The WTA Finals are well underway in Riyadh as Saudi Arabia serves as a first-time host. The tournament competition is heating up, but so is the controversy around holding it in the country, leaving questions about whether the move was truly worth it for the WTA and its partners.

Women’s footy has finally caught its big break across the pond. Last week, the WSL — the top flight of UK women’s soccer — inked a five-year rights extension with Sky Sports and the BBC worth $84.5M. The deal follows months of speculation and has already been dubbed the “most significant” TV contract for women’s soccer in the UK and Ireland.

On Friday, the Indiana Fever hired former Connecticut Sun head coach (HC) and former Fever player (and HC) Stephanie White. She fills one of seven recent HC vacancies as the league sees unprecedented turnover: Nearly 60% of last year’s coaches are no longer in the same role, the most for any WNBA hiring cycle in history.

Women keep stepping up to the plate in the baseball world, and it’s not just in MLB front offices. On Tuesday, the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) announced its launch as the only professional women’s baseball league in the U.S.

In an exclusive with The GIST today, soccer media company Men in Blazers (MiB) announced it will become an official media partner of the NWSL. Its coverage will be led by women’s soccer vertical The Women’s Game (TWG), run by former USWNT star Sam Mewis, who spoke to The GIST yesterday about her experience with the company.

ICYMI, Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark’s autographed memorabilia sold out in mere minutes last week — a sign that collectibles are just the latest space where the WNBA is making waves.

The WNBA’s in its transformation era after a record-breaking season, but what does all this growth mean specifically for league sponsorship? Data platform Relo Metrics released a report this morning exploring how brands are thriving thanks to their women’s hoops investment.

As the WNBA reaches new heights on and off the court, we chatted with basketball icon Candace Parker about her latest gig — curating a hoops trading card collection with eBay — and her vision for the W’s future as the popularity of women’s basketball continues to surge.

As discussed on yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, the WNBPA announced it’s opting out of its historic 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The news was expected, meaning yet another precedent-setting CBA is imminent — let’s hoop to it.

The Athena Pledge, a first-of-its-kind, collaborative project between AT&T, Capital One, Cisco, and Deloitte, was announced last week with the aim to rally other brands to increase their women’s sports spend as well as to prioritize women’s sports in their own strategic planning.

Former University of Florida track star Parker Valby inked a deal with New Balance last week as she ramps up to her first year as a pro. In an interview with the GIST, Valby said she had a gut feeling New Balance was the right fit for her, opting not to re-sign with Nike after she became the first collegiate women’s runner to sign an endorsement deal with the brand in 2023.