September 24, 2024

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The WNBA playoff opener showed a huge audience divide, with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever drawing more viewers on ABC than three ESPN games combined. It’s the latest data point in a debate sweeping through the growing league.

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

WNBA Day 1 Playoff TV Ratings Show Extent of Caitlin Clark Effect [[link removed]]

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There’s even more proof of the Caitlin Clark Effect.

ESPN announced that Game 1 between Clark’s Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun averaged 1.8 million viewers on ABC [[link removed]] during the 3 p.m. ET time slot Sunday, making it the league’s most-watched playoff game since the 2000 Finals and the most-watched playoff game on ESPN platforms ever despite airing simultaneously with the NFL’s Week 3 games. That number more than doubles the 728,000 average viewership of the 2023 WNBA Finals.

While the Fever-Sun contest set a playoff viewership record, the three other WNBA playoff openers that aired on ESPN only averaged close to 425,000 viewers [[link removed]], less than the 470,000 average for the 2023 playoffs.

The 1 p.m. contest between the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty drew 410,000 viewers, the 5 p.m. matchup between the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx averaged 403,000 viewers, and the nightcap, a 10 p.m. showdown that pitted the defending champion Las Vegas Aces against the Seattle Storm, drew 461,000 viewers.

Stiff Competition

The WNBA is no stranger to competing against the NFL [[link removed]] as its playoffs trickle into the beginning of football season. But this year was the first time the W had its playoff opening day on a Sunday—and there seems to have been some cannibalization.

While the viewership number for the Fever-Sun game was record-breaking, that number still would not have breached the top five most-watched regular-season games of the year [[link removed]]. That list was topped by the June 23 contest between the Fever and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky, which aired on ESPN and drew 2.3 million viewers. MLB was the W’s biggest competition for eyeballs that Sunday.

It also helped the Sky-Fever game in June was settled by just one point. On Sunday, the Fever were blown out by the higher-seeded Sun, 93–69, and all other games were decided by double digits.

The WNBA could look at exploring a schedule change—though that may become even more difficult as the league adds more regular-season games and expansion teams [[link removed]]. It will be worth watching whether Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s WNBA games on ESPN will haul in more viewers with the NFL out of the picture.

What If the Fever Are Eliminated?

The WNBA should be happy with Sunday’s viewership numbers—the four games total are still up 89% compared to last year’s first-round average. But it may have a reality check coming this week.

Clark and the Fever are not favored to make it past the first round, and because the opening round is a best-of-three series, the Fever could be eliminated Wednesday [[link removed]].

Despite overall growth over the past half decade, Clark is still undoubtedly the league’s biggest draw [[link removed]], considering Fever games top the ratings charts and drive sellouts at opposing teams’ arenas. The rest of the 2024 rookie class brought a contingent of fans to the pro level, but the likes of Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and Kamilla Cardoso are also no longer in action.

The residual effects of Clark’s season could easily lead to a record viewership number for the playoffs, but it still will be noteworthy to see exactly how big of an interest drop-off there will be if the Fever are knocked out.

The WNBA has already locked in a media-rights deal worth $2.2 billion that lasts until 2037. It also has the opportunity to make up to $3 billion as it negotiates an extension with Scripps Sports’ Ion and CBS. However, this year’s playoff ratings could ultimately play a factor in the price reevaluation of the league’s media deal [[link removed]] after the 2028 season.

NEWS

Brett Favre Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis

At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on welfare reform, former NFL star Brett Favre disclosed he’s recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The Hall of Famer’s testimony also addressed his involvement in the misuse of $8 million in welfare funds.

Front Office Sports senior reporter A.J. Perez has more on Favre’s revelation here [[link removed]].

Conference Realignment: Court Battle Looms in Complicated Saga [[link removed]]

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Last summer, the Pac-12 saw 10 of its member schools bolt for other conferences, resulting in a temporary two-team league. This fall, the Pac-12 has been the aggressor and is now taking legal action to ensure its survival and supremacy over other non–Power 4 conferences.

In the latest move of this already busy week, the Pac-12 sued the Mountain West [[link removed]] over what would be at least $55 million in exit fees for five schools that have agreed to join the former.

