Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum is reportedly working to bring a WNBA franchise to Toronto after previous efforts stalled last year. Tanenbaum is chairman of the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) sports group — owner of Toronto’s NHL, NBA, and MLS franchises — and is hoping to add women’s basketball to his sports portfolio.

Financial services company Ally — a women’s sports sponsorship heavy-hitter — inked a multiyear deal with the two-time WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces yesterday, marking the brand’s first foray into the league.

NWSL owners rolled out new rules last week about how private equity (PE) funds can invest in multiple teams. The policy also excludes sovereign wealth funds from ownership, meaning Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and other state-owned investment funds will be unable to buy NWSL stakes as the league grows.

The Caitlin Clark Effect. Clarkonomics. The Iowa star’s game-changing influence on college basketball encompasses many terms, but thanks to her declaration for the 2024 WNBA Draft, there’s a new one: Caitlin Clark Fever. Clark is already reshaping the economy for her expected landing place, the Indiana Fever.

Parity — a platform that connects pro women athletes to aggregated marketing and sponsorship opportunities — was named the official development partner of the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) yesterday.

This week, UK marketing agency Redtorch released its SportOnSearch 2024 report, which analyzes fan engagement with sports properties via Google Trends data. The findings show interest in women’s sports across the board — in fact, all women’s sports properties recorded growth in 2023.

Soccer tech company TOCA announced an extensive multiyear partnership with Angel City FC teammates (and sisters!) Alyssa and Gisele Thompson yesterday. While the Thompsons have secured groundbreaking deals in the past, this marks their first deal that includes an equity stake.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) had a profound economic and social impact for host country Australia, according to a recent Football Australia report. Here are some key numbers from the Land Down Under.

After a record-breaking women’s March Madness in 2023, the popularity of women’s college basketball — and namely aforementioned Iowa star Caitlin Clark — keeps on growing, but the NCAA is still playing catch up. The Big Ten women’s basketball tournament officially sold out this weekend, two whole weeks before the event tips off.

On Wednesday, Athletes Unlimited (AU) announced that all four of its month-long pro women’s sports leagues — basketball, softball, volleyball, and lacrosse — will broadcast games on ESPN platforms. The deal is a multiyear renewal of the entertainment network’s previous agreement with AU, which saw impressive viewership growth YoY.

SponsorUnited data recently revealed that the number of sponsorship deals in pro women’s sports increased by over 22% YoY thanks to more than 5.5K deals last year. These numbers further prove the marketability of women athletes, who also see consistently higher rates of engagement.

NBC has been enjoying the perks of the Caitlin Clark Effect, but when it came to airing her historic NCAA moment, the network didn’t put the game on linear television — a decision that not only cost them a larger audience, but also likely impeded the momentum of Clark’s popularity.