Diving in
From The GIST Sports Biz (hi@thegistsports.com)
Hi there!
We’ve got a great story ahead for all our winter sports girlies, but that’s not the only thing we have in store — we’re collaborating with sports equipment giant Bauer to bring GISTers an exclusive hockey jersey to commemorate how women are changing the game of hockey.
- Celebrating women’s hockey and women’s sports is all the rage these days: The PWHL just clocked 1M game attendees, we just celebrated our own 1M benchmark, and we’re ready to tackle the next milestone. Puck yeah.
Olympics
🎿 Suited and booted
The GIST: Yesterday, U.S. Ski & Snowboard banked a three-year partnership with American apparel brand J.Crew, making it the governing body’s official lifestyle apparel partner. In J.Crew’s longest deal to date, the brand intends to amplify the connection between snow sports and their après ski lifestyle, especially as the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games roll around. No waiting for this lift.
The details: J.Crew will create vintage-inspired Olympic loungewear and maintain a presence across the 10 national sports teams U.S. Ski & Snowboard oversees. The partnership officially hits the slopes with a sponsored “warm-up station” at the Stifel Sun Valley Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, next week.
The context: Last summer, J.Crew collaborated with USA Swimming ahead of Paris 2024 and was stunned by the results, which included a 10% increase in new customers and a double-digit boost in web traffic. To meet surging demand, the clothing brand responded with a second collection.
- According to The Broadsheet, this response showed J.Crew Group CEO Libby Wadle that sports — especially Olympic ones — offered the perfect assist for the brand, which came out of bankruptcy in the past decade and has been looking to re-establish its identity as a classic American brand.
The alignment: While both sides see the appeal of après ski apparel, there’s also a key demographic overlap that serves both companies. Fans of Olympic skiing and snowboarding tend to partake in these sports themselves, which generally require affluence. Additionally, J.Crew’s preppy aesthetic tends to appeal to middle-aged adults, which also overlaps with skiing’s average demo.
Zooming out: Aligning with the Olympics is good business and an ideal opportunity for companies looking to associate with prestige — it’s no coincidence luxury American brand Ralph Lauren has designed Team USA’s uniforms since 2008.
- Under Armour saw significant engagement when it featured iconic Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps in its 2016 spot, while Speedo saw its air time value at the 2008 Beijing Games more than triple what they paid Phelps. Time to dive in.
Women’s soccer
⚽ Kicking the ball around
The GIST: With investment in women’s soccer on the rise globally, some of the sport’s brightest minds have teamed up to capitalize on its universal appeal in an adapted format. Yesterday, World Sevens Football (W7F) announced it would launch this May as a multi-city women’s soccer tournament.
- With a 7v7 format, shorter matches, and a whopping $5M prize pool per event, the tournament series is set for success not just because of soccer’s marketability, but because of the NWSL greats who are behind it. Legends.
The details: W7F rosters, fields, and halves are all shorter than the traditional professional version of the sport in hopes of maximizing action and engagement for fans. The first tourney is already slated for Portugal in May, with plans for W7F to tour the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and Europe.
- Jennifer Mackesy — a minority owner of NWSL’s Gotham FC and WSL’s Chelsea FC — co-founded the tournament alongside CEO Justin Fishkin. USWNT legend Aly Wagner will serve as chief of strategy and the league will be driven by an active Player Advisory Council led by former USWNT star Tobin Heath. Cheeky.
The partner: The tournament has already secured an extensive media partnership with UK sports broadcaster DAZN that includes worldwide broadcasting, production, and marketing. Fans worldwide will be able to catch matches live and stream behind-the-scenes content, making W7F a truly global endeavor.
Zooming out: Shorter-form tournaments are all the rage lately, from Unrivaled’s 3v3 competition to Athletes Unlimited’s unique format. Not only can these formats be appealing to fans, but sponsors are also drawn to the novelty and hype — Unrivaled managed to sign more than 20 partnerships in its inaugural season.
- W7F is hitting the ground running with experienced NWSL leadership at the helm and knowledgeable players influencing its structure. If this league could be soccer’s version of Unrivaled in the future, sponsors should hit the pitch now. Watch this space.