Here’s a recap of the biggest moments so far:

The Pac-12 and Mountain West were left in limbo Monday night [[link removed]] after neither could secure the proper commitments [[link removed]] from programs they were fighting over. The American Athletic Conference thwarted an attempt by the Pac-12 to steal as many as four schools [[link removed]]—Memphis, South Florida, Tulane, and UTSA—announcing Monday that all 15 league members were committed to the AAC. Two weeks ago, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State agreed to jump from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 [[link removed]] in 2026. In the Pac-12’s lawsuit filed Tuesday, the conference said Utah State has also agreed to leave the Mountain West. Friends and Foes

The ensuing court battle will come after the breakdown of the Pac-12–Mountain West partnership [[link removed]] that helped fill out the football schedules of Oregon State and Washington State this season and next.

Meanwhile, this latest round of realignment is impacting the future of the College Football Playoff [[link removed]], as five conference champions are guaranteed automatic bids in the new 12-team tournament, ensuring at least one non–Power 4 school will make it each year.

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FanServ’s unique platform brings media buyers together with publishers in a marketplace setting, enabling its partners to execute through programmatic’s pipes. By increasing transparency between both the supply and demand sides, FanServ’s marketplace [[link removed]] provides buyers the opportunity to select from the most premium inventory partner network. Meanwhile, publishers are able to control their avails and pricing in a direct-to-advertiser plan.

A’s Begin Final Oakland Series Amid Anger, Sadness, and Uncertainty [[link removed]]

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The Athletics’ final goodbye in Oakland has begun, and not surprisingly, the occasion contains a mix of feelings, including anger, sadness, and awkwardness—putting a difficult coda on one of MLB’s thorniest business issues.

The A’s start a three-game home series against the Rangers on Tuesday, the team’s final games at the Oakland Coliseum after a 57-season stay there. The franchise is set to relocate this offseason for a three-year interim stay in Sacramento before ultimately moving to Las Vegas in 2028, with both of those shifts still grappling with their own logistical complications [[link removed]].

Back in Oakland, Coliseum and team officials are bracing for a potentially volatile week. Security has been increased for the three games, and players and coaches have been given a series of additional guidelines, including instructions to not loiter on the field after the final game Thursday.

Though the A’s are by far the worst-attended team in the league, averaging fewer than 10,400 fans per game, the last contest Thursday has long been a sellout [[link removed]], and the club has refused fan overtures to open up “Mount Davis” [[link removed]]—the Coliseum’s large outfield seating section built in the 1990s for the NFL’s Raiders—for additional capacity.

Rebukes for the Owner

A’s owner John Fisher released a lengthy open letter to fans Monday [[link removed]], apologizing for failing to complete a stadium deal that would allow the team to stay in Oakland. In the missive, Fisher pointed to constraints from a “binding agreement to find a new home by 2024,” which helped drive the A’s to Las Vegas.

That agreement, part of MLB’s five-year labor deal with the MLB Players Association [[link removed]], indeed includes language to disqualify the A’s from the league’s revenue-sharing plan if a stadium deal wasn’t completed by Jan. 15, 2024. The A’s beat that date with last year’s deal with Nevada officials and subsequent MLB approval to move to Las Vegas [[link removed]]. But that supposed urgency is fundamentally based around money, something many A’s fans have struggled to reconcile given Fisher’s estimated $3 billion net worth [[link removed]].

Furthermore, industry sources tell Front Office Sports the inclusion of the revenue-sharing eligibility for the A’s in the collective bargaining agreement with the players was driven much more by team owners and the league than it was by the union.

“With all due respect, which is more than you likely deserve, save it,” former A’s pitcher Trevor May tweeted [[link removed]] regarding the Fisher letter. “Be an adult. Get in front of a camera and say it with your chest. Releasing a letter, clearly written by someone else, and including a bunch of names you DEFINITELY do not know, is just disrespectful to those that love the team. … Either stand up with pride or keep hiding. Pick one, we’re tired.”

