Sports Business Journal — May 10, 2021

MAY 10-16, 2021
VOLUME 24 ISSUE 6 • $10.95

SILVER SEASON

The superstars,
supporters and
visionaries
who have lifted
the league
to a historic
milestone.
PAGES 14-32

Frozen Rope: NHL NFL schedule release Ourand: Univision’s A time for all seasons:
teams capitalize on has become a social unique approach to FCS schools balance a
sponsorship ‘lifeline.’ media Super Bowl. adding more viewers.
calendar logjam.
PAGE 6 PAGE 8 PAGE 10
PAGE 13

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STATE OF PLAY

NEW YORK RANGERS

The team blasted the NHL’s
Department of Player
Safety for failing to

suspend the Washington
Capitals’ Tom Wilson for
his attacks on May 3 that
left New York’s Artemi
Panarin out for the season.

THE METER

NEW YORK RANGERS

The team fired team
president John Davidson
and general manager Jeff
Gorton before losing the
rematch to Washington on
May 5, which featured six

fights in the first five
minutes.

United Chaos

Thousands of Manchester United fans, who were protesting the club-owning Glazers and their lead role in the doomed
Super League, broke onto the pitch at Old Trafford on May 2, leading to the postponement of that day’s Premier League
match against Liverpool FC. Some in the crowd wore green and gold and set off flares in those colors, which had been
the club’s original colors at its founding in 1878. The Glazer family has owned the club since 2005.

YOU’RE HIRED “ MONEY TALKS
This is a racy-looking car.
The NFL hired former Barack ”Let’s hope it races
Obama communications as good as it looks.
director KATIE HILL
as its SVP of — CHASE ELLIOTT about the Camaro ZL1, which joins the Ford Mustang
communications, and the Toyota Camry as NASCAR’s next-gen cars that will debut in 2022.
a new role in
which she will
have day-to-day
oversight of the
league’s PR
strategy.

Getty Images (5) A”COMMERCIAL GRADE $125mCASHONLY
Amount donated by Brooklyn Nets owner JOE TSAI and the NBA to the Asian
An ad from BBDO for Switzerland’s tourism board featured its ambassador, American Foundation as part of AAPI Heritage Month.
ROGER FEDERER, trying to convince ROBERT DeNIRO to make a film in Federer’s

drama-free home country. Extra credit for including a vintage DeNiro f-bomb.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 3

FORUM

WNBA’s past the W is really standing in our own space with confidence and SBJ
leaders huddle conviction,” Richie said. “Sitting up and owning our uniqueness PODCASTS
on legacy, future was a really important piece. So, I probably would have pushed on
that sooner and harder.” BUZZCAST
ABRAHAM I T WAS A reunion of old friends. Three former
presidents of the WNBA, who don’t see each Borders wished she was more forceful about the value proposi- Check out Buzzcast in
MADKOUR other as much as they wish, connected over tion and potential of the league. “I would have been even more Morning Buzz, our podcast
Zoom to speak with us leading into the WNBA’s adamant about the business, the viability, the efficacy, the sustain- that looks at the top sports
PUBLISHER 25th season. For more than 40 minutes, Donna ability of the business as I talked to potential corporate partners, business stories of the day.
AND Orender (2005-2010), Laurel Richie (2011-2015) and because to this very day, we still don’t have enough,” she said.
EXECUTIVE Lisa Borders (2016-2018) reminisced with a mix Despite the historically tepid marketplace, each sees more cor- The entire contents
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of continued frustration. the day the WNBA announced Google as its newest sponsor. “I’ve copyrighted by Street &
spoken to several CEOs who are saying, ‘You know what? We are Smith’s Sports Business
The W’s first president and spiritual leader, Val now looking at our women’s spend in a way we never did before.’” Journal 2021 with all rights
Ackerman, was unable to join the discussion, but reserved. Street & Smith’s
her influence was evident. “Val Ackerman! One of One concept discussed more frequently among sports business is a registered trademark
the most unbelievable launches of anything,” Oren- insiders is whether the W would ever be spun off, with the large of Leaders Group Holdings
der gushed. “So much promise, heart, soul, effort. amount of money sitting on the sidelines today. The league has LLC. Reproduction or use,
We all owe you a lot, Val. So, thank you.” Borders predominantly been a brand play, but under the leadership of the without permission, of
agreed, “She laid the foundation. So go, Val.” more business-minded Cathy Engelbert, that could change. Could editorial or graphic content
outside funding be raised to accelerate the growth of the business in any manner is prohibited.
I was honored to lead the discussion with these based on future potential — capitalize it, staff up and operate it Street & Smith’s Sports
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sports business owes them a great deal of gratitude. 1098-5972) is published
What they did during their respective leadership of “Spin it out through a SPAC, do a public offering and have it weekly, with the exception
the WNBA was hard, yet historic and meaningful. be invested in,” she said. “[The WNBA has] always been the of the first week of July
Our conversation touched on the themes in the excel- laboratory for trying new things. This would be something new and the last two weeks of
lent essays they contributed to this issue — what they that no other professional league has done, spinning it out, mak- December, for $315 a year
faced when they started and areas of accomplish- ing it public, and having everybody have a piece of the rock.” by Street & Smith’s Sports
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THIS WEEK

OPINION. . . . . . . . . . 33 FACILITIES COLLEGES SPORTS BETTING LABOR POP CULTURE
CLOSING SHOT. . . . 34
7 T ECH PARTNERS 8 C HARTING A 9 ANTE’S UP IN 11 LABOR & AGENTS 12 A PROPER BINGE
Cover illustration by Ariana Torrey COURSE ARIZONA
Oak View Group chooses Agent Joel Segal credits Entertainment lawyer
Verizon as its 5G and Mississippi State signs Caesars’ retail sportsbook NFL for separation in the Marcie Cleary’s choices
wireless partner at new with CLC’s Compass deal at Chase Field draft’s green room, but have a Memphis flavor,
arenas in Washington, for name, image and follows its takeover of the still allowing families to be including reality series
New York and California. likeness services. William Hill brand. a part of the experience. “Buried by the Bernards.”

By Mark J. Burns By Michael Smith By Bill King By Liz Mullen By Chris Smith

4 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

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upfront

For tarp branding at
T-Mobile Arena, the
Vegas Golden Knights
have had 24 sponsors
that each received
visibility for 14 home
games.

Scoring With Value said A.J. Maestas, founder and CEO of Chicago-based market-
ing research and valuation firm Navigate.
How NHL teams capitalized on the ‘much-needed lifeline’
By mixing and matching new assets with sponsors’ current
to sell a half-dozen new sponsorship assets. BY MARK J. BURNS business needs and renegotiating their respective agreements,
L teams were able to retain a significant portion of the sponsor-
AST DEC. 20, the NHL gave each of its 31 clubs per- ship revenue they had budgeted for the regular season, which
mission to utilize a half-dozen newly created assets concludes this weekend. In interviews with six clubs, those
in an effort to recoup revenue lost during the pan- percentages ranged from about 80% for the Columbus Blue
Jackets to nearly 90% for the Minnesota Wild.
demic. With the abbreviated, 56-game regular sea-
For the Washington Capitals, the new sponsorship inven-
son set to begin on Jan. 13, that kicked off what Jim Frevola tory meant “multiple seven figures” in retained revenue, ac-
cording to Jim Van Stone, president of business operations.
at the Vegas Golden Knights called “the craziest three weeks All told, the NHL and its teams have recouped over $100 million
in revenue due to the new inventory, league officials have pre-
I’ve ever had in the business.” viously said.

By the time it was over the Golden Knights had had 122 dif- “Since it’s new, there was a little bit of a leap of faith, but
we feel really good in terms of our overall valuations that the
ferent conversations with sponsors. “Think of it like 122 dif- ROI was there,” Van Stone noted.

ferent negotiations during that time span,” said Frevola, the Without knowing the particular deal structures for all 31 clubs,
Maestas said that the retained sponsorship revenue could be on
club’s senior vice president and chief sales officer. the higher end of the spectrum and doesn’t necessarily mean
all recouped dollars are being pocketed by teams during the 2020-
That was on par with what most teams experienced as they 21 season. Moreover, in some instances, teams may also have
added an extra year to some agreements in order to rectify the
tried to sell the new assets for the 2020-21 season, which in- lesser value received during the current year, he said.

cluded helmet decals; seat tarps in teams’ lower bowls; vir-

tual slot in-ice signage; expanded branding on team benches; Getty Images

and static signage above the rink dasher boards. Some of those

assets involved league partners as well.

“The NHL threw all of their teams a much-needed lifeline,”

6 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

“We have multiple examples of partnerships where we’re When UBS Arena (above; New York Islanders) and Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken)
going to be adding a year or multiple years onto the back- open this fall, they will both include a branded lounge from the telecommunications giant.
end of the contract because both parties — us and the
partner — want to get full value,” said Jarrod Dillon, chief Verizon lands 5G,
marketing and revenue officer for the Tampa Bay Lightning. sponsorship deals with
“We all recognized we weren’t going to be able to do that three Oak View arenas
this year.”
Courtesy of UBS Arena BY MARK J. BURNS included AT&T and T-Mobile.
Dillon added that about 20% of the team’s sponsorship “The great debate is does technology
dollars for the current season could be traced to the newly TELECOMMUNICATIONS GIANT Verizon is now
implemented signage. About 30 Lightning sponsors of the exclusive 5G and wireless sponsor of replace the experience or enhance the ex-
around 120 in total were placed into the new assets. three arenas currently under development perience?” Leiweke said. “With the $5 bil-
by sports and entertainment company Oak lion in building investments that we’re
Meanwhile, the New York Islanders said they “retained View Group. making, our bet is that technology enhanc-
95% of partners because of these new inventory assets,” per es the experience.”
Bryan Calka, senior vice president of global partnerships. The multiyear sponsorship and technol-
ogy tie-up includes Climate Pledge Arena, A key factor for OVG in going with Ve-
Frevola highlighted that Vegas retained approximately 84% home of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and NHL rizon, Leiweke said, was the fact that both
of sponsorship revenue for the 2020-21 regular season, with 2021-22 expansion team Seattle Kraken; the have an existing relationship with live
that number projected to increase as final figures come in at New York Islanders’ UBS Arena; and Coach- entertainment company and concert pro-
the conclusion of the year. Vegas was originally projected to ella Valley Arena, future rink of the Krak- moter Live Nation. Additionally, Leiweke
retain 68% of its revenue, he said, given the traditional 82- en’s AHL affiliate near Palm Springs, Calif. has had a relationship with Ronan Dunne,
game regular season slate being trimmed to 56 contests coupled executive vice president and CEO of the
with no fans for half the season and a reduced capacity at T- Specific deal terms weren’t provided but Verizon Consumer Group, that dates to
Mobile Arena for the remaining half. “We could have lost a Verizon has founding-level status at all Dunne’s tenure as chief finance officer at
lot more money than we did,” said Frevola. “It would not have three venues, with Climate Pledge Arena the British wireless company O2, which
been possible without this new inventory.” and UBS Arena set to open this year in Oc- secured naming rights for the London-based
tober and November, respectively. arena in May 2005. At the time, Leiweke
Like most NHL clubs, the Golden Knights leveraged the was president of AEG.
opportunity for branded seat tarps. For example, 24 spon- Verizon has rethought its sponsorship
sors each received visibility for 14 home games, with a strategy in recent years. “How do we take As part of the deal, Verizon will provide
group of 12 receiving the first and third set of seven games all the pieces of the Verizon enterprise — the technology and connectivity infrastruc-
while the other 12 received the second and fourth set of our network, our technology, our business ture for data, voice and Wi-Fi services via
seven contests. Comparatively, the Wild had 11 tarp spon- groups, our consumer groups, etc. — and its 5G network. The company also will have
sors throughout the entire regular season. By tapping into how do we think about creating holistic, a branded lounge at both UBS Arena and
the new sponsorship inventory, the Wild will end up retain- strategic partnerships that end up creating Climate Pledge Arena.
ing between 86% and 90% of revenue that was budgeted more value on both sides,” said Yvette
last July 1, the beginning of the club’s fiscal year, accord- Martinez-Rea, the company’s vice president Initial conversations between both par-
ing to Carin Anderson, senior vice president of corporate of sponsorships and partnerships. ties originated with Evan Levine, vice
partnerships and retail. president of global partnerships at Oak
Oak View CEO Tim Leiweke estimated that View Group. Dan Griffis, president of
“If there was a technology or a solution that surprised the company is spending $250 million on global partnerships, and Kraken CEO Tod
me, it was how good that execution has been with the vir- technology infrastructure at its nine proper- Leiweke, Tim’s brother, contributed to the
tual slot signage,” she said, adding that sponsors noted ties currently under construction. That made deal-making efforts. Marissa Weseloh, di-
how it almost appeared as if their branding was literally an eventual relationship with a company of rector of sponsorships and overseer of the
painted onto the ice. this stature “critical.” OVG began talks with hockey and soccer verticals, spearheaded
telecom providers pre-pandemic that also talks for Verizon.
The Wild settled on packaging three rotations of 17 games
for the virtual slot signage, with 12 sponsors gaining vis-
ibility during each game. Conversely, three Islanders spon-
sors — Fairfield Properties, New York Lottery and
Northwell Health — each received one period of virtual
slot placement for all 56 regular-season games in what Calka
referred to as a “less is more approach.”

Pepsi, a North America-specific sponsor of the NHL and
nearly a third of teams in the U.S. and Canada, opted for
a limited amount of TV-visible signage through some of
the new sponsorship inventory. “We used common sense
and not contracts to guide us,” said Justin Toman, head
of sports marketing at Pepsi. Talks with clubs, including
the Lightning, Capitals and New York Rangers, for the
brand, in tandem with its sports marketing agency Ge-
nesco Sports Enterprises, centered around a combination
of “funds, flexibility and fee reductions” based on how
much value each club and the NHL could provide.

Though nothing has been approved yet by the NHL’s board
of governors, the consensus is that just two of these new
assets — helmet decals and the virtual slot branding — will
be available for teams to sell continuing with the 2021-22 sea-
son. Jersey patch ads are being explored by the league and
teams but would not be available until 2022-23 at the earliest.

“There’s a real appetite for new sponsorship opportuni-
ties,” said Blue Jackets Chief Operating Officer Cameron
Scholvin when asked about takeaways from this year. “Our
partners are open to an environment where there are more
logos as long as it’s done well.”

