The WNBA and its teams are now valued at $1 billion following a historic capital raise of $75 million, a source with knowledge of the investment’s impact told Front Office Sports.

The league billed the raise as the biggest ever for a “women’s sports property.” It includes a roster of A-list investors from the basketball community, as well as the worlds of business and politics. 

The funds will go toward “human capital and operational optimization,” marketing and growing the fanbase, merchandise strategy, and the globalization of the league.

• Part of the raise was a “significant equity investment” from Nike.
• Investors with NBA and WNBA ties include Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, Pau Gasol, and Swin Cash.
• Other investors include former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Laurene Powell Jobs.

The news follows a 2021 season that saw major growth — regular-season ratings were up 49% over 2020, per ESPN. The league earns about $25 million a year in media rights — a fraction of the NBA’s revenue.

Player Experience

While the WNBA has made major strides in recent years with investing in players, criticism over salaries and resources continue.

Player salaries won’t grow immediately as a result of the raise, and neither will access to charter flights, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. Right now, the funds will give the WNBA more resources that “elevate players in the marketplace.”

Penn National Gaming reported $1.6 billion in fourth-quarter revenue on Friday, a $545.1 million increase from the same period last year.

During the quarter, Penn National completed its acquisition of Score Media and Gaming, which operates sports content app theScore, for roughly $2 billion. The app generated record revenue with a 32% year-over-year increase. 

The board has also authorized a new $750 million share-buyback program.

Up until 2020, Penn National focused almost exclusively on horse racing and casinos but has expanded its footprint in sports betting over the last two years. 

• In January 2020, Penn purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports at a $450 million valuation.
• As part of the deal, Penn would be able to own 50% by 2023, but president and CEO Jay Snowden said that the company plans to acquire the entire brand.

The Barstool Sportsbook is expected to be integrated with theScore media app in the second half of the year. 

The Penn-acle of Sports Betting

Last month, Penn launched its Barstool mobile and online sportsbook in Louisiana, the sportsbook’s 12th state in operation. In November, it launched temporary sportsbooks in five Louisiana properties, leading to a combined market share of 58% in handle and 53% in gross gaming revenues in December.

Barstool Sportbook reportedly handled $775 million in 2021, and Penn estimates the company’s total national share of the retail sports betting market is 12%, excluding Nevada.

Nintendo reported lackluster earnings and lowered its full-year sales outlook for the Switch console following the release of its latest earnings report.  

The Japanese video game giant generated $11 billion in sales for the nine months ending Dec. 31, 2021, a 6% decrease year-over-year. Nintendo reported a $3.2 billion profit during the period, down 3% compared to the same period the year prior.

Nintendo had a previous goal to sell 24 million units this fiscal year but now hopes to offload 23 million units, citing the semiconductor shortage and COVID for the modified sales target. 

• Between October 2021 and December 2021, 10.67 million Switch consoles were shipped.
• The Switch is officially Nintendo’s best-selling home console ever, with 103.54 million units sold.
• Despite the historic mark, hardware sales decreased 21% year-over-year over nine months. 

Nintendo’s adjusted sales for the Switch follow a previous full-year sales forecast of 25.5 million units, but the target was cut to 24 million units last quarter for the same reasons.  

Arms Race 

Sony’s PlayStation 5 has sold 17.3 million units globally since its November 2020 release despite the chip shortage.

Microsoft saw Xbox sales increase 4% year-over-year for the fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31, 2021, despite limited supply of the consoles.