Even Green Day front-man Billie Joe Armstrong, who was born in Oakland and grew up in nearby Rodeo, Calif., blasted Fisher during a recent concert at San Francisco’s Oracle Park.

“We don’t take no s*** from people like John f***ing Fisher, who sold out the Oakland A’s to Las f***ing Vegas,” Armstrong said. “I f***ing hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst s***hole in America.”

TUNED IN Scripps Sports President on RSN Issues, Free Sports

FOS illustration

​​Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor sat down with Michael McCarthy at the Front Office Sports Tuned In [[link removed]?] summit to discuss the disintegration of regional sports networks, new deals with NHL and WNBA teams, and offering free sports coverage to almost every U.S. household.

Watch the full interview here [[link removed]].

AWARD

Whether it’s great leadership; focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; or commitment to employee well-being, the Front Office Sports Best Employers in Sports Award [[link removed]] recognizes organizations that do right by their employees.

Take the survey [[link removed]] by Nov. 6 for a chance to recognize your company as one of the best in the business.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Fox Friday night football ⬆ The network drew 4.21 million viewers for Illinois’s 31–24 overtime victory over Nebraska. That marked Fox’s highest Friday prime-time audience since Game 1 of the 2023 World Series. Kansas State–Arizona drew 2.58 million viewers [[link removed]] in the debut Fox Friday night college football broadcast on Sept. 13. Fox gets Washington at Rutgers this Friday night.

Leeds United ⬆ The Premier League club announced a plan to expand its home stadium, Elland Road, to seat 53,000 fans from its current capacity of 37,645. The announcement comes just months after the team regained full ownership of the venue it’s played in since 1919. The club first sold the stadium in 2004, and ownership had been transferred several times before the team’s new owner, 49ers Enterprises, paved the way for the team to reclaim the stadium.

Florida ⬆ Donna Orender, the WNBA’s president from 2005 to 2011, told Sports Business Journal she is part of an investment group looking to bring an expansion franchise to Jacksonville [[link removed]]. Other ownership groups are reportedly exploring the possibility of a WNBA expansion team [[link removed]] in the state, including the Magic front office. The Orlando Miracle and Miami Sol were previous WNBA franchises in Florida, with the former relocating and changing to the Connecticut Sun, while the latter shut down in 2002.

Cricket ⬇ The sport is set to return to the Olympics in 2028, but it may lose its spot in the 2026 Asian Games due to logistical challenges. The Asian Games will be held in Nagoya, Japan, but there may not be enough stadiums to house the sport. Cricket returned to the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou, China, for the first time since 2014.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS AWARDS

Are You Making an Impact?

Front Office Sports has partnered with Sports Innovation Lab to honor organizations making a significant impact in the business of sports.

The Most Impactful Award [[link removed]] celebrates organizations that leverage their power and platform to create positive change beyond generating revenue and expanding their business. These companies understand the importance of investing in people, communities, and causes to reach their full potential.

Consideration for this award is inclusive of:

DEI initiatives Youth sports programs Education programs Voter registration and voter access programs Community outreach Foundation work and charitable fundraising Messaging and communications

Submissions are open through Oct. 6 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Learn more [[link removed]] about the award or submit your organization today.

Conversation Starters New Balance dropped a new ad to welcome Shohei Ohtani to the “50/50 Club.” Take a look [[link removed]]. Manchester United released plans for a $2.6 billion stadium district [[link removed]], which includes residential and entertainment properties as well as the expansion of the iconic Old Trafford stadium to 100,000 seats. ESPN analyst and former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins explained on Front Office Sports Today why his life would have likely been completely different if he had gone to college in the NIL (name, image, and likeness) era of the NCAA. Check it out [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Pac-12 Sues Mountain West, Claims Eight-Figure Poaching Fees Are Illegal [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The suit is the latest volley between the new rivals. Vince McMahon Gets Defensive Over Upcoming Netflix Documentary [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The WWE legend has been the subject of sexual misconduct allegations. Tom Brady Roast Proves Netflix Sports Strategy Works [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]“The Roast of Tom Brady” crushed leading into Netflix’s NFL games. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[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]]

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