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 7

UPFRONT

With start date nearing, Mississippi State
signs with CLC’s Compass as first NIL client

MISSISSIPPI STATE, like most schools, had taken a wait- keeping up with agreements so that a fair market side agencies and explore in-house models.

and-see approach to name, image and likeness leg- value can be determined too. “We’ve been out there showcasing this platform

islation before deciding if it would manage NIL Cory Moss, the longtime CLC executive and the for the last eight weeks and now we’re starting to

in-house or bring in an outside agency. agency’s managing director, has spearheaded the get a lot more calls from schools that want to see it

But with just seven weeks remaining before a state development of Compass into what even-

law will permit college athletes to be compensated tually will be a separate business unit

for their NIL rights, the Bulldogs decided within CLC with its own leader-

they couldn’t wait any longer. BY MICHAEL SMITH ship.

Mississippi State became the first school But first Moss had to get Com-

to sign with CLC to provide NIL education, pass up and running. The Bull-

deal disclosures and monitoring through the com- dogs are first to sign up and a handful

pany’s new Compass platform. more are in the pipeline. Financial terms

CLC, the licensing company within Learfield IMG were not disclosed.

College, developed its NIL education program joint- John Cohen, in his fifth year as Missis-

ly with Game Plan, a national provider of sippi State’s athletic director, de-

athlete education. Content on Com- scribed the quickly evolving NIL

pass will range from brand building landscape as “a new frontier

to taxes and compliance to help that we don’t completely under-

prevent any violations of NCAA stand yet” because of legisla-

rules. tion that spans five states,

Compass also will be a mech- potentially a federal bill, the

anism for compliance depart- Alston v. NCAA antitrust case Bulldogs athletes will now be able to get an education on name,
ments within athletics to know before the Supreme Court and pos- image and likeness, as well as deal disclosures and monitoring.

when athletes make deals for sible NCAA legislation that still

endorsements, appearances awaits a vote of the Division I Council. again,” Moss said. “Our presentations have increased

or any other income-produc- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and tenfold over the last three weeks. We’re in May now

ing commercial activity. New Mexico each have an NIL law that takes and schools are figuring out what they want to do.”

By tracking the deals, effect on July 1. With that starting point about He stressed that Compass is a service for the

universities will be able 50 days away, Cohen felt it was time “to get an- schools, not a marketplace for athlete deals, a dis-

to let the athletes know other set of eyes and ears” to help navigate NIL tinction that companies in the NIL space are clarify-

if they are entering into rules while preparing the Bulldogs’ athletes to make ing as they sell to athletic departments.

a deal that’s not pro- the most of their NIL rights. The NCAA’s legislation and the state laws signed

tected by state law. The Moss said the urgency at Mississippi State is so far prohibit the school or the school’s representa-

schools will begin shared at many schools now as they interview out- tives from doing commercial deals for the athletes.

NFL schedule release a chance for ticket sales — and Twitter dominance

KICKOFF ON THE FIELD may still be four months “Brand helps reignite the business, and this is one time, teams were permitted to post their own videos
of those opportunities to do this,” said Jaguars 30 minutes early, which meant they actually broke
away, but Wednesday, May 12, marks the offseason Chief Marketing Officer Julian Duncan. “Schedule the news of their schedules.
release is a cultural moment, and you see teams
Super Bowl for NFL social media teams: the annual competing in a sense to own that culture moment.” It’s not yet clear when teams will be allowed to go
public, said Bobby Gallo, the NFL’s senior vice
release of the upcoming schedule. Among last year’s most popular approaches, the president of club business development. “We want
Denver Broncos released a video set to the theme the broadcast to be meaningful, and last year, by
What started out as a simple effort to sell single- song from the 1980s TV classic “Full House” that allowing clubs to push it out on their own channels,
included president of football operations John Elway we want that to be meaningful as well,” he said.
game tickets has become a focal riding a motorized scooter through downtown Denver.
The best ideas come from a diverse, culturally
BY BEN point of the offseason for teams’ The Jaguars used cat memes to increase their in-touch team that’s given wide latitude from the
FISCHER owned-and-operated media. It’s social engagement 64% during the schedule release top. “I put my trust in them and they took us to some
now a fierce competition, as the window, the second-highest lift in the league really great places,” Duncan said.
behind the Houston Texans, according to an SBJ
teams all try to outdo each other for Atlas analysis of Zoomph data. Duncan said the With all the advance preparation, it’s still a hectic
team had 360,000 video views last year, more than day. Teams last year saw the final schedule just five
the funniest, most Zeitgeist-captur- 2.5 times the 140,000 views in 2019, which drives hours before they had to go live, and the videos
sales and raises sponsorship and ad value. always take more work than one might think. “The
ing content in the league. hope is, you have everything shot and ready, and
Not everyone is going for virality, Walks notes — the only thing you have to do in the five hours is put
“It really is an arm’s race now, especially on some teams focus more on authentic reinforcement it in the right order,” Walks said.
of a strong brand image.
social,” said Matt Walks, director of digital content Then, after it’s all done, Walks and his team
As always, the team-led social videos exist in a literally watch the tape. “We sit down and watch
strategy for the Las Vegas Raiders. “You have a lot of delicate balance with the NFL. The league doesn’t every other teams’ schedule release videos, and we
want to cannibalize the national NFL Network show, get dismissive or jealous. There’s a really strong
teams that hunt for engagement. It becomes ‘Who which airs this year at 8 pm ET. Last year for the first sense of competition.”

won Twitter?’ for the schedule release.”

The primary goal remains selling single-game

tickets, which tend to become available as soon as

dates and times are set. Teams with a good story to

tell and unsold inventory — like the Jacksonville

Jaguars, who just used the No. 1 overall draft pick on Getty Images

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence — have the

most to gain. But it’s also a branding moment as

teams debut their message for the upcoming season.

8 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Caesars antes up, goes all gaged with our brand, and also use it to drive dig-
in on U.S. betting strategy ital customer acquisition as well.”

CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT’S long-awaited, chips-on- Arizona legislators passed last month gave Phoe- Caesars plans to launch its mobile app in Arizona
when betting there goes live, likely in time for the
the-table entry into the sports betting fray acceler- nix’s four major pro teams, the PGA Tour and NAS- start of the NFL season. The Chase Field retail loca-
tion, which will occupy a two-level, streetside sports
ated last week, as the company followed CAR access to six of 16 licenses that initially will bar operated by Levy Restaurants and open only on
game nights, will be open daily year-round.
confirmation that its familiar brand will supplant be available to operate online sportsbook sites
“It’s a great location, both in terms of access to
William Hill across the U.S. with the un- BY BILL KING statewide, with tribal casinos controlling our fans and what can be done with it when we’re
veiling of a deal to open a retail sports- the other 10. not playing,” said Derrick Hall, CEO of the Dia-
mondbacks. “When we don’t have games, I want
book at Chase Field in Phoenix. The Phoenix Suns and PGA Tour re- people coming anyway. So it has to be an attractive,
comfortable place. And it needs to stand out — be-
Three weeks after becoming one of cently announced sportsbook deals with cause we’re all building sportsbooks.”

three sportsbooks to secure pricey NFL sponsorship FanDuel and DraftKings, respectively. The Arizona The Diamondbacks deal comes as Caesars takes
over both the brick-and-mortar shops and online app
rights, the well-known casino continued to put its Cardinals, Phoenix Coyotes and NASCAR have of William Hill U.S., which it acquired in deal that
closed last month. The two agreed to terms seven
sports betting strategy in place, cleared by the late- agreed to terms with sportsbook operators, sourc- months ago, but had to clear regulatory hurdles. Even
before that, Caesars’ entry into sports betting was a
April finalization of its $3.7 billion acquisition of es said, but have not yet announced their pairings. meandering one, slowed by the complexities of a $16.7
billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, which eventu-
William Hill U.S. “We felt like this was the best available opportu- ally conveyed the right to operate the combined com-
pany’s U.S. sportsbooks to William Hill.
The retail sportsbook at Chase Field is part of a nity in Arizona because it came with such a great
Caesars eventually responded by buying William
10-year deal sources valued at $60 million to $70 retail component, in downtown Phoenix, reaching Hill.

million, which makes Caesars the exclusive sports- their fan base and others who will be around that

book and daily fantasy sponsor of the Arizona area 365 days a year,” said Daniel Shapiro, vice

Diamondbacks and, more importantly, gives it rights president of strategy and business development at

to offer its online betting app statewide. William Hill U.S. “We just thought it was a great

A first-of-its-kind regulatory framework that place to activate and get the people of Arizona en-

Basketball Africa League nears launch TEAMS OF THE BAL

AFTER A YEAR DELAY due to the pandemic, the Bas- egal-based BAL, said the new league “will shine a COUNTRY TEAM

ketball Africa League will begin its inaugural sea- light on Africa’s vibrant sporting culture and on Algeria GSP (Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers)

son on May 16 as the NBA continues to expand its the continent’s capacity to be a global leader,” while Angola Petro de Luanda (Clube Atlético
Petroleos de Luanda)
global footprint. The 12-team league is a providing elite players an opportunity

partnership between the NBA and FIBA BY JOHN to showcase their talents. Cameroon FAP (Forces Armées et Police Basketball)
and marks the first time the NBA has col- LOMBARDO The BAL has signed New Fortress En-
laborated with another entity to operate Egypt Zamalek
ergy as a founding partner in a multiyear
Madagascar GNBC (Gendarmerie Nationale
a league outside the U.S. deal that puts the company’s logo on the Basketball Club)

Because of the pandemic, the BAL’s uniforms of all 12 teams as well as on the Mali AS Police (Association Sportive de la
Police Nationale)
2021 debut season will look different than the NBA court in Kigali Arena. Milwaukee Bucks co-owner

and FIBA initially planned. Wes Edens is CEO of New Fortress. Morocco AS Salé (Association Sportive de Salé)

The 12 teams will compete in a single site at Ki- The league also added Agence Française de Dével- Mozambique Ferroviàrio de Maputo

gali Arena in Rwanda, where a total of 26 games oppement (AFD), France’s public development bank Rivers Hoopers BC (Rivers Hoopers
Basketball Club)
will be played. The league will tip off with an 18-game that provides financing in developing countries, as Nigeria

group phase that will see the 12 teams divided into a league partner. AFD and the BAL will promote the Rwanda Patriots BC (Patriots Basketball Club)

three groups of four. During the group phase, each Sport In Common platform established by the bank AS Douanes (Association Sportive des
Douanes)
team will face the three other teams in its group that uses sports to drive economic and social devel- Senegal

once. The top eight teams from the group phase will opment in Africa. Other sponsors are Jordan Brand, US Monastir (Union Sportive
Monastirienne)
qualify for the playoffs, which will be single elimina- Nike and Wilson. More sponsors are expected to be Tunisia

tion in all three rounds. The Finals will be held on added to the property this month.

May 30. It’s still to be determined whether fans will The BAL is finalizing its broadcast plans, which

be allowed at any point during the season. are expected to include some of the NBA’s TV part- for the NBA as it continues to expand its overseas
footprint.
Amadou Gallo Fall, president of the Dakar, Sen- ners both domestically and abroad. The league also
Last year, the NBA hired Victor Williams as CEO
will have a digital of NBA Africa to lead investment and growth of
the game throughout the continent. The BAL is
streaming pres- part of NBA Africa, which for years has worked to
develop the game there, including with its offseason
ence for live games. Basketball Without Borders player development
program. In 2017, the league opened the NBA Acad-
Despite the trun- emy Africa, and player development programming
is now being implemented in 14 African countries.
cated debut season,
The NBA opened its African headquarters in Johan-
the BAL is seen as nesburg, South Africa, in 2010 and has held three sold-
out Africa Games, in Johannesburg in 2015 and 2017,
a key component and in Pretoria in 2018. Those events supported char-
ities including UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Founda-
Getty Images NBA Commissioner tion and SOS Children’s Villages South Africa.
Adam Silver (cen-
ter) and others in
the league showed
off BAL jerseys last
year during All-
Star Weekend in
Chicago.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 9

THE INSIDERS

SPORTS MEDIA Rodriguez was frustrated when he first reached

Univision goes to school out last summer. Like many other media execu-
to learn more about
what influences ratings tives, he expected huge ratings upon the return

to play following the pandemic shutdown, given

that TV viewers spent weeks with no live sports

to view.

That pent-up demand did not exist.

“After the first two weeks, I realized that some-

thing was not working properly,” he said.

The common view held that viewers had migrat-

ed to streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon

L IKE EVERY OTHER MEDIA EXECUTIVE these days, Prime or AppleTV. It would take a while for them
Univision’s Juan Carlos Rodriguez has
bought into the theory that cord-cutting and that doesn’t work for any of us. We need to expand to return to sports – if they ever did.
our rights.’ ”
“There is not enough relevant content in those
The same scenario is playing out in the U.S. mar-
streaming to take out all of the people that had

the rise of streaming are a main reason why sports ket, where the NBA rolled out a controversial play- previously seen sports,” he said.

TV ratings are down in general. in tournament that gives more teams the That’s when Rodriguez reached out to the Uni-

But Rodriguez, the president of Univision’s sports opportunity to make the playoffs. Some influential versity of Mexico’s sociology department. Two

division, felt that there was more to NBAers, like Dallas Mavericks owner professors developed a paper that showed viewers

the story, so he contacted the head of Mark Cuban and Los Angeles Lakers are much less interested in watch-

the University of Mexico’s sociology forward LeBron James, have bashed ing what they consider meaningless

department to look into the matter. the expanded playoffs. regular-season games during a pan-

The sociologist’s feedback convinced But television ratings for Wizards demic.

Rodriguez that it wasn’t just TV’s fault games in Washington, D.C., are up “Before the pandemic, sports was

that sports ratings are down. Some of considerably. That’s because the ex- a weekly place where people would

the blame should be placed on the panded format created more meaning- show their emotions,” Rodriguez

leagues, which schedule too many ful games for a team that likely will Rodriguez said. “We’re in the middle of a pan-
demic, and people are more con-
meaningless games. finish outside the top eight of the

The answer, according to the soci- BY JOHN OURAND Eastern Conference, which in previ- cerned about health, jobs, money. There’s less
ologists, was to create more games that ous years would have kept the team
certainty and more stress. …

matter. The way to do that, Rodriguez out of the playoffs. Wizards games on “When you don’t have relevance and you just have

said, was to expand the playoffs. More NBC Sports Washington were up 43% the same thing going on and on and on, people real-

teams vying for a playoff berth means more mean- this season through May 5. ize that it doesn’t matter what the results are be-

ingful games on Univision. cause it’s irrelevant for them at that point.”

