Sports Business | The GIST

Brands turn to emerging women’s sports leagues to reach young digital natives

Softball. Baseball. Lacrosse. What do these sports have in common? In 2025, they all fielded brand-new professional women’s leagues.

January 10, 2026

TGL announces WTGL in partnership with LPGA as women’s golf attracts young, tech-savvy audience

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After months of consideration, Tomorrow Golf League (TGL) is teaming up with the LPGA to launch the WTGL, a virtual offseason golf league featuring LPGA athletes. When announcing the league on ESPN’s SportsCenter, LPGA star Lexi Thompson said WTGL “brings in a whole different fan base” than traditional golf does.

January 08, 2026

PWHL shows strong Takeover Tour attendance despite YoY dips

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We’re six stops into the PWHL’s third Takeover Tour, which expanded significantly this year in terms of length, number of stops, and brand partners. While Canadian tour stops are pulling more fans than U.S. ones, the tour is proving successful in every city when it comes to attendance.

January 06, 2026

NFL, Hallmark partnership illustrates potential scripted media opportunity in women’s sports

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This holiday season, the Buffalo Bills aren’t just playing NFL games — they’re the latest team featured in a holiday-themed Hallmark movie thanks to the channel’s NFL partnership.

December 23, 2025

Wasserman publishes latest report on private equity, asset appreciation in women’s sports

On Monday, Wasserman’s The Collective published the third part of its extensive research on the economy of women’s sports and the influence of women fans. In this edition, The Collective focused on the growth of the women’s sports ecosystem, studying macrotrends exemplified by increased private equity (PE) investment and infrastructure investment.

December 23, 2025

Division races heat up ahead of Week 16 action

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Just like their college counterparts, the stakes are sky-high on the pro gridiron. With only three weeks left in the regular season, the NFL’s playoff picture is beginning to take shape — and three divisions are looking extra spicy in Week 16. Pour a glass of egg nog and let’s discuss.

December 19, 2025

U.S. Ski & Snowboard CEO Sophie Goldschmidt explains the governing body’s winning marketing strategy

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Powered by the success of big-name athletes like Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Chloe Kim, the org is ready to capitalize on the Olympic spotlight and unlock snow sports’ full marketing potential.

December 19, 2025

LOVB announces San Francisco franchise with ownership group led by Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe

Sports Business

LOVB announces San Francisco franchise with ownership group led by Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe

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December 18, 2025

oday, LOVB announced the launch of a new franchise in San Francisco set to hit the court in January 2027. Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe — a prominent LOVB media partner — co-led the ownership group with growth strategist Chantell Preston as they assembled a team of all-women investors, including Olympian and LOVB founding athlete Kelsey Robinson Cook.

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The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #521

Meet the real-life “Heated Rivalry” Olympians

January 08, 2026

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Meet the real-life “Heated Rivalry” Olympians

It’s a love story, baby.

Just like everyone on the Internet, today we’re talking about “Heated Rivalry.” However, considering Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams haven’t answered our DMs yet, we’re going in a different direction.

On today’s episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz detail the real-life “Heated Rivalry” love story from the women’s hockey world — because before there was Shane and Ilya, there was Team Canada captain Caroline Ouellette and Team USA captain Julie Chu. Spoiler alert: They live happily ever after.