Set the tone
From The GIST Sports Biz (hi@thegistsports.com)
Hey there!
The Super Bowl won’t be the only spectacle this Sunday — the Caitlin Clark show continues against Nebraska as she looks to break Kelsey Plum’s NCAA women’s basketball all-time scoring record and capture the all-time NCAA scoring title. Buckets on buckets.
LOVB
🏐 Setting the tone
The GIST: League One Volleyball (LOVB) and home gym system Tonal have partnered to offer volleyball-centric workout programs and a unique family-focused program. The pro women’s volleyball league won’t launch until November, but it secured Tonal’s first league partnership — despite LeBron James and Sue Bird being investors and brand ambassadors. Set for success.
The details: This integrated partnership isn’t just unique for women’s sports, but for sports leagues in general. Since LOVB already has 1.1K youth volleyball clubs across the country, Tonal will be able to support athlete workouts and earn brand awareness before the pro league launch. Additionally, Tonal will run “Family Workout Nights” at LOVB youth clubs for its members and their families.
- These events will let them try out new Tonal machines with company staff on deck to assist. It’s a smart play to convince volleyball parents to invest in their own Tonal systems, and if they do purchase a machine, the smart gym brand will make a corresponding donation to the LOVB Foundation to support youth volleyball access. Can we please keep it?
The context: Pairing smart tech and sports is beneficial for both sides. Tonal posted impressive numbers in 2021 — it claimed to have over 90% of market share in the connected strength category with sales jumping 800% between 2019 and 2020. However, the post-pandemic market has been cruel to Tonal’s competitors like Peloton.
- After a precipitous crash, Peloton got resourceful by leaning into corporate partnerships with sports leagues like the NBA and WNBA. Despite its creative attempts at resurrection — like selling bikes in collegiate colorways — shares for the at-home smart bike hit a new all-time low last week, something Tonal is hoping to avoid.
Zooming out: By intertwining themselves with LOVB before its pro launch, Tonal benefits from increased brand affinity in America’s fastest-growing high school sport. It’s a winning trend in women’s sports — early partners of the PWHL and the NWSL’s Angel City, for example, have reaped the rewards of getting in on the ground floor. LOVB to see it.
Women’s sports
💸 Payday someday
The GIST: Sportico released its list of top 100 highest-paid athletes — and none of them are women. In fact, women don’t even make the top 200. Last year’s highest-earning female athlete, Coco Gauff, raked in $22.7M, light years away from overall No. 1 earner Cristiano Ronaldo’s $275M. Keep reading for some key findings from the report.
⚽ The gap is much greater in team sports. Erica Wheeler netted $242K as the WNBA’s top earner in 2023, while Steph Curry will earn $51.9M on the court this season. Similarly, women’s soccer players cash out at $500K, while men’s soccer’s highest earners are paid over 100x that amount. Deflating.
📺 Media revenue is boosting sports salaries. And since men’s leagues have been around for decades, they have a sizable head start for media rights values. The NBA’s media deals are worth $2.6B annually, compared to the WNBA’s estimated $30M. UK soccer also offers a dismal contrast — Manchester United’s women’s team led the WSL in revenue with $9M in 2022-23, yet the men’s side earned nearly $800M.
- The future remains bright, however. The NWSL’s record $240M media rights deal helped break the league’s salary record twice this offseason, and reworked NCAA rights are expected to bring more money to women’s college basketball, with the same expected for the WNBA in 2025.
🇸🇦 Saudi money is drastically influencing male athlete earnings, but women could eventually cash in, too. Saudi Arabia’s investment in men’s golf boosted earnings for LIV players like Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka. While the influx of money widens the gender pay gap, the country’s efforts to enter women’s sports could result in a big athlete sponsorship. Ons Jabeur, anyone?
💰 Women athletes boast higher endorsement value. Combined, the top 15 highest-earning women athletes earned nearly triple their salaries ($44.8M) in endorsements ($129.5M), while the top 15 male athletes earned only half their salaries ($1.2B) in endorsements ($570M). Women offer high ROI as brand ambassadors, but their limited exposure leads to fewer endorsement deals. Waiting for the boys to get on…
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🎙️ Sound on
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🇬🇧 UK women’s sports viewership increases
In 2023, a record 46.7M UK viewers tuned into women’s sports on linear TV, breaking the previous mark set in 2019 by nearly 1M. New research from the Women ’s Sports Trust also showed that the average viewing time spent watching women’s sports on free-to-air (FTA) and cable TV increased 16% YoY.
- The growth exhibited in this data reflects an ongoing trend that the industry is responding to. A pivotal governmental review last summer was followed by the development of NewCo, support from the UK government, and DAZN’s decision to make women’s soccer matches FTA.
🏟️ Saudi Arabia wins major women’s soccer championship hosting rights
Saudi Arabia won a bid this week to host the 2024 West Asian Football Federation Women’s Championship later this month in Jeddah, a huge development as the country attempts to host more women’s sports tournaments. It has expressed interest in the 2027 AFC Women’s Cup and the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as the WTA Finals, the BJK Cup, and 1000-level tennis events.
🇦🇪 NBA welcomes Emirates with multiyear global marketing deal
The NBA’s In-Season Tournament already has a new title partner: Dubai’s Emirates airline. Starting next year, the tourney will be known as the Emirates NBA Cup as part of a multiyear marketing deal, which also includes the first commercial referee jersey patches for both the NBA and WNBA.
- While the NBA has been receiving investments from Gulf State entities, the WNBA has yet to be involved until now. As with other women’s sports, the UAE’s policies regarding women and LGBTQIA+ individuals might be a point of concern after WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert decided against playing in Saudi Arabia last year.
📺 ESPN announced that its direct-to-consumer service will be available in August 2025 as its network sales hit $4.1B.
🎾 Sinclair Inc. — owner of Diamond Sports Group — is considering an equity partner for the Tennis Channel, which has found unique niche success in the streamer era.
🥎 UCLA softball player Maya Brady is expected to be the first college NIL athlete for new sports equipment design company Absolutely Ridiculous. Striking it rich.
⚽ Parity became the official development partner of the USL’s Tampa Bay Sun FC, allowing athletes to use the sports marketing company’s platform to build sponsorships and visibility.
🏈 Kristin Juszcyck is debuting new apparel from her NFL clothing line on Super Bowl Sunday, but here’s a sneak peek at her first look. Never go out of style.
Recs from our roster!
🏈 What to check out
These Super Bowl toys. Mattel is making special edition Barbies and Uno Cards for the Super Bowl, and they couldn’t be cuter.
🇫🇷 Who’s getting paid
The French police. After protesting for extra pay for the upcoming Paris Olympics, government officials agreed on bonuses of up to $2,000.
🎙️ What to level up
Your podcast game. If you need some non-sports recs, check out Apple’s list of the most popular shows from 2023 to get started.
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.