Liga MX was the first league to sign off on this nnnn Rodriguez’ team combed through the Liga MX

idea, deciding last fall to expand its playoffs from schedule and found what he described as a huge

eight to 12 teams. The unique part of Rodriguez’ story is how he amount of relatively meaningless games. Expanding

“We renegotiated most of our rights deals,” Ro- arrived at his decision. Rather than using a con- the playoffs will help TV ratings, Rodriguez said.

driguez said. “We went to see all of the relevant sultant steeped in sports or media, Rodriguez sought So, too, would expanding relegation at the other

players and said, ‘We’re in the middle of something out people who could offer fresh perspectives. end of the standings. However, that’s a change Liga

MX did not warm to. In the spring of 2020, the league

suspended promotion-relegation for five years.

nnnn

True to his newfound push for meaningful games, Getty Images (2)
Rodriguez touted his network’s planned coverage
of several international soccer tournaments this
summer, including the Champions League Final,
the Copa América, Gold Cup and European Cham-
pionship. Univision is producing these games under
the brand “Summer of Champions.”

“This is the biggest soccer summer in the his-
tory of our media company,” Rodriguez said.

Univision is attracted to these tournaments be-
cause they will lead to high quality soccer over a
14-hour period on some days, with European games
kicking off in the late morning/early afternoon
for U.S. audiences and the South American games
kicking off in the late afternoon/early evening for
U.S. viewers.

“We’re going to have content from 11 a.m. to late
at night by having both European and Copa Amer-
ica programming times,” Rodriguez said. “We’re
going to have 10-12 hours of very good soccer every
day.”

Univision applauded the decision by Liga MX to expand its playoffs, which will provide more meaningful games. John Ourand can be reached at jourand@sports-
businessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @
Ourand_SBJ and read his twice-weekly newsletter.

1 0 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

LABOR AND AGENTS

Agent Joel Segal on the differences he saw at this year’s NFL draft
P OWERFUL NFL AGENT JOEL SEGAL has
represented at least two player cli- during the seven rounds
ents selected in the first round of of the NFL draft last
month.

the NFL draft for 15 out of the last 16 years. “That’s the first time we

So Segal, CEO of Sportfive, knows what hit triple digits,” said Jim

the NFL draft green room is like as well Nagy, Senior Bowl execu-

as any agent. tive director. The previous

Segal spoke about some of the differ- record, posted 10 years

ences he saw at the 2021 draft in Cleveland, ago, was 98. There were

which he attended with client Jaylen 93 Senior Bowl players

BY LIZ MULLEN Waddle, the Alabama wide receiver who drafted in the 2020 and

was selected No. 6 overall by the Miami 2019 drafts, he said.

Dolphins. Multiple agents told

After being forced to go virtual for last SBJ earlier this year they

year’s draft due to the pandemic, the NFL believed that Senior Bowl

gave fans a sense of normalcy this year players would have an

while still taking COVID-19 protections. edge over others because

The NFL allowed fans who were fully vac- it was the only place NFL

cinated close to the stage and allowed play- club executives could in-

ers, family members and agents to attend, terview them in person

as long as they tested negative for the virus. because of COVID-19 re-

The league took extra precautions when strictions.

it came to draft prospects and their entou- “The teams fell way be-

rage. Normally, the green room is one big hind when it came to an

room. All the top prospects who accept the information-gathering

NFL draft invite sit at their own table sur- standpoint on these play-

rounded by their families. Agents stay with ers,” Nagy said. “We knew

the players and those agents with more they were going to be

than one go from table to table. doing Zooms the rest of

This year, all the prospects and their Joel Segal saw client Jaylen Waddle selected No. 6 by Miami. the process. So our game

families were given their own rooms, which was the only opportunity

were constructed in a week’s time, accord- year, Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins, who where the teams got to be face-to-face with

ing to Segal. “They did a heck of a job was taken No. 16 by the Arizona Cardinals, the players.”

separating everybody, based upon what is who celebrated with family in his small Of the Senior Bowl players drafted, six

going on with the virus, and got everybody hometown of Hominy, Okla. He has the were first-round picks: Alabama wide re-

to stay with their families in a separate markings of a leader, as he played quar- ceiver DeVonta Smith (No. 10, Philadelphia

room, but yet feel a part of a draft because terback when he was younger and was the Eagles); Alabama quarterback Mac Jones

everybody was in such close proximity.” class valedictorian in high school. (No. 15, New England Patriots); Alabama

Usually all the agents and prospects Sportfive represented 14 players who were offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood (No.

could see each other, but the way it was drafted, including four second rounders. 17, Las Vegas Raiders); Alabama running

They are: Oklahoma back Najee Harris (No. 24, Pittsburgh Steel-

Athletes First led all agencies with State offensive tack- ers); Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney
le Teven Jenkins, (No. 20, New York Giants); and Houston

eight players taken in the first drafted No. 39 by the defensive end Payton Turner (No. 28, New
round, followed by CAA. Overall, Chicago Bears; Ken- Orleans Saints).
tucky cornerback
This year the Senior Bowl had a special

15 different agencies represented Kelvin Joseph, interview schedule set up for teams and
players in the first round. drafted No. 44 by the players and spent $12,000 on Plexiglass for
Dallas Cowboys; extra safety. Nagy wants to make the sched-
Stanford tackle uled interviews a regular part of the Se-

Wa l ke r L i t t l e , nior Bowl going forward, but hopefully,

set up, agents and players could only see drafted No. 45 by the Jacksonville Jaguars; without the Plexiglass. “If you know some-

maybe one or two other players’ tables. and Ohio State linebacker Pete Werner, one who is in the Plexiglass resale busi-

“There is usually the grand buffet in the drafted No. 60 by the New Orleans Saints. ness, let me know,” he joked.

green room for all to share,” Segal said. Segal represents the players with Geoff

“This time we had assigned people to the Garmhausen and Greg Barnett. ■ AUTHENTIC ATHLETIX SIGNS LAZARD:

room helping us and bringing individual- Athletes First led all agencies with eight Authentic Athletix has signed Green Bay

ized dishes into the green room, which is players taken in the first round, followed Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard for

pretty cool.” by CAA Sports with seven. Just like last representation. Agency founder and NFL

Waddle’s pick by Miami surprised some, year’s draft, there were 15 different agen- agent Peter Schaffer is representing Laz-

Courtesy of Joel Segal who thought the Dolphins would take cies representing players in the first round. ard. He was formerly represented by Ele-

DeVonta Smith, also an Alabama wide ment Sports Group.

receiver and Heisman Trophy winner. Both ■ SENIOR BOWL POSTS RECORD DRAFT

played at Alabama with now Dolphins NUMBER: The Senior Bowl saw a record Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@

quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. 106 players who were invited to its all-star sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on

Segal had another first-round client this game in February hear their names called Twitter @SBJLizMullen.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 1 1

PORTFOLIO POP CULTURE

WHAT I’M BINGEING ON

MARCIE CLEARY
Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

BY CHRIS SMITH

MARCIE CLEARY is a partner in the SCRIPTED TV REALITY TV RADIO
entertainment division of law firm
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. She I love the Genius series about Aretha “Buried by the Bernards” on Netflix I am obsessed with all things
represents NBA players making the Franklin on National Geographic. I’m is a reality series about a family that Memphis Tigers basketball. I live
jump into entertainment, including an Aretha fan, but I didn’t know the and work in New York but while I’m
ThreeFourTwo Productions, runs a funeral home working, I listen to the Memphis
co-founded by NBA veteran JJ details about her in Memphis. The ESPN affiliate radio station, 92.9 FM.
Redick; as well as the stars of the childhood and family is hilarious, It has the best talk radio shows
Showtime series “Desus & Mero”; upbringing, and and they really bring about Memphis sports. My favorite is
and the podcast “The Read,” which her life is just a human side to “Jason & John.”
just landed a record deal with fascinating. I what’s typically a
actress Issa Rae’s Raedio. also love very sad occasion.
“Lovecraft I’m from Memphis,
Country” on and it’s my personal experience that
HBO. I’m not people from Memphis have the best
normally a sense of humor, and this show just
science fiction verifies that. They’re hilarious, and it’s
fan, but the story is just really well fun to just see real-life Memphis folks
told and it’s a really smart program. on screen.

PODCAST MUSIC FOOD HEALTH/WELL-BEING

I love “The Old Man and the Three I’m not a huge gangster rap fan; I’m not a big foodie, but I have a soft I bought an Apple Watch during the
with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter” however, I love an album that you heart for fast food, pandemic to make sure I’m
because it’s interesting to see how can just play and listen to all the way and my favorite is actually moving while
dedicated the athletes, especially through. I find that’s rare with a rap Sonic. Every time working from home and track-
the basketball players, are about album, but I can play Moneybagg I go to a city that ing my steps. It really forces
their craft and how deliberate they Yo’s album ”A Gangsta’s Pain” in one has a Sonic, I me to make sure I’m walking
are about building their off-the-court sitting. He’s also from Memphis, so make sure to stop, and I get their around and not sitting down
businesses. he’s a hometown guy. strawberry cheesecake milkshake. in front of my computer all day.

SUMMER STREAMING

If the weather gets too warm, here are five options for what to watch. — By Chris Smith

Disney+ HBO Max Hulu Hulu Netflix National Geographic; Netflix; Audacy; Apple; Disney+; HBO Max; Hulu (2); ESPN

Disney has again dipped into HBO’s extensive library includes For baseball fans looking to take “Brockmire,” a half-hour Exactly one year ago this
the nostalgia well with “The classic films like “Rocky” and a trip back to the early 1990s, comedy starring Hank Azaria as Monday, ESPN first aired
Mighty Ducks: Game critically acclaimed Hulu just added “The Sandlot” a baseball broadcaster looking episodes seven and eight of its
Changers,” a new series that documentaries such as “Hoop last month. The cult classic has to restart his life and career in 10-episode Chicago Bulls
brings back numerous actors Dreams” and “Weight of Gold.” spawned a few direct-to-video the minor leagues, concluded mega-doc, “The Last Dance.”
from the 1992 original feature One gem that’s flown under the sequels, and now Disney+ is its four-season run on IFC in They chornicle Michael
film, including Emilio Estevez as radar is the 2020 doc “Women working on a scripted series 2020, but all 32 episodes are Jordan’s 1993 retirement, his
coach Gordon Bombay. There’s of Troy,” about the 1980s USC that will bring back the film’s available on Hulu. This comes at short-lived baseball career and
still time to catch up, with the Trojans women’s basketball original cast and director, David the same time Azaria has started his return to the Bulls, which
last three weekly episodes team led by Cheryl Miller that Mickey Evans, who will write “The Jim Brockmire” podcast, in won a fourth NBA title in 1996.
scheduled to air throughout the broke down racial barriers en and executive produce. Evans is which he talks to real-life figures For those who want even more
rest of the month, and Disney+ route to winning titles and also working on a prequel film. while in character. MJ, “Space Jam” is available on
also has the full original trilogy. revolutionizing the game. HBO Max.

1 2 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

graphics and multiple cameras.

The glut of events also forced staff to make the

most of their facility space and multitasking skills,

said Idaho State AD Pauline Thiros.

A space that previously had been used as an in-

door practice area by the golf team was converted

into a space for testing. A marketing office trans-

formed into a satellite training facility.

Weather permitting, Thiros said, training

Football joined tables were taken out on the practice fields
winter and spring or shifted into the concourse areas of Holt
sports on campus Arena, the Bengals’ domed stadium, making

at Idaho State and the most of the square footage they have.
other FCS schools. “It was all hands on deck,” Thiros said.

“We had assistant coaches who were

trained to collect test samples and things like that.

There was a lot of crossover in those duties.”

Elon’s Blank recalled one especially tumultuous

three-day stretch — internally they called it the

“super weekend” — in March when the Phoenix

played six events on that Friday; football and vol-

leyball at home on that Saturday to go with a hand-

ful of road games; and a Sunday that included

One crazy trifecta softball, baseball, soccer, tennis and volleyball.
On top of the demands at home, Elon’s men’s bas-

ketball team went on an unexpected four-day run in
the Colonial Athletic Association tournament at
James Madison in Virginia before losing to Drexel

in the championship game, one win away from The

Fall, winter and spring sports large and small across all divisions. But it was es- Big Dance.
“Our conversations are now turning to those

fiesta creates an on-campus pecially taxing on schools at the FCS level because evaluations to say, ‘OK, what would we do again or
logjam for athletes, staff they played football on Saturdays — and sometimes not do again?’” Blank said. “We’re all cognizant of
Sundays — this spring. In anticipation of hosting the financial side of things, and we can look at some

E LON UNIVERSITY Athletic Director Dave Blank so many Olympic sports events in the spring, the new ways to go about things financially, like how
jokingly refers to this year’s spring sports OVC opted to play football games on Sundays. you structure scheduling within the conference
season as the Barnum & Bailey of college and maybe be more cost-mindful.”
“It was 100% about staffing issues,” said Jack-
sonville State AD Greg Seitz, whose department Many of those same evaluations are being dis-

sports. leaned on a staff of 14 student assistants in media cussed in other conferences. The OVC’s move to

At times, it has been a three-ring sports circus relations alone to help keep the schedules on pace Sunday football in the spring generated a lot of

with fall and winter sports like through the spring. “When you’re talking about discussion about two alternatives to the tradition-

BY MICHAEL SMITH football, soccer, volleyball and athletic trainers, sports information, video crews al season — spring football and Sunday football.
basketball stacked on top of streaming games, facilities crews, those are all Jacksonville State’s Seitz saw some benefits to play-

softball, baseball, lacrosse, groups that just don’t get a break. ing in the spring, in terms of picking up a few Alabama

golf and tennis, the traditional spring sports. and Auburn fans who were

On some three-day weekends, the Phoenix have “When you’re talking about athletic hungry for college football.
hosted a dozen events, turning the small, private trainers, sports information, video crews Still, he didn’t count himself
campus near Burlington, N.C., into a busy Olympic ... facilities crews, those are all groups as a full proponent of moving
sports festival. that just don’t get a break.” to the spring full time.