Together With Intuit QuickBooks
🛑 Stop wasting time on accounting
🥵 If you’re in the thick of filing your taxes, you know that finances can be difficult — now imagine handling the bills for an entire thriving small business like The GIST. The secret? It's working smarter, not harder — and that’s why we use Intuit QuickBooks.
- QuickBooks powers growth for women’s small businesses by keeping key financial info in one metaphorical filing cabinet, making it easy for our 100% remote company to keep track of all critical aspects of the business from across the globe.
- Because when you’re not spending hours on tedious administrative nonsense, you’re free to follow your women’s sports-supporting dreams. Click here to learn how QuickBooks’ all-in-one platform powers The GIST.
🏟️ Six WNBA teams move games against Indiana Fever to larger venues
In a continuation of last season’s trend, the Dallas Wings are the sixth W team to level up a venue for the upcoming season when Caitlin Clark and the Fever come to town. The Wings are moving its June Fever game from the 7K-seater College Park Center to the 20K-seater American Airlines Center, home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
🍺 IDA Sports and Guinness team up for women’s rugby boot ahead of Six Nations
After being named the forthcoming Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) league’s official boot, women’s sports footwear brand Ida Sports is back to ruck things up. The company developed the first-ever soft ground cleat designed specifically for women in collaboration with longtime rugby sponsor Guinness, which began sponsoring the women’s Six Nations tournament in 2019.
- The iconic Irish beer brand is closely intertwined with men’s rugby, but since its sponsorship of the women’s game is more recent, it's looking to quickly cover ground. Pinch us.
🚫 President Trump freezes $175M in federal funding to alma mater over trans athlete policy
Yesterday, the White House announced the president’s decision to halt funding for UPenn due to its policy regarding trans athlete participation, noting that Trump has threatened to strip funding from schools that defy his recent executive order. Protect trans athletes.
📺 Unrivaled’s Monday finale drew its largest audience ever with a 385K viewership peak and 364K average viewers, a 99% increase from its regular-season average. Big things poppin’.
🏉 WER inked an exclusive streaming deal with DAZN to air all of its games for free.
🎥 Adidas women’s basketball head Candace Parker worked as the creative director and executive producer for a new Adidas film starring several WNBA stars. She shoots, she scores.
👀 The women’s March Madness Selection Sunday show averaged 1.7M viewers, making it the second most-viewed women’s basketball Selection Sunday in the past 20 years.
👕 Canada’s Northern Super League revealed the home kits for its inaugural season, which were designed in collaboration with uniform partner Hummel.
🤸 Olympic gymnast Suni Lee joined elite male athletes Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, and Travis Hunter for Dick’s Sporting Goods’ latest brand campaign.
⚽ Red Bull signed soccer phenom Olivia Moultrie to its athlete roster, where she will join fellow women’s soccer star Trinity Rodman. Getting wings.
🌍 The International Olympic Committee elected Kirsty Coventry as its next president, making the Zimbabwe native the first woman and first African to serve in the position.
Together With LOVB
🏐 There’s no such thing as a free lunch — but you can take a free trip to the LOVB championship game. That’s right, League One Volleyball is giving one lucky winner (and three of their friends) a VIP experience at the LOVB Finals championship match on April 13th in Louisville, KY. Now that’s an ace.
- To enter, vote for your favorite players to be recognized as LOVB Icons, League One Volleyball’s inaugural All-Star program.
- One person will win a once-in-a-lifetime weekend, complete with four LOVB Finals tickets, two hotel rooms, and $1K for travel expenses. May the odds be ever in your favor.
Hi. It’s us. We’re the recommenders, it’s us.
👟 What to wear
A new sneaker. The adidas Samba craze is cooling, but women’s sneaker culture is just heating up.
📸 What to check out
This photo series. Four Muslim athletes share how Ramadan transforms their game — and their lives — in a stunning shoot.
🏁 Who to know
Katherine Legge. She’s the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick did it in 2018. Vroom, vroom.
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