from Howard Jacobs, a seasoned attorney specializing in athlete disputes. Plus, the Intuit Dome opens, a former athlete enters politics, an NHL team is for sale, and Dr. Dre wants in on the 2028 Olympics … as a competitor.

Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

LOUD AND CLEAR 18 for LA28

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

“If they actually bring flag football to the Olympics, I would 100% want to do it.”

—Caleb Williams (above) on playing flag football in the Olympics. The Bears rookie quarterback made the comment during the second episode of Hard Knocks [[link removed]]. Flag football will debut in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and it’s likely that NFL players, active and retired, will be tapped [[link removed]] to play for Team USA. Peter O’Reilly, an NFL executive, said last fall that there is “real and palpable” interest from players to participate, and stars like Tyreek Hill and Micah Parsons have already publicly expressed their desire to play in the Olympics.

SPONSORED BY U.S. BANK

Bank Smarter. Live Bigger.

U.S. Bank has been making greatness happen since 1863. But not alone. We know above all else that there’s nothing we can’t do together. From buying a home to kick-starting a career, U.S. Bank [[link removed]] is there to support you every step of the way.

We’re dedicated to powering your financial future and, as a result, our collective future. We’ve been doing it since the beginning and are committed to continuing this legacy, and yours.

That’s the power of us [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters Indianapolis, home of Caitlin Clark and the Fever, will host [[link removed]] the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Notre Dame’s football team will be featured [[link removed]] in a docuseries premiering Aug. 29 on Peacock that will be in the mold of HBO’s Hard Knocks. Nike posted a tribute to Diana Taurasi after she won her sixth gold medal with Team USA, the most for any basketball player. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks FanDuel Founders Expand Lawsuit Against Board Members Who Sold Company [[link removed]]by Jeff Benson [[link removed]]They claim private equity investors “wiped out” their shares. Meet the NFL Equipment Manager Coaching in the Little League World Series [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Adam Johnson is going into his 19th season with the Raiders. Tampa Bay Lightning Starting Process of $2 Billion Sale [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The valuation would destroy the NHL record. Question of the Day

Do you enjoy alternate broadcasts like Nickelodeon’s presentation of NFL games?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s result: 73% of respondents think active NFL players will compete in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].

Update your preferences [link removed] / Unsubscribe [link removed]

Copyright © 2024 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.

460 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York NY, 10016