The crazy confluence of events is the byproduct Schools like Jacksonville
of moving most of the fall championships to the State count on scheduling

spring, the NCAA’s solution to the pandemic wiping FBS schools for what they call

out many seasons last year. “We had to start football games between 1 and 3 “guarantee games” that can pay six to seven figures

While the decision provided an opportunity for p.m. on Sunday afternoons because we were coming for an appearance fee. The Gamecocks received

college athletes to play for championships in their right behind them with volleyball on Sunday nights. $400,000 for playing at Florida State at the start of

respective sports, it has stretched administrative, We spent a lot of time figuring out how to schedule last season’s truncated schedule, dollars that go a

coaching and training staffs so thin that 80-hour and staff these games so that we could provide a long way in the athletic department budget.

work weeks have become routine in the pursuit of quality experience for the athletes.” Spring football would mean a return to the three-

2020-21 seasons. Practically every aspect of game management ring spring sports seasons that most campuses don’t

“We only have so many people and so much in- felt the impact, especially when spring football want to repeat.

frastructure,” Blank said. “So, we’ve had to often- games overlapped with men’s and women’s basket- “There have been lots of big sacrifices,” Thiros

times come up with some creative solutions to make ball, and fall sports overlapped spring sports. said. “I mean, just the life-work balance. I think for

the most of the space we have.” Trainers have had to cover sports they don’t nor- everybody in our department, there was just no

Elon isn’t the only FCS school that has had to mally cover and their travel was reduced so that such thing. I think that the number of hours that

juggle staff, practice facilities and schedules just they could be available to monitor home events, people have worked — 80 and 90 hours a week — to

to compete. Idaho State from the Big Sky Confer- leaving athletes at road contests under the care of make this competition happen has been huge. You’ve

Getty Images ence and Jacksonville (Ala.) State from the Ohio trainers from the opposing team. got to remember that a lot of schools were working

Valley Conference are trying to survive three-ring Streaming games often reverted back to a single around furloughs. There were huge personal sac-

circuses on their own campuses. camera because there just wasn’t enough staff to rifices on the part of staff across the department

The stacked sports seasons have affected schools stage a standard game production with announcers, to make this happen.”

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 1 3

WNBA:

25 and Counting

In 1997, they proclaimed “We Got Next.” And they did. The players, teams and
executives of the WNBA launched on the strength of Team USA’s gold-medal
performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics and built a legacy over the years
that overcame obstacles ranging from economic recession to social upheaval.
This week, as the league embarks on its 25th season, we share the personal stories
of the people who built the WNBA and continue to contribute to its success.

And from a view of 5 at 25, we look at the league and team leaders, players
and business deals that are part of the WNBA’s foundation and its future.

CONTENT BY JOHN LOMBARDO IN PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES
 Thrive at 25: Q&A with SID Val Ackerman: ‘We were
E
Commissioner Cathy part of history,’ Page 18
Engelbert, Pages 16-17 Illustration by Ariana Torrey Donna Orender: Business
 Five most influential league
executives, Page 21 that stands for a cause, Page 20
 Five most impactful team  Laurel Richie: Showing the
leaders, Page 23
 Five most important world what is possible, Page 22
players, Page 25  Lisa Borders: The women of
 Five to watch in the future,
Page 27 the W, Page 24
 Five biggest business deals,  Nneka Ogwumike:
Page 29
 Milestones in the WNBA’s A collaborative future, Page 26
history, Pages 30-31  Lindsay Kagawa Colas:

1 4 | M AY 10-16, 2021 Celebrating the WNBA, Page 28
 Shiz Suzuki: Breaking

barriers, Page 30
 Pete Giorgio: Power of the

orange hoodie, Page 30
 Tony Ponturo: Pursuit of the

WNBA, Page 31
 Gary Stevenson: A personal

stake, Page 32

WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

Thrive at  Cathy Engelbert Getty Images; NBAE / Getty Images
joined the WNBA as its
25 first commisssioner in
2019 after a 33-year
Ahead of the WNBA’s career at Deloitte,
including four years as
25th season that tips off CEO.
 Engelbert
on Friday, Commissioner congratulates A’ja
Cathy Engelbert spoke Wilson of the Las Vegas
Aces, who was named
with Sports Business the league’s 2020 MVP.
Journal’s John Lombardo
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
about the new owners and

investors in the league, how

players will further their

social justice movement

this season, the activation

and fan interest around this

milestone season and much

more. Their conversation

below is edited for clarity

and brevity.

With new owners and investors
joining the league in Las Vegas,
Atlanta and New York, what’s the
key to attracting more of these
investors and other owners
moving ahead?
It’s a great signal for the league
that we now have an NFL owner
[with Mark Davis in Las Vegas]. We
have a big corporate owner in Larry
Gottesdiener and Suzanne Abair
along with Renee Montgomery [in
Atlanta]. What a great story of retir-
ing from the league and now being a
part owner and certainly an execu-
tive and making an impact and fully
engaged. As you said, in New York
with Joe Tsai and his group and
Clara Wu — that’s such a great sig-
nal for the league that these inves-
tors are here for the long term. They
believe in the product, they have a
huge passion for the game and for
the broader platform that these
WNBA players stand for around so-
cial justice, racial injustice. I
couldn’t be any more pleased with
the support from all 12 owners but
certainly these new owners step-
ping in. It’s just a great signal and
time for the long term of the league
around what I call going from sur-
viving in COVID to thriving.

1 6 | M AY 10-16, 2021

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

NBAE / Getty Images You mentioned social justice, and few leagues like the  Inside the wubble The WNBA saw some great traction from a viewership
WNBA have been as active from a social justice standpoint. at IMG Academy in standpoint last season in the in the bubble. What’s the
What will the league’s commitment to diversity and Bradenton, Fla., last fall, league planning to do to continue to build on the
inclusion and social justice look like for this upcoming Engelbert bumps elbows viewership growth?
season? with Candace Parker, Viewership’s all around coverage. If less than 5% of your
[Last year when] we paused from playing and we formed the who earned 2020 media coverage covers women’s sports, than if we just change
social justice council, it was really important to me that it not Defensive Player of the that — because the denominator is so huge in that 5% statistic
be a one-and-done thing for the 2020 season. I think that Year honors. — by a couple hundred basis points, that’s where you get your
strength again of the WNBA players’ voices has been so im- viewership expansion. That’s what we did last year with
pressive to me. … I mean these players are so smart. Now 25th expanded coverage on ESPN. We’re working on that this year,
they’re like “let’s work on health equity.” What a great topic to season working with other media partners. But it’s also around
tie into a social justice platform and highlight the importance broadcast marketing, especially in the 25th season. So the W25, which
of mental health. They’re very, very committed to saying, highlights will be rolling out fan engagement voting around the 25
given what we’ve been through the pandemic and the racial greatest players in the W, and then in the back half of the
injustice in this country, what is the impact of that on our  100 national season as we come off the Olympic break, the WNBA 25
mental health? So health equity, mental health tie-ins with so- telecasts across greatest moments will be something [and] standing up at the
cial justice, a continued strong platform around LGBTQ+ ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Commissioner’s Cup. So we’ll have so many moments when
rights, and then voting rights, civic engagement, which you CBS, CBS Sports we’ll be able to market this league and drive engagement and
saw them come out so strong in the election into January. Network and drive more fans in.
NBA TV
How are you engaging prospective sponsors for the 2021 What do you see as the biggest challenge the league is
season and beyond?  12 games will be facing this year? And what does a successful 2021 season
It’s really important that we get to the next step with our ac- streamed across look like?
tivating with our sponsors. I’m sure you’ve seen the CarMax Twitter on One of the things last year when we were working on all the
campaign that Sue Bird did with Steph Curry, and … even #WNBATwitterLive scenario plans, I had to step back and say we need key princi-
when I talk to other sponsors about that today you can see along with real-time ples. Last year, it was health and safety first. This year again,
them churning on how effective that was in raising why this game highlights, it is health and safety, that is not changed. But it’s also execut-
game is so important, why these role models are so important. postgame ing a successful 32-game season. Keeping our players and our
[It’s] just a different way to promote because we’re not looking interviews and coaches and everybody who follows the WNBA safe is No. 1.
for partners who just want to sponsor us, we’re looking to other coverage. We’re looking to grow revenue this year. We’re looking to
partners who want to activate in a much more holistic way. grow income at the league level. Now the teams, again, have a
A lot of it is about making sure that you have the narrative  20 games will unique challenge with limited fans, and a couple of our arenas
right, making sure that you have a view of the impact of your be streamed on probably will start the season without any fans because the
league and that you’re also trying to help the business issues both Facebook state and local authorities haven’t approved fan plans yet in
that your potential partners are trying to solve for themselves. … Watch and Venues those jurisdictions. … But this is going to be a tough year to
You have to filter through what is your business partner in this on Oculus Quest. drive success just on profitability at the team level. At the
sponsorship trying to accomplish in their own business. And league level, we’ve got a ton of momentum and we’ll be judged
that’s hopefully one thing I’m bringing from my business back-  Google, the both financially and marketing and digitally, and that’s going
ground. The first thing I ask them is, “What’s your strategy? WNBA’s newest to be our success factors.
Where do you see your growth?” And then if we can find a way Changemaker
that the WNBA can fit in to the growth and drive the growth of partner, will be the
that company, it’s a much easier partnership to sell than if we’re presenting partner
just saying, “Oh, we’re great. We are the WNBA. We are the of the WNBA on
greatest athletes that are crafted in the world.” That’s just not ESPN. Along with
going to be good enough to sell a sponsorship package. ESPN, Google will
deliver “25 for 25,” a
What’s the outlook for any expansion plans for the league? 25-game schedule
We need to transform the economics of this league and the of telecasts across
economics of the 12 teams first. So I have a philosophy that ABC, ESPN and
“don’t run and expand and hope the economic model gets trans- ESPN2 in
formed.” Work on helping transform, drive valuations up of celebration of the
your franchises … Then when you have that stability in the base league’s 25th
of your teams, then expansion. … It is becoming very interesting season.
with the depth and breadth of the players in this league and how
we’re globalizing and more global players are coming into our OPENING
league. There’ll be a time in the future that we probably must ex- NIGHT LINEUP:
pand because it’s really tough to make a roster right now.
Indiana Fever at
What’s the profitability outlook for the WNBA teams and New York Liberty
the league? 7 p.m., NBA TV
You’ve probably heard me say this in different ways, be-
cause it cannot be repeated enough. If we had not had a sea- Connecticut Sun
son last year, to be out of the sports landscape for 20 months at Atlanta Dream
for a league of our size and scale would have been existential. 7:30 p.m., Twitter
… Little did we know how successful it would be, that we’d be
COVID-free from training camp on, that the players would Phoenix Mercury
then use their platform to have such a strong voice. … And we at Minnesota Lynx
built some pretty cool rivalries out of last year, namely Seattle 9 p.m., CBS Sports
vs. Las Vegas, which is going to be interesting to watch. Network
It’ll be another tough economic season for the owners with
limited fans and higher costs because of all the COVID proto- Dallas Wings at
cols and the league will have higher costs because of that. But Los Angeles Sparks
we think it’s worth a three-year growth plan to keep investing 10:30 p.m.,
and then get to a normalized phase three years out where then Facebook
we’ll start looking and talking about profitability.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 1 7

‘We were part of history’

Getting to the first tipoff in the WNBA was the product of months of work
and the fulfillment of a lifetime in dreams for the league’s creators, players and fans.

Author’s note: This is an edited and abridged
version of an article penned for espnW in 2011.

T HE WNBA opened its doors to pay-
ing customers for the first time on
June 21, 1997, as the Los Angeles

Sparks hosted the New York Liberty at the Great

Western Forum in the league’s inaugural game. I

was there with my colleague Rick Welts, tossing

BY VAL up the ball for the opening tip be-
tween Lisa Leslie and Kym Hamp-

ACKERMAN ton (to avoid embarrassment, I
practiced many times before the

cameras rolled).

A lot of that day was a blur, but distinct images

remain indelibly fixed in my mind: Convincing the

Sparks owner that I (and not his girlfriend) was the

right person to handle the opening jump ball hon-

ors; scrambling to locate a recording of the nation-

al anthem after the scheduled performer failed to

arrive on time (stuck in traffic); Penny Toler from

the Sparks scoring the first basket in WNBA histo-

ry; nervous players showing the effects of their

much-hyped moment in the spotlight; and an arena

filled with ecstatic fans, many of them women and

girls, who bought up every last commemorative

item we’d stocked at the Forum concession stands.

The game was the culmination of months of work

and years of dreams, and most of all I remember The WNBA has seen much change
in the past 25 years. While we had
feeling a sense of relief that we had pulled it off: our share of entertaining games in
the early years, the quality of bas-
Balls were bouncing, referees were blowing their ketball played in the WNBA today is
far better. The players are faster and
whistles, and fans were finally getting to see what stronger, and they shoot and handle
the ball with noticeably greater
“We Got Next” was all about. skill. The curiosity factor we experi-
enced early on, which helped fuel
The Liberty/Sparks game was the first of a four- the deluge of publicity in the first
year, has been replaced by an appre-
city swing of home openers I took in that memora- ciation of the league for what it rep-
resents on the merits: a compelling
ble week. From L.A., I traveled to Salt Lake City, mix of teamwork, talent and passion
that many sports fans can and do ad-
then to Phoenix, then Houston, finding at each stop mire. The WNBA has earned the
stature and respect we all hoped for
an outpouring of excitement, curiosity and pent- and more than proved that it de-
serves its place at the table.
up anticipation, the likes of which women’s pro
The WNBA’s constants since the
basketball had never seen before. At the end of the first year have been the intense con-
nections between its players and fans
week, the Liberty hosted their first game in Madi- and what the league represents as an
example of achievement for women
son Square Garden, and I remember sitting wide- everywhere. As it looks toward its
25th season and beyond, the “W” goes
eyed at courtside with my husband, Charlie, and out armed with amazing athletes,
powerful imagery and a legacy that
our young daughters; David and Dianne Stern; and no other women’s team sport can
come close to matching. Those of us
assorted invited guests. The atmosphere in the there to witness the first jump ball
can’t wait to see what they got next.
Garden was electric, and as fans continued to pour
Val Ackerman is the commissioner
into the building before the game’s start, I looked
of the Big East Conference and was
over at David, who was eyeing the quickly filling
the founding president of the WNBA
upper decks with a look that registered a cross be-
in 1997.
tween disbelief and intense satisfaction and pride.

It was then that it occurred to me that we might be

on to something big.

For many of us at the NBA, the year leading up NBAE / Getty Images (2); Courtesy of Val Ackerman

to the WNBA’s launch was both exhilarating and

exhausting. Every day brought one long to-do list,

with five items added for each one crossed off.

