From Caitlin Clark and Simone Biles to a new hockey league, women’s sports had a pivotal year

Record numbers of basketball fans filled arenas to watch the rookie seasons of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese unfold. Simone Biles captivated the world at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Coco Gauff made women’s tennis history.

It was all part of a pivotal year for women in sports, financially and culturally, and after a steady rise in popularity and reach in recent years, the women’s game is more valuable than ever.

“(Clark)’s just moved the needle of the global movement of women in sports,” said softball great and Olympic gold medalist Jennie Finch, “and what a thrill it’s been to be able to see her rise.”

The consulting firm Deloitte estimated in November 2023 that women’s sports would generate more than $1 billion in global revenue this year for the first time ever, which the company said is up about 300% from its last estimate in 2021. Skyrocketing viewership and corporate sponsorships were major factors.

The WNBA in July signed a historic 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC valued at about $200 million — a jump from about $60 million currently. Players hope higher salaries and a greater share of revenue could be on the horizon as parity, star power and competition in the WNBA continue to grow.

The WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 24 years and best attendance in 22 seasons, and commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a recent state-of-the-league address that players are getting a lot more marketing deals, turning them into household names. That includes Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson, who had one of the most dominant seasons in WNBA history, and Clark, who set numerous rookie records.

The decisive Game 5 of the WNBA finals between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx drew an average of 2.2 million viewers, peaking at 3.3 million, which made it the most-watched WNBA game in 25 years.

“We’ve been growing in popularity, endorsements, media rights, all of those things,” said Amira Rose Davis, a sports historian and assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

“This period is one of rapid acceleration,” Davis continued, “where all that growth seems to switch into overdrive, where the deals are getting bigger, where the visibility is stretching out.”

Clark, the sharpshooting Indiana guard who became a phenomenon when she played at Iowa, capitalized on a foundati…



Source link