The GIST

Sports Illustrated and Scripps Sports capitalize on women’s sports spend through new competition

On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated (SI) announced the creation of the SI Women’s Games, a six-sport competition scheduled for this fall. The tournament aims to capitalize on the surging popularity of women’s sports and exemplifies media companies working together to innovate ad packaging and scale up advertising inventory in the space.

April 11, 2025

Emerging brands and platforms make a splash in latest SponsorUnited NIL report

On Wednesday, data insights platform SponsorUnited released its 2024–2025 NIL Endorsements Report, which affirms what we already know: Women athletes, especially basketball players, are consistent winners in terms of engagement, hence their skyrocketing NIL deals.

April 04, 2025

Imminent U.S. trade tariffs have damaging effect on sports apparel industry

The impacts of President Trump’s U.S. trade policy have officially gone from bad to worse. On Wednesday, Trump announced that the U.S. will apply a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, with a higher rate for nations that the U.S. considers to be unfair trade partners. Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” proposal has created enough worrisome sentiment to spook the stock market.

April 04, 2025

PVF content series joins successful wave of league-owned media opportunities in women’s sports

This weekend, the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) premiered its new Team Spotlight Series on YouTube. While women’s sports are winning more primetime coverage and network support than ever before, both emerging and established leagues are still successfully leveraging their own broadcasts to reach fans.

March 31, 2025

U.S. Ski and Snowboard secures historic partnership with apparel brand J. Crew

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.

March 21, 2025

Deloitte shares insights into surging revenue in women’s sports

Yesterday, Deloitte shared key insights into why the women’s game is generating revenue at an exponential rate. The company predicts global revenue for women’s sports will cross the $2B threshold in 2025, a 240% increase in just two years. This is largely thanks to commercial revenue, which is set to top $1.26B after a rise in engagement, brand recognition, and sponsorships.

March 19, 2025

Advertisers see their ads overperform across women’s sports in 2024

Women’s sports grew in just about every way last year, including on the ad side. A new report from TV marketing firm EDO illustrates how much advertisers were willing to spend in the women’s sports industry and what they got out of it.

March 14, 2025

Sports Business

Saudi Arabia’s PIF invests in World Athletics track league amid changing market

March 10, 2025

Days after deepening its commitment to women’s tennis, Saudi Arabia is considering yet another significant sports investment. The country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is reportedly in talks with track & field’s international governing body World Athletics (WA) about investing more than $600M to manage WA’s commercial rights.

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The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #450

Fist bumping with Breanna Stewart before the WNBA Draft

April 10, 2025

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Fist bumping with Breanna Stewart before the WNBA Draft

It’s always the right time to talk about women’s basketball.

But that’s especially true when one of the greatest hoopers of all time comes on the pod. NY Liberty superstar Breanna Stewart joins co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz on The GIST of It today, and no topic is off-limits. From her latest PUMA shoe drop to her advice for Paige Bueckers ahead of Monday’s WNBA Draft to bonding over injury recovery, Stewie and the gals gab about it all. Don’t miss this one.