Many of our tasks were monumental: Choose cit-

ies, create team names and logos, design uniforms,

hire referees, sign networks and sponsors, sell tick-

ets and find players, to name a few. And the devil

was always lurking in the details. Our industry’s top: Val Ackerman above: The inaugural top right: “We might
tosses the eight team owners or be on to something
best and brightest (David, Rick, Adam Silver, Russ ceremonial jump ball their representives big”: Ackerman’s
for Lisa Leslie (left) join Ackerman after ticket stub of the
Granik, Gary Stevenson and many others) brought and Kym Hampton approval of the first WNBA game
before the league’s league’s creation in at Madison Square
acumen and a major league mindset to the endeav- first game. 1996. Garden.

or, and somehow it all came together. At every

turn, we felt we were part of history.

1 8 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

WNBA
marketing
campaigns

 Donna Orender 1997
announces the 2007
WNBA draft in Cleveland. We Got Next

Orender’s tenure with 1998
the league coincided
with the Great Recession, Join In
but also business
innovation, including the 1999-2001
introduction of jersey
sponsorship. We Got Game

WNBA: The business 2002-04
that stands for a cause
This Is
T HE DECISION was met with wonder and word out. This resulted in introducing jersey sponsors to what Who I Am
amazement. Why leave a sports property on the was previously thought taboo real estate and building on new
rise, the PGA Tour, ascendant on the play of Tiger technology at the time to create our own streaming network. It 2005
meant recognizing the power of women to inspire and introduc-
Woods, for a league whose constant demise was one of the first ing a powerful platform that continues to do just that, day by This Is
day and step by step, our team of believers would widen our cir- Our Game
questions asked. Will you be here tomorrow? cles from market to market in times replete with challenges.
2006-07
I remember the first call with the press announcing that I The current began to flow with us, as new owners and
ownership models staked the ground with passionate resolve Have You
would become the second president of the WNBA. and investment. Michael Alter, Sheila Johnson, Force-10 in Seen Her?
Seattle, Bill Cameron in Tulsa and the Williams Holding
Was it a big deal to go from the PGA Tour to the WNBA? Group in Los Angeles. 2008-09

Despite the change of the ball size and that I I found joy and inspiration in the arenas, where little by Expect Great
little attendance began to grow. The beauty of the game, the
BY DONNA would no longer suffer rain delays, tickets and compelling athletes, connecting with myriad enthusiastic 2010
ORENDER sponsorships would still need to be sold and, at fans, fueled my energy. And yet, an ongoing debate about
the core of both businesses, beat the heart of whether this was a business or a cause did not dissipate. Expect Great/
Basketball is
elite and prideful athletes. Athletes who did what We are not there yet, but isn’t it great that so many years
later, as we celebrate 25, that the debate has been silenced with Basketball
they did better than anyone in the world. I was so excited to be an answer that speaks to how the WNBA and its athletes have
consistently led on the right side of social issues. They are a 2011
able to represent the amazing women who played in the WNBA. model for companies of today, all now finding their voice as
leaders in a world that more than ever needs the voices of They Got Now
Candidly, however, nothing prepared me for what I faced women and girls. A business or a cause?
2012-13
when I got to the league. The racism, sexism, homophobia and The WNBA is a business that stands for cause, and people
are realizing the importance of doing just that. The world No campaign*
out and out meanness that emboldened sports radio hosts, slowly turns, but it turns.
2014
their listeners and others to question our right to exist. The privilege of leading the WNBA was both the best and
hardest job I had. Ultimately it remains the greatest gift that SummerHoops
For me, the lure of the WNBA was to pay it forward, to build continues to shape my life both personally and professionally.
I am so grateful, truly, for the lessons learned and the amazing 2015
upon the vision of David Stern and Adam Silver and a long people with whom I was fortunate to share this journey.
Watch Me
line of enthusiasts who believed women’s sports could be a Donna Orender was president of the WNBA from February 2005
2016-18
sustainable business built on its own merits. It was a through December 2010.
Watch Me
validating arc in my personal story, having gone from the Work

playgrounds in NYC to playing in the first women’s 2019-20

professional league, chasing a dream I dared not dream as a Make Way

young basketball player. It was a dream others should have as 2021

they shape a changing view of equality and possibilities in Count It

our world. * In the Olympic year NBAE / Getty Images (2)
of 2012 a spot was
Despite taking over in the time of the Great Recession, the made to congratulate
Team USA and welcome
value and values of these tremendous athletes were rewarded athletes and fans back
to the WNBA. In 2013,
with new sponsors. While Discover Card and AOL joined the a spot ran utilizing a
montage of stills of
WNBA family, the chasm of inequity that continues to cause WNBA players in a
similar pose ultimately
women’s sports to play catch up was still a yawning gap. culminating in the new
logowoman.
We knew we had to innovate and fight every day to get the Source: WNBA, Sports
Business Journal
research

2 0 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

David Stern Val Ackerman Five most influential
league executives
It’s simple — without Stern, there would be no Ackerman was the first WNBA president and played a key role
WNBA. As NBA commissioner, he made it his in creating the league during her tenure as a highly regarded
mission to create the WNBA by throwing the
full support of the NBA behind the effort after NBA executive working for Stern. Her trailblazing leadership
he saw the crush of interest surrounding the was critical in establishing credibility during the
gold medal-winning women’s U.S team at the WNBA’s infancy and building a foundation on which
1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He also saw the po- the league would grow. She remains a major
tential, and perhaps a threat, industry voice as commissioner of the Big East
of the ABL professional Conference.
women’s league that
began play in 1996. The
ABL lasted just a few
seasons, while the
NBA-backed W now
celebrates its 25th
season and is an in-
tegral part of Stern’s
iconic legacy.

Adam
Silver

As a key Stern lieutenant in
1997, Silver was at the forefront of
the WNBA rollout, and today as NBA
commissioner, he remains committed
to growing the women’s league. In 2019,
he smartly changed the top title of the
W from president to commissioner,

giving the job more weight and
hiring former Deloitte CEO Cathy

Engelbert in a brilliant move
to propel the league
forward.

NBAE / Getty Images (5) Rick Welts Cathy Engelbert

Welts has played a major role in the WNBA since the 1997 rollout, The first commissioner of the WNBA joined the
helping develop the early marketing efforts of the league during league in 2019, and the former Deloitte CEO has
his tenure working at the NBA office. That support of the league wasted no time putting her
continued during his stint as president of the Phoenix Suns and own imprint on the league.
Phoenix Mercury. Though he will step down as president and She ushered through a
chief operating officer of the Golden State Warriors after the groundbreaking new
NBA season, Welts will remain involved with the WNBA as a CBA that brought high-
member of the newly created league advisory committee. er pay and benefits to
players, and she led the
W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M “wubble” 2020 season
at IMG Academy in
Bradenton, Fla., to
great success while
also supporting the
players’ strong so-
cial justice stance.

MAY 10-16, 2021 | 2 1

The WNBA
wsohroldwws thhaet
is possible

I T’S HARD TO BELIEVE it has been 10 years, almost
to the day, since I joined the WNBA as the third president
and first African American to hold the position.
At the time, much was made of the fact that I had never

played the game of basketball. (One of my very first ques-

tions: Why do the guards move the ball forward and the for-

wards guard the basket? Yikes!)

BY LAUREL I can still remember the press conference an-
nouncing my appointment. David Stern and I of-

RICHIE fered remarks before opening the floor to
questions. When asked if he had any trepidation

about hiring someone without a basketball back-

ground, David didn’t miss a beat. “I think having an interest

in sports, which Laurel does … we found somebody who was

adept with respect to sports … culturally adept at understand-

ing what impact the game and the players could have on the

community, the global community, was a real plus.”

He then went on to seal the deal: “My own basketball back-

ground was ripping up my ACL in a lawyers league. So I don’t

think it’s essential to have played the game at a high level at all!” couldn’t be prouder of how the league, teams, officials, fans and  NBA Commissioner
players lived their values during this past season. A season dedi- David Stern joined
When the press conference ended, David called me into his cated to Breonna Taylor. A season in which Georgia’s first Afri- Laurel Richie, Katie
can American senator acknowledged the critical role the WNBA Couric, WNBA player
office and gave me a big bear hug to officially welcome me to players played in his groundbreaking campaign. A season in Alana Beard and Mystics
which a former player became a team owner, replacing someone owner Sheila Johnson
the league. Then he gave me my marching orders. At the very who had denounced the Black Lives Matter movement. A season
when an openly nonbinary identifying player was welcomed at the 2011 Inspiring
top of his agenda was the need to establish broad recognition with open arms by the players association, the league and their
team. A season that bore witness to the promise and power of Women Luncheon in
of the distinct values of the WNBA. the WNBA family coming together to show the world what
women can be as athletes and what athletes can be as citizens. New York.
Surrounded by a strong and passionate team in the league
On the eve of this 25th season, I am so grateful to David
office and across all 12 teams, I rolled up my sleeves and got Stern and Adam Silver for the opportunity to play a role in
helping the league make its mark in sports and in society. And
to work, and we stayed busy. Over the next five seasons, our I’d like to think David, dressed in the now ubiquitous orange
hoodie, is somewhere out there smiling; smiling with approval
core mission became showing the world what’s possible: what of all that the WNBA has accomplished, and smiling in
anticipation of all that is yet to come.
women can be as athletes and what athletes can be as citizens.
Laurel Richie was president of the WNBA from April 2011 until
We began by reimagining our brand identity in order to firm- November 2015.

ly establish the WNBA as different from, but not less than,

the NBA. Next, we replaced the traditional red, white and

blue color palette with the iconic orange and oatmeal of the

WNBA’s signature ball. Then we updated our logo woman to NBAE / Getty Images (2)

reflect the athleticism and diversity of the WNBA players.

And in 2014, in partnership with ESPN, Procter & Gamble,

GLAAD and GLSEN, the WNBA became the first professional

sports league to support the LGBTQ+ community through a

leaguewide, nationally televised Pride celebration.

Fast forward to today. As a former president and an avid fan, I

2 2 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Five
most
impactful
team
leaders Van Chancellor

Chancellor joined the Houston Comets as head coach
during the team’s inaugural 1997 season, after spend-
ing nearly two decades coaching at the University

of Mississippi. He was an immediate success in

the WNBA, as he led the Comets to four consecutive

Cheryl Reeve titles from 1997 to 2000 during the first four years
of the WNBA’s existence. He was WNBA coach of

The head coach and general manager of the Minnesota Lynx is the year in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and stands as one of

among the league’s most decorated executives, having been hon- the most successful coaches and general managers

ored as WNBA executive of the year and WNBA coach of the year in league history.

in 2011, 2016 and 2020. Reeve is also a champion of the WNBA’s

social justice work that dates back farther than last summer’s Bill
high-profile efforts. In 2016, the Lynx donned T-shirts protesting Laimbeer
police shootings, and Reeve has been steadfast in her support of

Lynx star Maya Moore’s decision to step away from the league to The former member of the

focus on social justice work. Reeve also has been outspoken in infamous “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons

support of actions taken by WNBA players after George Floyd’s teams of the late 1980s is one of the winningest

murder last year in Minneapolis. coaches in WNBA history. Laimbeer has been

president and head coach of the Las Vegas Aces

since 2017, when the team moved from San Antonio.

But he made his mark in the league long before that by

leading the Detroit Shock to the 2003 WNBA title while

also winning coach of the year honors. Under Laimbeer,

the Shock went on to win titles in 2006 and 2008. He also

coached the New York Liberty before joining the Aces,

who lost in the WNBA championship series last year.

The outspoken Laimbeer is a big proponent of the

WNBA and women’s sports. While the league

may not have always liked his critical

comments, he helped bring

attention to the game and

the players.

NBAE / Getty Images (5) Kelly Krauskopf Alisha Valavanis

Krauskopf spent 19 years as the top As CEO of the four-time WNBA cham-
executive with the Indiana Fever, one pion Seattle Storm, Valavanis has run
of the WNBA’s most successful teams. the team during its last two champion-
During her tenure, the Fever made 13 ships in 2018 and in 2020, creating an
playoff appearances, including three impressive roster through free agency
WNBA Finals and a title in 2012. She
was also the WNBA’s first director of and the draft. She also was general
basketball operations in 1996, and manager during those champion-
before that was assistant commis- ships runs up until last month,
sioner for the Southwest Conference. when she promoted Talisa Rhea
Now an assistant GM for the Indiana to the post. On the business side,
Pacers, Krauskopf saw former Fever the Storm are seen as one of the
star Tamika Catchings (right) succeed most innovative and successful
her as GM and vice president of bas- franchises in the WNBA. Vala-
ketball operations. vanis also runs Force 10 Sports
Management, which counts the
Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tour-
nament, USA Basketball, Seattle
ProAm, Seattle Reign FC and the
Seattle Seawolves in its portfolio.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 2 3

Woof mtheen Most-watched
WNBA games
W
I N 2016, when I arrived at the WNBA, aka “the W,” The top two most-watched
expectations were at an all-time high. And trust in the games for the WNBA were the
league was at an all-time low. first two games of its inaugural
With attendance nearly flatlining, no new partners, and no season. In an era before
widespread internet access and
real relationship between the league and its players, the the existence of social media, the
viewership is contrasted by the
situation was strained at best. five most-watched games of the
past decade (second chart).
My tenure at the league resulted in a team being moved to Four of those five games were
from the postseason.
BY LISA Las Vegas, new partnerships with Twitter and
FanDuel, viewership up 31%, and merchandise  Regular season  Postseason

BORDERS sales up 66%. But the stats do not tell the story 5 MOST-VIEWED GAMES
I’m most proud of. OVERALL

