Money, please

The GIST: After a successful inaugural W Gold Cup, the NWSL and Liga MX Femenil — Mexico’s top pro women’s soccer league — will compete in the first-ever NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup this year. Similar to Europe’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, it further proves the viability of international women’s soccer tourneys in the Western Hemisphere. Another cup, please.

The details: The concept is identical to MLS’ and Liga MX’s Leagues Cup and will feature all 14 NWSL clubs and 2023’s top six Liga MX Femenil teams. The 33-match competition runs from mid-July to late October and is being billed as the “1.0 version” of a standalone summer tournament.

The context: Europe has played host to international women’s soccer club competitions for years, but North America hasn’t due to a lack of leagues — only the U.S. and Mexico currently have pro leagues on the continent…for now. Canada’s Project 8, which would establish an eight-team pro women’s soccer league in the country, expects to launch in 2025.

The pushback: While it’s a fiscal win for both leagues, the Summer Cup is already fielding criticism from women’s soccer fans. It overlaps with the Olympics (where many NWSL and Liga MX players will compete) and proposes a contentious format. There are also growing concerns about how crowded calendars affect player health amid an ACL epidemic that keeps sidelining top players.

• NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman addressed these calendar concerns in a recent interview, noting the league needs to be at the table when tournaments like the W Champions Cup are scheduled. “We cannot thrive or even build a sustainable business…if we don’t have the ability to manage our calendar,” she said.

Zooming out: The Summer Cup marks a turning point for the NWSL, especially since Berman identified the time between 2026 and 2031 as a crucial growth period for pro women’s soccer. It also allows the NWSL to gain exposure from fans in Mexico, something men’s sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, and UFC have already been trying to tap into. Get’cha head in the game.

The GIST: A recent SponsorUnited NIL report on the 2023-24 season details how women college athletes are taking over the NIL space as they see a higher percentage of deals per athlete and increased social engagement compared to men. Here are some of the most telling numbers that prove women athletes are ideal brand ambassadors.

💰 Women athletes had 52% of NIL deals, outscoring the 48% of deals for men. Last season, 62% of deals belonged to men and 38% went to women. While college football dominates men’s NIL deals, 2023-24 deals for women were spread evenly across sports, with WBB accounting for 35%, followed by gymnastics at 18% and volleyball at 15%.

🎓 A surprising 35% of brands invested solely sponsoring NIL athletes. This is lower than the 51% of brands that only opt to invest in major pro sports, but for some brands, collegiate partnerships offer more targeted advertising opportunities. The pharmacy, educational services and car wash industries have notably embraced NIL investments. Cleaning up.

🏐 Southern Methodist University volleyball star Alex Glover has 41 NIL deals, the most of any college athlete. Volleyball’s total number of deals doubled YoY thanks to two factors: Glover’s 33 new deals this year pushed the needle forward considerably, and women’s volleyball is surging in popularity thanks to strong grassroots participation.

🏀 Women's basketball saw a 60% NIL deal increase YoY, far outpacing men's basketball. The sport accounted for 35% of women’s sponsorships, with the apparel, fast-food, and tech industries representing the most active brands in the sport. The NIL discrepancy is best represented by shoe deals: 14 women’s players have NIL shoe deals, compared to three on the men’s side.

📱 NIL athletes in women’s basketball and gymnastics gained at least 60K social media followers this season. That’s triple the follower growth of men’s football and reflects a 34% YoY increase, which translated to new deals: Women athletes saw a 36% YoY jump in NIL deals signed. Sealed and delivered.

The GIST: As of this week, women’s March Madness ads are effectively sold out. It’s estimated that Disney — the network that owns the women’s tournament — could generate more than $25M in ad sales revenue this year, up from the estimated $19.4M ESPN and ABC made during last year’s tourney. It’s a mad world.

Converting first-time advertisers: It’s no surprise that longtime ESPN women’s sports sponsor Capital One continues to support the tournament, but it is surprising how many companies followed the trend. Disney’s sales team reportedly converted 42 first-time advertisers for the tourney, including Google, Crown Imports, Adidas, Home Depot, and Honda.

NIL impact: The regular-season NIL trend has infiltrated the tournament as well, providing novel pathways to getting sponsors in front of fans. Keurig, NerdWallet, and Goldman Sachs are a few of the companies tapping players to share products or boost brand awareness.

• NerdWallet’s recent deal with USC star Juju Watkins is being dubbed “the smartest NIL deal ever.” The financial company asked Watkins to make a smart money decision, so she chose to create a budget for NIL earnings and share her future goals for spending these funds. Money, please.

Zooming out: The ad sales reflect popular opinion in college basketball: The women’s game is more compelling, even to advertisers. "No offense to men at all, but I think brands are gearing towards women a little bit more," OpenSponsorship account manager Staley Gibson told Business Insider. "They're creating the content that our brands love and are looking for."

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