Everybody gets a shoe
From The GIST Sports Biz (hi@thegistsports.com)
Happy Friday!
The giving season started early this year for University of Utah basketball and gymnastics athletes. On Wednesday, the Crimson Collective presented each student-athlete with a tough choice: Jeep or Ram? This follows the NIL collective’s donation of 85 Dodge Rams to Utah’s scholarship football players. A real-life Crimson Chin.
WNBA
👟 Number 1s
The GIST: NY Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu (pronounced yo-NESS-coo) published a personal essay on Wednesday about her experience releasing the Sabrina 1s, her first Nike shoe and only the 12th signature shoe in WNBA history. Ionescu’s story encapsulates several pivotal trends within basketball, as well as a strategic shift in marketing women athletes. Count it.
The shoe: Aside from their distinct design elements, like Romanian-inspired patterns and Ionescu’s interwoven initials, the Sabrina 1s were set apart by their extensive rollout at Nike’s NYC Soho store. On the court, they allow for quick cuts, hence their rising status as a hardwood staple, with NFL and MLB players also rocking the shoe.
- NBA players like Jrue Holiday and Mikal Bridges aren’t just driving the 1s’ game — they’re being fashion-forward by introducing new colorways, cementing the kicks’ place in sneaker culture and brand strategy. Everybody gets a car shoe!
The approach: Ionescu said the environment Nike created for the 1s was something she’d never seen before, and that’s because Ionescu’s collection is redefining what it means to be a signature athlete. She’s the first Nike women’s basketball athlete to debut a unisex signature collection, which relied on input from athletes of all genders.
The success: Once again, Nike put on a clinic on how to expertly create and market a basketball shoe for all. The 1s are universally coveted — in her piece, Ionescu shares stories of boys and girls excited to buy her signature shoe. Together, Nike and Ionescu have changed the game at virtually every level: universities are now buying customized 1s for all their players.
- Gen Z is already doing away with gendered barriers in basketball fandom and viewership, and now their kicks are, too. Plus, the 1s are kicking down the door for other WNBA athletes — Ionescu teased more W signature shoes soon. We can’t wait.
Together With The GIST
🤝 The GIST by the numbers
In this newsletter, we like to highlight other organizations and their big wins, but allow us to have the spotlight for just a minute.
1M: We have over 1M GISTers across our growing ecosystem of newsletters, socials, and podcasts.
83%: The percentage of GISTers who prefer to support brands that support women’s sports and media.
91%: The ratio of GISTers who are interested in products we choose to share with them.
Assuming you’re a business person or care deeply about women’s sports, we’d love to talk about how we can authentically connect your company with our sought after audience of underserved sports fans.
📱 Why women athletes are winning over Gen Z
SportsPro Media’s Sam Carp recently detailed how women athletes see consistently higher engagement compared to their male counterparts because they’re more relatable to Gen Z fans. Specifically, they’re more active on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and are perceived to be more authentic in representing themselves on social media.
- What’s interesting about women winning the engagement battle is that their social head start is a direct result of their blatant exclusion from traditional media coverage. After years of being left out of the conversation, women athletes are dominating it online. Isn't it ironic?
🏀 Athletes Unlimited (AU) inks major signings for third pro season
A star-studded roster of WNBA standouts have signed on to participate in the 2024 season of AU Pro Basketball, beginning next February. Angel McCoughtry and Zia Cooke will take the AU court for the first time, while Sydney Colson and Allisha Gray will return alongside fellow alums.
- Despite its short, month-long season, AU continues to carve out space in a competitive WNBA offseason market that often lures players overseas with lucrative contracts.
🥒 ESPN ramps up Pickleball Slam with four key event sponsors
Following the success of its inaugural Pickleball Slam event this April, ESPN is bringing the event back for 2024 with the addition of four big partnerships. Hard Rock, State Farm, Brighthouse Financial, and Franklin Sports will all be presenting sponsors for the tournament, which will take place at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
- The big names don’t stop there — the upcoming iteration features returning tennis legends John McEnroe and Andre Agassi as they battle the iconic Steffi Graf and Maria Sharapova for a prize purse of $1M. A champion shot.
🏒 As of yesterday, all PWHL Toronto home games are officially sold out, approximately three weeks ahead of the team’s New Year’s Day debut.
🚫 Global soccer players union FIFPro revealed that one in five players at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup were targets of online discrimination and they were 29% more likely to receive online abuse than 2022 men’s World Cup athletes. Shameful.
🎾 Canadian tennis star Leylah Fernandez partnered with Ritz for “A Lunchbox Moment,” a campaign encouraging Canadian children to proudly embrace foods from their heritage.
⛳ T36, an innovative golf course outside Houston, Texas, debuted its new, condensed take on 18-hole golf that could become an economic and environmental game-changer. The best course out there, par none.
🏟️ Washington Mystics owner Ted Leonis plans to update Capital One Arena and make it the WNBA team’s new home.
🍺 Guinness signed a multiyear deal to replace TikTok as the title sponsor of the Women’s Six Nations international rugby competition. Cheers.
Giveaway Alert
If the College Football Playoff field puts your stress levels through the roof then we have the perfect solution for you. Take a break with your bestie and enjoy a five-night all-inclusive stay for two in Panama.
- That’s right, you and your BFFL can look forward to a relaxing stay at the Los Establos Boutique Resort, where all meals, beverages, and activities are covered. Enter this contest now.
Here’s what has GIST HQ buzzing:
🎧 What to listen to
The Business Case for Women’s Sports podcast, presented by Ally. Our friends at GOALS interviewed the NWSLPA's Executive Director, Meghann Burke, about how her team fights for labor rights of NWSL players. Fight on.
✉️ What to read
Charlie Baker’s letter. The NCAA president said he wants the association to create a new tier of NCAA Division I sports where schools are required to pay at least half of their athletes.
🥍 Who to check out
The Haudenosaunee. The White House is backing a push for the Indigenous group’s lacrosse teams to be able to compete under their own flag in the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A., honoring the sport’s origins.
Today's email was brought to you by Aryanna Prasad and Briana Ekanem. Fact checking by Bonnie Lee. Editing by Lindsay Jost. Operations by Elisha Gunaratnam and Lisa Minutillo. Ads by Lauren Tuiskula, Dee Lab and Alexis Allison. Managing edits by Molly Potter and Ellen Hyslop.