My first day on the job at the W illustrated 1 New York Liberty v.
Los Angeles Sparks
something true of any purposeful organization: Its people are 6/21/1997, NBC
5.04m
its greatest asset.
Charlotte Sting v.
I knew my first priority needed to be building authentic con-
2 Phoenix Mercury
nections with the most important constituency — the players. 6/22/1997, NBC
3.59m
It started with a promise to listen. I gave every player my
New York Liberty v.
personal mobile number so that she could reach me at any time
3 Houston Comets
for anything. I visited locker rooms after every game (losing 9/05/1999, NBC
3.25m
team first, winners second) to offer comfort and counsel or to
Los Angeles Sparks v.
take part in the celebration. And by 2017, players came to
4 Phoenix Mercury
expect my visits because I valued their voices. I saw and heard 6/14/1998, NBC
2.89m
them clearly, met them where they were, and was willing to
New York Liberty v.
support them in every endeavor — professional and beyond.  Lisa Borders catches up with Team USA and WNBA
players Breanna Stewart, Tamika Catchings and 5 Houston Comets
During that same year, we witnessed yet another increase in Elena Delle Donne at the 2016 Summer Olympics in 8/30/1997, NBC
Rio de Janeiro. 2.85m
Black people having senseless, fatal encounters with police
In other words, to not have reversed the decision 5 MOST-VIEWED GAMES
across the country. Because the league was (and is) 80% Black, would be to not have delivered on the one promise I IN PAST 10 YEARS
made at the beginning — to listen.
I knew this would be a pivotal moment in how professional Los Angeles Sparks v.
I’m proud to say I’m still listening and working
athletes and women could use the global platform to turn pain with the women of the W — and that relationship 1 Minnesota Lynx
will continue in perpetuity. Last summer, as I 10/04/2017, ESPN
into progress. teamed with players to support the candidacy of 913k
Georgia’s now Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock, I
The Minnesota Lynx players were the first to make a experienced the lessons I learned during my Phoenix Mercury v.
tenure coming full circle.
statement. They coordinated a campaign to bring direct 2 Minnesota Lynx
Valuing voices isn’t something you can do 5/20/2012, ABC
attention to the issue and they spent an entire postgame press alone. These extraordinary women reminded me 804k
then and they remind me now that raising each
conference refusing to discuss the game. Instead, they were other up requires an exchange of perspectives. It Phoenix Mercury v.
requires unity, strategy, and drive — things I saw
united in both their commitment to discussing the chronic these incredible athletes bring, again, to the table 3 Minnesota Lynx
when they moved their power from the basketball 8/31/2014, ABC
problem in policing and offering to be a part of the solution. court to the ballot box in November 2020. 790k

The Lynx were followed by the New York Liberty, who also Today, they continue stewarding change in sup- Indiana Fever v.
port of America living up to her ideals, and for
made a quiet, but powerful statement by wearing non-sanctioned these reasons and more, I’ll be forever grateful for 4 Minnesota Lynx
having the ongoing privilege of listening to, learn- 10/17/2012, ESPN
league apparel on the court before a game. Of course, the league ing from, and leading with the women of the W. 778k

responded with a fine. And this action would reverberate, mak- Lisa Borders was president of the WNBA from Chicago Sky v.
February 2016 until October 2018.
ing national news. While I didn’t make the decision to penalize 5 Phoenix Mercury
9/09/2014, ESPN
the women, the buck ultimately stopped with me, and two weeks 763k

into the conversation with the players and their union, I stepped Source: Sports Business Journal archives NBAE / Getty Images; Courtesy of Lisa Borders

in to rescind the fines. I understood that I would be the first pro-

fessional league leader to reverse a league decision, but I also un-

derstood the lack of humanity and humility in the alternative.

After all, my job was to represent not only the league but also

the women who drove the league’s performance. These were the

same women, who like most of us, are often disenfranchised and

dismissed because of narrow minds knowingly or unknowingly

subscribing to racism and sexism. To leave a poor decision in

place and to not acknowledge or endorse the players’ right to

express their views would be to not have taken responsibility, to

not have admitted a mistake, and to not have made things right.

2 4 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Five most
important
players

Diana Taurasi

The highly accomplished Taurasi
owns the scoring record in the WNBA
and she has won three titles during
her 16-year career with the Phoenix
Mercury. She remains a force in the
league and has driven the Mercury
into becoming a top WNBA franchise.

Along with former
UConn teammate
Sue Bird, Taurasi
could make a run
for a fifth Olympic
gold medal this
summer in
Tokyo.

NBAE / Getty Images (5) Lisa Leslie Sheryl Swoopes

Leslie was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks — a team for Swoopes was the first WNBA player to sign a
which she would later become a part-owner — and broke out contract with the league and was one of the
as the WNBA’s first star after making her debut during the dominant stars during its first decade. She led
WNBA’s inaugural 1997 season. She was three-time WNBA the Houston Comets to four consecutive league
MVP, a two-time champion and a perennial All-Star during titles, was a three-time league MVP and remains
her 12-year career. And let’s not forget that she was the first one of the most recognized names in league
WNBA player to dunk during a game, move that generated history. She was inducted into the Naismith
a buzz throughout sports.
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016
Maya and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
Moore the following year.

Moore led the Minnesota Sue Bird
Lynx to four titles between the
2011 and 2017 seasons and was The WNBA all-time assists leader is
league MVP in 2014. She walked expected to play her 18th season for
away from all of her on-court success the Seattle Storm, a team she’s led
in 2018 to focus on social and criminal to four titles in 2004, 2010, 2018 and
justice issues. She helped win the freedom 2020. The highly decorated Bird is
of Jonathan Irons, whom she married last year, and has an 11-time WNBA All-Star, and has
announced that she will not return in 2021 as she won four Olympic gold medals and
continues her social justice work off the court, specifically two NCAA championships at UConn.
through Win With Justice, a campaign she launched. During this past offseason she co-
founded Togethxr, a sports and media
W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M lifestyle company for female ath-
letes, with fellow Olympic gold med-
alists Chloe Kim (snowboarding),
Simone Manuel (swimming) and
Alex Morgan (soccer).

MAY 10-16, 2021 | 2 5

 Nneka Ogwumike is a six-time WNBA All-Star
and was league MVP in 2016, when she led the
Los Angeles Sparks to the WNBA title.

Ours is an inclusion specifically to defy
what divides us.

I BELIEVE the players have always been aware of
the social and racial divisions in this country be-
cause we are all born into these disparities as a
league of women and mostly Black and brown
women. As we continue to endure the trauma of
these systemic inequalities, though, one can
clearly say players have left no other option but
for their league, sponsors and organizations to
support and amplify these convictions. In a mat-
ter of time, we’ve seen players sticking to sports
evolve into players with platforms. When belong-
ing is your core, divisions become a problem you
can identify and actively solve as they arise.

WNBA’s bright Our inclusion is ambitious.
pcfuootlwulareberoporrfaoitnvicoelnsutshivee
WHAT WE SEE as major changes in the league have
A S I LOOK at where the WNBA as a driving force for change and equality by op- always been in our wheelhouse. We’ve known
stands now, at the start of its 25th erating as a work-in-progress for a world-in-prog- and discussed that our challenges are systemic
season, I imagine what could be. ress. What many see today as a leading force for in nature. It feels, now, that much of the world is
sports and culture has resulted from years of pi- catching up to what we’ve always known would
What I foresee for the league in its 50th season is oneering action. We’ve landed in a space that is come, and we’re just grazing the surface. The fu-
especially effective because of the collaborative ture for us and other women in sports is on the
an organization, business and community that’s relationship the players and the league have de- cusp of something explosive.
veloped together.
alive and well — and that we’ll be well past the It’s ambitious to know we can be better, and
I’m so grateful to be a contributor in this col- unite around that idea with all the energy we
point where a WNBA player has signed the laboration — another voice empowered to make a bring to our love of the game. And in the face of
change for women in sport. My position as what lies ahead, if I were to suggest one change
league’s first million-dollar contract. WNBPA president has certainly afforded me the to the league or the ecosystem it operates in, it
opportunity to deepen my relationships with my would be this: expansion. We need more teams
If that sounds optimistic, well, I have reason constituents and to reside in my individual and more markets for the talent bursting at the
power to use my voice at a time it is needed. seams and for growing fans of women in sport.
for my optimism. Our presence will boom as our vision expands to
I am able to lead because I was included to match our ambition.
BY NNEKA I can expect progress because the lead. And the active inclusion that characterizes
OGWUMIKE WNBA, as an organization, is so many of our stories in this league is why I Finally, our ambition is powered
defined by progress. This is not know the progress ahead will be even more by integrity.
powerful.
only in terms of business WHAT CAN BE DONE BETTER to continue to elevate
The many ways inclusion comes to life across the league? To hell with the big idea — we need
innovation, and the commitment to progress on the league is astounding, especially in light of big action.
our challenges.
social issues — though those are powerfully What we need to elevate our movement isn’t
rocket science. It’s action. Women in sports, espe-
defining elements of the league. The progress cially the W, are making it abundantly clear what
we stand for, what market we serve, and who
goes beyond that, to defining the culture of our aligns with us; it’s on those in the boardroom to NBAE / Getty Images
remember who we are, to make sure we collabor-
fans and supporters who have gathered and atively get to where we’re going. Most notably
this means representation in those executive
connected and grown to say: Forward is the way, suites that reflect the women seeking real value
and investment. Integrity of inclusion means
and we’re excited for what’s next. commitment to the ideas we’ve discussed for so
long. But we can do that. We can do anything.
The WNBA — the players of the W and the
What I love most about the change I’ve wit-
league itself — have specifically been so effective nessed is that it’s forward moving. The game it-
self is evolving to be faster, the league is making
moves to differentiate itself as a leader for
change in women’s sports, and the players of the
WNBA have depicted what being more than ath-
letes really means.

This is not a celebration of an emergence into
the modern mainstream. We’ve worked past that.
This is a testament to how collaboration gives us
reason to celebrate. Change is happening, and
you don’t want to be late to the party. You’re in-
cluded, too.

Nneka Ogwumike was selected No. 1 overall by the
Los Angeles Sparks in the 2012 WNBA draft and is
president of the Women’s National Basketball
Players Association.

2 6 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Five to watch
in the future

Joe Tsai

Tsai, who owns the Brooklyn Nets, bought the New York Liberty in
2019 from James Dolan and the Madison Square Garden Company,

which owned the team for more than two decades. After playing
last season at the “wubble” at IMG Academy in Bradenton,
Fla., and the prior season in Westchester County, Tsai this
year moves the franchise to the much higher-profile Barclays
Center in Brooklyn. The Liberty also features last year’s
top pick in Sabrina Ionescu, who is positioned as one of
the league’s bright new stars after an injury-shortened
rookie year during which she played in only three games.
She begins her second season in the league after completing
four years at Oregon, where she became one of the most
decorated players in women’s college basketball.

Getty Images (2); NBAE / Getty Images; WNBA; Emily /TOGETHXR – Dress by Sergio Hudson Phil Cook Dallas
Wings
The longtime industry veteran and former Nike executive was
hired in 2020 as the WNBA’s first chief The Wings dominated the 2021
marketing officer. Cook led Nike’s WNBA draft by using the top two
global basketball brand, and was overall picks to select Texas star Charli Collier
instrumental in introducing and Awak Kuier, from Finland, and the fifth
female athletes into the brand’s pick to add Chelsea Dungee from Arkansas.
marketing campaigns. How he That’s a huge infusion of talent for new coach
builds on the league’s support Vickie Johnson, a former head coach for the
of diversity, equity and inclu- San Antonio Stars and the only Black female
sion and issues of social and head coach in the league. The young team
racial justice will be crucial as that hasn’t had a winning record since
the WNBA aims to engage new fans
and continues to grow as an the 2015 season will look to its
entertainment and media remade roster to make a big
property. impact this season.

Renee Mark Davis
Montgomery
Davis, the owner of the Las Vegas
It’s not often that a former player becomes Raiders, bought the Aces from
an owner of the team on which they once MGM Resorts International in
played. Montgomery, who sat out the 2020 January, crediting WNBA players
season so she could focus on social reform for leading the way on issues of
social justice and diversity. He
and justice and then retired earlier this expects to grow the franchise that
year, is part of a three-member inves- moved to Sin City in 2018, and it
tor group that bought the Atlanta bears watching how Davis uses
Dream in February. The team’s sale the power of his NFL franchise
came after former U.S. Sen. Kelly to promote the Aces. He is off to
Loeffler, who held a minority stake a good start by announcing that
in the Dream, opposed the league’s the Aces will have new training
high-profile racial justice efforts. facilities located next to the Raid-
The Dream’s new majority owner ers’ headquarters in Henderson
is Northland Investment Corp. by next year.
founder and Chairman Larry Got-
tesdiener, along with Northland MAY 10-16, 2021 | 2 7
President and COO Suzanne
Abair. Though a minority owner,
Montgomery said she would play
an active role with the team.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M

On personal choices and the
WNBA’s cultural influence

T HE SUCCESS of the assumption that female athletes are
WNBA matters. Not just somehow less influential than their
because, as an agent, I male peers. For those really paying
attention, the data says something
want my clients to build wealth — else entirely: that a dollar spent on
women can be one of the most
or because we all want to be part of valuable in sports. And the
influence of female athletes is only
a thriving ecosystem. growing: Among the men’s and
women’s Elite Eight teams in this
It matters because when the year’s NCAA tournament, eight of
the 10 most-followed players were
WNBA is successful, that means women. (sources: Axios, Baker,
2021)
women — and Black women in
Over the years, my personal
particular — are successful. choice to lead with a simple
presumption — that women matter;
In this time of reckoning, we’re Black women matter; Black LGBTQ
women matter — has given rise to a
called to measure our commitments business built around “firsts”: the
first shoe and apparel contract with
BY LINDSAY to equity and an “out” LGBTQ athlete and the
inclusion. When first shoe and apparel contract with
maternity protections, so
KAGAWA COLAS the WNBA is pregnancy and childbirth couldn’t
be treated like an injury (with
celebrated, women prorated salary). The first
professional women’s basketball
in general are contract over $1.5 million in value.
The first inclusion rider for an
better off and wield more power in athlete. And, later, the first high-
profile partnership around egg
the workforce, more prominence in freezing and family planning.

the public discourse and more Leading with this presumption
also led to the WNBA’s first-ever
control over their own narratives. beauty partnership, with the data-
driven and women-owned company
Yet a quarter century after the Glossier, which grew out of a multi-
athlete deal that performed so well
WNBA tipped off its first season — that Glossier massively scaled up
its investment. Just last month, it
even following its historic 2020 led to the WNBA’s first draftee to be
dressed for the draft by a celebrity
season dedicated to social justice — designer.

women in sport still account for These last examples, in
particular, illustrate how the
only 4% of sports media coverage choices we make in sports can
influence culture. We state our
and less than 1% of sponsorship values and have the opportunity to
set new standards through the
spending. Pay, resource and WNBA; just ask Sen. Raphael
Warnock about the impact sports
investment inequities are systemic had in Georgia.

and long standing. True to the league’s 25-year
history of activism, the WNBA’s
People ask me about this all the success directly fuels progress,
accelerates social change, and
time. How do we fix it? What’s the presents endless — and valuable —
opportunities to keep investing in
silver bullet? women.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. What will the next 25 years look
like? The choice is ours.
Progress has been hamstrung by
Lindsay Kagawa Colas is executive
intersectional, multilayered
vice president, talent, and The
challenges; the real question is,
Collective at Wasserman.
how do we leverage the business of

sport to help solve racism,

homophobia, and sexism?

