Sports Business | The GIST

Upshot league continues making moves after completion of inaugural season

In case you needed a reminder, the Upshot League debuted in May in hopes of fulfilling a much-needed development gap for the WNBA. While the 5v5 league isn’t associated with the W like the G League is with the NBA, it allows more women to stay game-ready and offers professional scouts an easy way to track talent when roster spots open up from inevitable injuries.

September 22, 2026

Looking at three decades of the cultural impact of WNBA fashion

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The WNBA is the most-followed women’s sports league in the world, and its 30th anniversary has been a celebration of the players and the everyday people contributing to that achievement. From a branding perspective, the W has always been one-of-one, and the look and feel of this league is just as remarkable and impactful today as it was in the 90s.

September 19, 2026

New data underscores a record-breaking regular season for the WNBA

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Over 1.2M people watched Team USA win its fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup despite competing with the US Open men’s final and the NFL’s first Sunday of the season. Needless to say, fans are ready for more hoops.

September 17, 2026

Racing Louisville FC’s future in doubt following unprecedented league growth

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There are a lot of questions surrounding the future of Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL. While most clubs are making (or considering) major infrastructure investments and looking to capitalize on the bright future of women’s soccer, Racing Louisville is falling behind despite only being in the league for five years.

September 15, 2026

Disastrous Sydney Sweeney ad sparks empowering social response from women athletes

We said it once and we’ll say it again, that ad sucked. Whether it was intended as rage bait or just the most recent flop in a series of problematic sports adverts, it’s exhausting. Content creators are leading the backlash against said ad, and no one is doing it better, or more empowering, than actual women in sports.

September 15, 2026

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to retire at end of the year

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ICYMI, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced her retirement on Friday after seven years in the position. Her last day on the job is December 31, 2026, with this epic 16 weeks’ notice launching a highly competitive job search that already has the rumor wheel spinning.

September 10, 2026

Minnesota Lynx seek new streaming partner after Victory+ folds

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Things have gone from bad to worse for Victory+ after its parent company announced the dissolution of the Dallas-based streaming service yesterday. Surprisingly, the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream kept their contracts until the end despite previous partners like the NWSL terminating its agreement earlier this summer.

September 03, 2026

Inaugural season of the Upshot League fills much-needed development gap

Sports Business

Inaugural season of the Upshot League fills much-needed development gap

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September 01, 2026

While the NBA, MLB, and NHL have distinct talent developmental systems, the WNBA has…a major gap. To help change this, the Upshot League launched this May in hopes of creating more stateside opportunities for elite players.

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The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #591

It got worse: Investigating NFL scammer Daejon Love

September 22, 2026

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It got worse: Investigating NFL scammer Daejon Love

In the September 1st episode of The GIST of It, #586: Exposing fake NFL players, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz briefly discussed two men who made headlines for posing as NFL players: Daejon Love and Uras Agee IV. At the end of August, Love was arrested for allegedly scamming 26 women out of $1.3M while posing as a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. On September 18th, the FBI announced that another 35 women have been identified as victims of Love’s scheme…and there might be more on the way. In today’s One Big Story, the gals will share everything we’ve learned about Love, including how he created such a vast internet footprint that he was able to effectively impersonate an NFL player, despite never playing in a single NFL game.