The good news is that progress

comes down to the individual

choices people make: to reinforce

the status quo, or bravely change it

for the better. Decisions by leagues,

executives, the media, influential

athletes, consultants and sponsors

— about whose voices to feature Progress has been hamstrung by
intersectional, multilayered challenges;
and whose stories to tell — can be the real question is, how do we leverage
the business of sport to help solve racism,
infinitely powerful. But these
homophobia, and sexism?
choices can be influenced by fans

and consumers as well as an

underactivated community of high-

profile male athletes, their agents

and management teams.

Which adds up to two things:

First, no matter your sphere of store. And it’s acutely, searingly true if you’re in  Lindsay Kagawa Courtesy of Lindsay Kagawa Colas
a position to insist on an inclusion rider in a Colas (right) and son,
influence, declining to use your contract, launch a signature product with Drew, with her clients
women, or negotiate a brand partnership that
power is an affirmative choice in centers Black women’s voices, features Black and Minnesota players
women athletes, and supports, credits, and Maya Moore, Seimone
itself. This is true whether you’re compensates Black women creatives. Augustus and Sylvia
Fowles after they won
in a position to buy a WNBA jersey, Second, to date, too many decisions on how to
allocate resources have been built on the the 2017 WNBA Finals.
suggest a WNBA player for a

campaign, pitch the WNBA in a

sales deck, or decide whether to

stock WNBA memorabilia in your

2 8 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

NBAE / Getty Images (2); ESPN Images; Nike Nike’s 25th season uniforms

Five biggest Nike has long been a major sponsor as the uniform outfitter for the WNBA, but the recently unveiled uniforms to
business deals mark the W’s 25th season brings a bold new style and energy to the league’s brand. The new look includes three game
uniforms for each of the 12 teams in the WNBA, including the Nike Heroine Edition, the WNBA Nike Explorer Edition
and the WNBA Nike Rebel Edition. Each team uniform also includes marks unique to its city, giving each team its
own modern look and feel to the players.

FanDuel agreement

The 2017 deal was groundbreaking in that it made
the WNBA the first women’s professional sports
league to offer daily fantasy games. The agreement
helped deliver a new fan engagement offering, and
a renewed deal in 2018 gave FanDuel rights to stream
select games and offer highlights across the
company’s digital platforms.

ESPN TV deal

The league’s biggest media deal, signed in 2013, put the WNBA
on ESPN through the 2022 season for a reported $12 million per
year. As part of its negotiations with the NBA the next year,
ESPN boosted its WNBA rights fee to a reported
$25 million annually, increased its coverage
of the league and extended the deal to 2025.

First team AT&T partnership
jersey
sponsor AT&T in 2019 signed a massive marketing deal,
making the company the WNBA’s first marquee
After the WNBA allowed partner. The agreement allowed AT&T to become
teams to sell jersey advertis- the first non-apparel partner of the league to have
ing, the Phoenix Mercury in its logo featured on the front of all 12 team jerseys.
2009 became the first fran- In addition, AT&T became the title sponsor of the
chise to land a deal with WNBA All-Star Game and is now integrated into
LifeLock that put the com- all of the league’s media channels, including WNBA.
pany logo across the front of com, the WNBA app, and social platforms, as well
the team’s jerseys. The deal as with broadcast partners ESPN and NBA TV. AT&T
helped spur other WNBA teams is also part of the league’s Changemakers program
to land similar jersey deals that addresses inclusion issues in sports.
while helping drive local rev-
enue. Today, a jersey deal is a MAY 10-16, 2021 | 2 9
one of the most lucrative
pieces of inventory for teams,
and the strategy spread to the
NBA with jersey patches.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M

Breaking barriers AT&T sponsorship and
for 25 years experiential marketing
executives Shiz Suzuki,
“I F YOU CAN SEE HER, non-apparel brand to have our logo Andrea Wilson and
on all 12 jerseys. Or working to create Maria Grosso on-court
YOU CAN BE HER.” a fan fest at the WNBA All-Star Week- at the 2019 AT&T WNBA
That’s a phrase that has res- end to attract more sponsors, adver- All-Star Game in Las
tisers and eyeballs. Or becoming an Vegas.
onated so clearly to me throughout inaugural WNBA Changemaker
alongside Nike and Deloitte to raise woman scored in a major conference
my career and especially during my the visibility of the league and sup- game and more woman coaches and
port the women on and off the court. officials took to the sidelines. We saw
time as lead of sponsorships at the hiring of the first female GM in
And who could forget the 2020 the MLB — a first for any of the four
AT&T. When I started my role, I was WNBA draft. The WNBA was the largest American sports leagues.
FIRST sports league to pull off a vir- And the NWSL announced plans for
so impressed by not only how expan- tual draft. AT&T was at the ready to a Los Angeles team with a star-stud-
support these trailblazers, and in- ded, women-dominated owner group.
sive our portfolio of sports sponsor- creased our media spend for the mouth is when it comes to support-
draft. The broadcast was bumped to ing diversity, gender equality and in- All of that makes this 25th season
BY SHIZ ships was, but how ESPN from ESPN2, and ratings for clusion — in sports, in business and all the more remarkable, and worthy
supporting women in the draft were up 123% from the pre- in society at-large. of celebration.
vious year. Not only did it increase
SUZUKI sports was a clear pil- the level of exposure for the WNBA, Because WNBA athletes don’t just To Cathy, Hedge, Bailey, the WNBA
lar throughout. but it also showed the business value compete on the court for wins and league and team offices and all of the
and opportunity in the WNBA and championships. They are constantly athletes, it has been a privilege to be
And it was a career women’s sports more broadly. competing off the court for legitima- the marquee sponsor of the league
cy in the sports industry overall, for and an inaugural Changemaker. We
highlight of mine to be part of AT&T This is why support for the WNBA diversity, equity and inclusion, for look forward to what the next 25
is so critical to our sponsorship ef- women in business, for their entre- years holds!
becoming a sponsor of the WNBA in forts at AT&T. It’s not just a great op- preneurial endeavors.
portunity to raise the visibility of Shiz Suzuki is assistant vice president of
2019 — all managed with a female-led our brand across a key market. It’s a And they’re dominating and in- sponsorships and experiential
way to sustain a league that has been spiring the future of change. marketing at AT&T.
team. We were over the moon to see breaking barriers for 25 years. It’s a
way to put our money where our The WNBA dedicated its 2020 sea-
AT&T on the court for the first time. son to racial justice and the #sayher-
name movement, basically leading
We saw the WNBA relationship as the way for athlete activism. They
were followed by other leagues across
a key way to step up our commitment the sports world.

to women’s sports, and went into the And exciting headlines have fol-
lowed, marking the change is catch-
partnership in a very intentional ing on: In college football, the first

fashion — it was going to be a stand-

alone marquee partnership where

our brand stood for action and au-

thenticity.

Since then, we’ve had the most in-

credible journey with the WNBA

with a list of “firsts” we accom-

plished together. Like being the first

The power of When we became a Changemaker over a year excited to see the first iteration of the Commission-
the orange ago, we knew the WNBA had battled adversity for er’s Cup, which was created to provide increased
the previous 24 years. We had no idea that the 2020 value to players, fans, and sponsors. We’re excited
hoodie season would be its biggest challenge, but also an to see more stories told of the stars of the WNBA
opportunity to solidify and build on its strengths. and their impact outside the league. We’re excited
A T DELOITTE, we couldn’t be more To say that the power of the orange hoodie was evi- to use our experience at Deloitte to help unlock
proud to work with the WNBA as a dent during the 2020 season would be a huge under- possibilities for the league and collaborate with
Changemaker — guiding business statement. When the players, coaches, and other WNBA Changemaker sponsors on high-pri-
management of the WNBA committed to a season ority issues. We’re excited to see enhanced year-
transformation at the league level and helping the in the “wubble,” something magical happened. The round fan engagement and fully expect to see a
144 players of the WNBA dedicated their season to continued upward trajectory of fan growth.
WNBA unlock exciting new growth possibilities. the social justice movement and played exciting
basketball during a compressed season full of un- The WNBA has demonstrated that valuing and
We also support the WNBA in assisting with wider certainty. We were thrilled that fans recognized supporting its players, and encouraging them to
what we have all along by delivering double-digit authentically advocate for themselves as well as
career opportunities for players both on and off viewership increases despite a packed fall sports the broader issues of race, gender and LGBT+ in-
broadcast calendar. We are proud to have helped equality and injustice, is a recipe for success. The
BY PETE the court. We haven’t been along for the league navigate the uncertainty of last season league appears boldly positioned to thrive now and
the ride for all 25 years but are and emerge primed for its 25th season. in the future. 25 years — count it!

GIORGIO thrilled to be a current sponsor of This season, we’re excited to support and watch Pete Giorgio is the U.S. sports practice leader at
and trusted adviser to the WNBA. the league build on its successes and impact. We’re Deloitte Consulting.

In my role leading Deloitte’s U.S. Marks for the WNBA’s
Changemakers partners
sports practice, it’s exciting to see Cathy Engelbert — AT&T, Deloitte and
Nike — were on the court
lead the WNBA after serving as chief executive of- during the 2020 sea-
son at IMG Academy in
ficer of Deloitte’s U.S. firm. Cathy knows what it Bradenton, Fla. Courtesy of AT&T; NBAE / Getty Images

takes to support the success of women. She made it

her priority on day one to collaborate with the

players association to create a groundbreaking col-

lective-bargaining agreement, including higher

pay for players. That CBA has built a new level of

trust between the league and the players, and has

already significantly improved the player experi-

ence and poised the league for continued growth.

To see other women’s leagues look to the WNBA as

a leader on this front has been exciting.

3 0 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Major milestones in
the WNBA’s history

Point-of-sale 1996 non-NBA owner in league
materials using the history, relocating the former
WNBA and Bud Light APRIL 24: The NBA’s board of Orlando Miracle to the new
trademarks helped governors approves the $40 million Mohegan Sun
Anheuser-Busch concept of the WNBA. Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
become the official
beer of the league OCTOBER: Shortly after the JUNE: The league reaches a
and all of its teams. gold-medal performance by six-year agreement with ABC
the USA women’s basketball Sports and ESPN to televise
Bud Light’s pursuit team in the 1996 Atlanta Olym- regular-season games and
of the WNBA pics, the eight-team American playoff games from 2003
Basketball League debuts through 2008.
A S AN ADVERTISER, ability alongside this new league. Bud with a majority of players from
particularly in the competi- Light was growing its message with the that Olympic squad. SEPT. 16: 22,076 fans attend
tive beer category in the coed communication that it was a beer the decisive Game 3 of the
for all adults, sharing a beer beverage to- 1997 Detroit Shock-Los Angeles
1990s, you did not sit on ceremony. gether at sports events and social occa- Sparks Finals at the Palace of
sions. We knew the consumer was getting JUNE 21: With backing from Auburn Hills, still the largest
The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games smarter and looking for brands support- the NBA, the WNBA launches crowd in league history.
ing their interests and understanding. with eight teams — the
brought great attention to women’s bas- Charlotte Sting, Cleveland 2004
Was it taking some risk? Sure, maybe! Rockers, Houston Comets, Los
ketball. The USA women’s basketball But marketing is about risk — being the Angeles Sparks, New York FEB. 2: Phoenix-based
first, being a leader and having a point Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, businesswomen Anne
team won the gold medal, of difference versus your competition. Sacramento Monarchs and Mariucci and Kathy Munro
Utah Starzz — and three TV acquire 25% of the Mercury to
BY TONY which generated great ex- We at Anheuser-Busch changed roles deals: NBC, ESPN and Lifetime. become the first individual
PONTURO citement and talk value as a buyer to a seller. We were selling the The first game, featuring the women to hold an ownership
about these amazing NBA executives that we were the right Liberty vs. the Sparks in Los interest in a WNBA team.
partner for the WNBA. Angeles at the Great Western
women athletes. Forum in front of 14,284 fans, 2005
We were fortunate at AB to have great airs nationally on NBC. The
After the games, we at Anheuser-Busch media and sports marketing executives game’s 3.7 rating/12 share is MAY 24: Black Entertainment
who had real passions for the work. Peo- the weekend’s second most- Television co-founder Sheila
started to hear the rumblings that the ple like Kathy Casso, who was an execu- watched sportscast, trailing Johnson becomes the first
tive with our team, showing her only NASCAR’s Winston Cup Black woman to be part owner
NBA was going to seize the momentum dedication and excitement in that meet- California 500 that airs on ABC of a WNBA franchise, the
ing and who ultimately led our effort during the same time slot. Washington Mystics.
of women’s basketball and start the with the league and the individual teams.
1998 2007
WNBA. We knew this would be a great op- That gives it away that, yes, we con-
vinced Commissioner Stern and the en- DEC. 22: The ABL folds after JULY 15: The league
portunity to talk to new consumers with tire WNBA/NBA team. Bud Light 2 1/2 seasons, leaving the announces announces an
became the official beer of the WNBA, WNBA as the sole eight-year deal — 2009 to
a passion for this sport and its players. and all its individual teams. We were ex- professional women’s 2016 — with ESPN that marks
cited to be a new partner of this new basketball league in the U.S. the first time a network is
Bud Light was about 10 years old and league providing women a chance to paying the league for TV
play professionally. 1999 rights. Financial terms are not
growing in sales by double digits. The disclosed. Additionally, with a
The WNBA and Bud Light never APRIL 29: The WNBA and the 10-year agreement, Adidas
brand’s success was based on a fun, coed looked back. Today, 25 years later, the players association sign the replaces Reebok as the
WNBA is an important league and Bud league’s first collective- league’s official outfitter.
message that depicted the day’s lifestyle. Light became the No. 1 beer brand in bargaining agreement.
sales in the USA. CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
We knew the WNBA would be a perfect JULY 14: Whitney Houston
We were proud then, and proud today. sings the national anthem
match for Bud Light. On reflection, we took initiative and risk at Madison Square
to be a leader with the WNBA. Garden before the
Only one little problem! Our competi- league’s inaugural
Oh and yes, in a few years Bud Light be- All-Star Game.
tor, Miller Brewing, was the official beer came the official beer of the NBA as well.

of the NBA, and that posed a hurdle. I know all my colleagues from Anheus-
er-Busch during this period congratulate
So what to do … we called NBA Commis- the WNBA in its 25th season and know
there will be many more stories to tell in
sioner David Stern and simply stated, “We the future years to come.

want to be the official beer of the WNBA. Tony Ponturo is the former vice president of

We would like to come to New York and global sports media and entertainment

present why the Bud Light brand would marketing at Anheuser-Busch.

help grow the WNBA and the partnership

would benefit both parties.”

Commissioner Stern agreed, and as I

recall, there weren’t even sponsorship

proposals developed yet by the league. 2003

Courtesy of Tony Ponturo; NBAE / Getty Images We presented to names many are famil- APRIL 25: The
signing of a
iar with — Ackerman, Welts, Stevenson, new CBA
introduces the
etc. We brought to our presentation al- first free-agen-
cy system in
ready mocked up point-of-sale material women’s profes-
sional sports.
showcasing the WNBA and Bud Light
MAY 20: Mohegan
trademarks working together. We ex- Tribal Gaming
Association
pressed how this POS material would be becomes the first

in every major market working with the

No. 1 market share beer company and the

fastest growing beer brand in America.

We believed in the future of the WNBA,

and we were putting our sponsorship dol-

lars and our brand’s reputation and reli-

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 3 1

A personal stake in
the league’s success

B UILDING THE PLAN and being part of the launch of the
WNBA is one of the highlights of my professional career.

I first got involved when the league office was starting to ex-

plore two new projects: a women’s league (now the WNBA) and a men’s de-

velopmental league (now the G League). Both were more than “concepts”

that the league was considering at the time, but neither had been developed

into full-blown business plans, mostly because the senior leadership team

BY GARY was so busy building the existing NBA business.
So I was hired by Commissioner David Stern to build those

STEVENSON two business plans, both of which were risky and would re-
quire significant, long-term investment from the NBA and its

owners. While he made it clear that both projects were top

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 APRIL 22: CBS Sports Network priorities and we had daily (and I mean daily) updates on each, we spent a
signs a multiyear deal to air 40
2008 games. lot of time discussing the potential women’s league. He loved the idea of

JULY 19: 19,000 fans fill Arthur NOV. 21: The $45 million Gateway building a women’s league and often would say, “a little girl who is an ath-
Ashe Stadium in Flushing, N.Y., to Center Arena at College Park opens
see an Indiana Fever-New York as the Atlanta Dream’s new home. lete should be able to dream about being a star professional basketball play-
Liberty matchup, the first regular- They are the third team in as many
season professional basketball years to move into a new arena, er just like little boys dream about becoming Michael Jordan.” That always
game played outdoors in the U.S. following the Washington Mystics
(Entertainment and Sports Arena) in resonated with me, especially since the best athlete in my family was prob-
DEC. 1: The four-time champion the previous season and the Chicago
Houston Comets cease operations Sky (Wintrust Arena) in 2017. ably my sister Jann, and it always bothered me that she didn’t have the
after no buyers can be found for the
franchise. same opportunities as my brothers and I had to play sports as we grew up,

which is proof of why Title IX was so important and necessary for today’s

female athletes.

At the same time we were working

on these plans and in preparation

for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the

2020 NBA (in a stroke of brilliance) was

2009 JAN. 14: The league and union also working with USA Basketball to
sign a new eight-year CBA to take
JUNE 6: Mercury partner LifeLock effect immediately and run through stage and market a yearlong, 52-
becomes the first company to have 2027. It includes a 53% increase in
its logo on the uniform of an total player compensation with top game exhibition tour for the U.S.
American professional basketball players able to earn more than
team. $500,000, three times the maxi- women’s national team to play
mum compensation under the
2011 previous labor deal. Other changes against top collegiate and
include improved travel and child
AUG. 22: Boost Mobile signs a care benefits, a more liberal international teams. It was wildly
four-year deal to have its logo free-agency system and a new
placed on 11 of the 12 teams’ 50-50 revenue-sharing program successful, as that team played in
jerseys (excluding San Antonio). beginning with the 2021 season.
 The first basketball used in the first front of sold-out arenas across the
2013 JAN. 14: The league introduces its
WNBA Changemakers program WNBA game is signed by all of the country and then claimed gold in a
MARCH 28: ESPN signs a 10-year, with three inaugural partners in players in that game. most dominant way at those
$120 million media rights deal AT&T, Deloitte and Nike. On May 3,
through the 2022 season, replacing 2021, the league announces that Olympics. Tara VanDerveer took a
the existing agreement that was to Google will become a Changemak-
run through the 2015-16 season. A er in a sweeping sponsorship deal. leave of absence from Stanford to coach that team and names like Lisa
year later, a nine-year deal replaces
that, with annual rights fees EARLY AUGUST: In response to Leslie, Jennifer Azzi, Dawn Staley, Nikki McCray, Teresa Edwards, Sheryl
increasing to about $25 million per criticism of the league’s support for
year from 2017 to 2025. Black Lives Matter from U.S. Sen. Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo became recognizable and appealing stars and
Kelly Loeffler, a co-owner of the
2015 Atlanta Dream, the team dons black role models, especially for young female athletes. It was clear that interest
T-shirts with the slogan “VOTE
JUNE 10: The league announces WARNOCK,” endorsing her election was quickly growing in women’s basketball at this time, including from the
that Nike will become its exclusive opponent, Raphael Warnock, a
uniform and apparel provider Black pastor who later defeated corporate sponsorship community, which provided a certain level of
beginning with the 2018 season. Loeffler in a runoff. The season is
dedicated to Breonna Taylor and the confidence in our plan.
2016 Say Her Name campaign, and teams
had her name on the back of their During this same time period, Steve Mills, Adam Silver and I went on a
MARCH 14: Verizon Wireless’ logo jerseys for the entire season.
is placed on 10 of 12 team jerseys, “road show” to meet with NBA owners and present them with the two new
excluding Connecticut and San AUG. 20-OCT. 6: The entire
Antonio. 22-game regular season and league options, both of which would require significant investment at both
playoffs are played in the “wubble”
2019 at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, the league and local levels. Our mission was to determine which owners were
Fla., with no fans present.
APRIL 8: AT&T becomes the first interested in which option, both options or none. While the reactions were
non-apparel partner to have its Source: SBJ research
logo featured on the front of all 12 unpredictable and mixed, there was a core group of owners who saw the
team jerseys.
value in launching a women’s league and pledged their support to do so. And

as they say, the rest was history, with a lot of steps and hard work in between.

I think what impressed me most about the launch of the WNBA was the

total commitment to the concept by everyone at the league office, starting

with David Stern and Russ Granik (who was our deputy commissioner),

who provided the commitment and resources we needed to launch. Al-

though we never understood what its full impact would be, we all sensed we

were creating something historic and meaningful. We all knew we were

building something that was bigger and more important than basketball.

And we never wavered.

And today, 25 years later, my family is living proof of that impact. My 16-

year old daughter, Mary Ashley, is that little (well, not so little anymore) Courtesy of Gary Stevenson

girl whose head hits the pillow at night and dreams of being the next A’ja

Wilson, dreams about playing for the U.S. women’s national team and

dreams about playing in the WNBA.

It’s really come full circle for me!

Gary Stevenson is the former president of NBA Properties marketing and media
group. He is president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures.

3 2 | M AY 10-16, 2021 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

OPINION

Why we need
more women
in analytics
I STAND UP, walk to the front of the room, and introduce my-
self and my presentation. While I discuss utilizing a discrete
version of the Bass model to predict the diffusion of natural
language processing in professional sport business, I connect with

the sea of faces attending the sport track of an annual analytics

conference. The realization hits me: I am

BY LIZ WANLESS one of the only women in this room … again.

It is a simple awareness, but I know how

this minority status has affected my career.

Sport analytics is the overlap of two male-dominated fields: sport

management and analytics. Women in such fields face a series

of hurdles: overcoming imposter syndrome, circumventing so-

cietal stereotypes, negotiating their authenticity to seem ap-

pealing for professional advancement, spending more energy to

prove themselves, and the additional stress and anxiety associ-

ated with any and all of the above.

No matter the performance level, and no matter the support

from male colleagues — and I have experienced a lot of it —

women in male-dominated fields will doubt themselves more

severely than their male counterparts. In a Harvard survey is-

sued to computer science students in 2015, women with up to

eight years of programming experience reported confidence

levels similar to men with up to only one year of experience.

In the industry and in higher education, I am glad to have

powerful female leaders in sport analytics and tech (including record. The need for more of the female per- ed within the Department of International
spective was glaring. Business Studies at the Amsterdam College
Jessica Gelman, CEO of Kraft Analytics Group, and Marilou of Applied Sciences, 45 student teams with
From data collection to solution deployment, varying levels of gender representation were
McFarlane, founder of Women in Sports Tech Inc. and adjunct as female customers are increasingly impor- tasked with establishing and organizing a
tant to sport business, customer analytics small business for one calendar year. Equal-
professor at the University of San Francisco, as examples) but designed to create insights for women warrant gender teams outperformed male-dominated
the female perspective. Customer retention teams in both sales and profits.
finding women throughout the profession working at various models, just one example of foundational
customer analytics, need be designed com- The development of comprehensive ana-
levels can feel like the needle in the haystack scenario. Female prehensively to retain women as well as men. lytic solutions, high-performance analytic
teams, and metric achievement will all ben-
sport analytics representation ranges from 15% to 24% across Better Performance. Sport organizations efit sport business — and women contribute
optimizing analytic solutions to business uniquely to these outcomes.
the Big Four North American problems rely on the performance of ana-
lytic teams. Women demonstrate strong func- This is a call to all women interested in sport
professional sport leagues. Many Customer tioning in emotional intelligence, analytics: Raise your hand even when it feels
teams within these leagues have analytics collaboration, and problem solving, among uncomfortable. And to sport organization
zero representation. designed to other important traits for successful team- managers: Recruiting and retaining female
work. It makes sense that the National Center applicants for sport analytics roles provides
We need more women in sport for Women and Information Technology re- numerous benefits. Having access and a sense
ported that an increased number of women of belonging are integral to women continu-
analytics. Supporting inclusion create insights on teams contributed to a higher overall team ing in technical fields. Fostering inclusive
simultaneously encourages in- for women intelligence. In addition, teams of equal men culture in sport analytics makes good business
novation. But most importantly: warrant and women were “more likely to experiment, sense. And while change will take action from
with women’s sports growing as the female be creative, share knowledge, and fulfill tasks.” both male and female colleagues, the impact
perspective. on the culture and bottom line will reflect the
a business and as a fandom (a Better Outcomes. Given the advantages new realities and opportunities of sports.
Nielsen report revealed that av- associated with women and high-perfor-
erage monetary size of women’s mance teams, it is no surprise that evidence Liz Wanless is assistant director of analytics
supports gender diversity as an advantage
sport sponsorship deals in- for performance metric achievement. Mass- at Ohio University. This piece is crafted in
Challenge, a global network in startup sup-
creased by 49% from 2013 to 2017; 84% of fans from major glob- port, investigated the role of women in partnership with The Collective Think Tank, a
startup success for over 1,500 businesses.
al markets show interest in women’s sports; and 150 million Female-led startups accrued 10% more rev- global consortium of academic minds and
enue over time despite less initial investment.
viewers tuned in for the 2017 Union of European Football As- Additionally, in a field experiment conduct- industry leaders focused on gender parity and

sociations Women’s Euro), our challenge is to ensure that the improving diversity. The collaboration is led

professionals measuring the changing dynamic of sport are by The Collective, Wasserman’s women-fo-

reflective of the people engaging with sports. cused division.

To reinforce why this is vital, here are the business opportuni-

ties we enjoy when we increase the ratio of women to men.

Better Product. For sport organizations targeting female

customers, women are vital to creating comprehensive analytic

solutions. When Fitbit released the high-in-demand period

tracker for its female customers, the company experienced blow-

back for a short-sided approach. Women could only track up to

10 days for their periods (not enough for many women) and could

only choose from a limited list of menstrual cycle symptoms to

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M MAY 10-16, 2021 | 3 3

CLOSING SHOT

The 1996 Indianapolis 500 came as the rival CART series held a competing event in Michigan, unhappy with qualifying rules set by the new Indy Racing League.

The Big Split

Open-wheel racing went through a costly division 25 years ago and paid for it,
falling behind as NASCAR powered its way to the top of motorsports in the U.S.

BY ADAM STERN

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO this month, cused CART of boycotting the tracted top drivers who earlier appeared was a key player in the earlier divide; Getty Images
open-wheel racing in America was in marquee event. destined for open-wheel racing. In fact, he owned Michigan International
a dust-up that would divide the sport Tony Stewart, who went on to win three Speedway at the time, and his race
heading into its showcase event, the As a result, CART decided to stage NASCAR Cup Series titles, was the team competed for several years in
Indianapolis 500. The sport paid dear- its own rival event at Michigan Inter- polesitter for the 1996 running of the CART. Now he owns not only the mod-
ly for the motorsports melee, with re- national Speedway on Memorial Day Indy 500 in that initial disputed year. ern IndyCar Series, but IMS as well.
percussions that can still be felt today. weekend that year, going wheel-to-
wheel with the Indy 500’s traditional Today, NASCAR remains the domi- The Indy 500 remains the bright
The split started in 1996 after Hul- running date. The US 500 attracted nant motorsports series in the U.S., spot. IMS will hold the 105th edition
man & Co., owner of Indianapolis about 110,000 fans while Indy’s crowd and IndyCar continues to seek ways of the race on May 30, with a crowd
Motor Speedway, announced that the was estimated at 300,000. to return to glory under the ownership that is expected to hit a maximum of
top 25 cars that competed in its newly of Roger Penske. The business titan 135,000 people. That will nearly triple
formed Indy Racing League would be The two series would continue to the largest crowd to attend a sporting
guaranteed a slot in that year’s In- compete before finally, in February 2008, Indianapolis Motor event since the pandemic started,
dianapolis 500. That left only eight they jointly announced a deal to re- Speedway will hold the which was this month’s running of
open slots for all other teams to com- unify the sport into what is today known 105th edition of the Indy the Kentucky Derby.
pete for, which the separate series as the IndyCar Series. But by then, 500 on May 30, with a
sanctioned by CART said was unfair. serious damage had been inflicted. crowd that is expected But getting open-wheel racing back
to hit a maximum of to the forefront of American motor-
A bitter public relations battle en- The division turned some fans away 135,000 people. sports will remain the task for Penske
sued, with CART saying its teams were from open-wheel racing at a time when and his leadership team long after
not being given a proper shot at qual- NASCAR was rapidly gaining traction the race cars have left Indy’s Gasoline
ifying for the race, while the IRL ac- with sponsors, fans and television view- Alley.
ers. NASCAR’s rising popularity at-

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