Sports Business

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The GIST: Netflix is officially in their women’s pro sports era. On Monday, the streamer announced a new multi-episode docuseries that will follow the USWNT on its journey to win a record-setting third straight WWC.

The details: The documentary will feature USWNT stars like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Alyssa Thompson, with more players to be revealed at a later date. Netflix intends to share a behind-the-scenes look at the tourney, including “the pressure, the euphoria, the joy, and the hardships” the players will experience.

• Notably, the narrative will also center around issues important to the USWNT, including LGBTQIA+ rights, equal pay, family, and motherhood.

The precedent: Netflix is no stranger to pro sports docuseries, recently releasing Break Point on the WTA and ATP, and the PGA’s Full Swing. Both come after its game-changing Formula 1: Drive to Survive series, which is currently recording its sixth season.

• Drive to Survive has been crucial for revving up interest in F1 within new demographics (especially young women) and bolstering viewership. The 2022 season averaged 521K viewers per race among viewers aged 18 to 49, a 29% increase from 2021.

• While the viewership success can’t be directly attributed to Drive to Survive, it’s believed to be a major factor in, ahem, driving the sport’s popularity in recent years.

The lingering questions: The USWNT series will be Netflix’s first dedicated entirely to pro women’s sports. However, with the WWC only taking place every four years, how will this docuseries impact women’s soccer viewership on the whole? Will its effects trickle down to the NWSL? Or just impact individual players? Only time will tell.

The GIST: Excited for the FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC)? Want some extra cash in your pocket? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you have to enter our WWC bracket challenge.

The prizes: Along with bragging rights, the top-three winners will be taking home cold, hard cash. The GIST is awarding a grand prize of $1,000 (!!!) to the best bracket, while the second- and third-best snag $500 and $250, respectively. The winner will also be featured in all of The GIST’s newsletters and socials.

How to play: First, submit your picks for the group stage by guessing where each country will finish in their respective group. Then, when the group stage is over, we’ll send you an email to submit your picks for the knockout stage, where you’ll pick a winner for each game. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Cycling’s international governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), quietly announced a ban on trans women in women’s events last Friday. The men’s category has been renamed to “Men/Open,” meaning any athlete who doesn’t meet women’s events’ requirements must cycle in that division. Ridiculous.

• Many are calling UCI’s move insulting and discriminatory, noting that it does nothing to address the actual inequities faced by women cyclists, like unequal pay, the lack of research on injury prevention, and poor media coverage.

• The attack on trans athletes continues. You can help fight back by rocking our “Protect Trans Athletes” tee shirt or tote.

The global financial services company signed 33 players from 27 countries this April, its largest sponsorship contingent of female footballers ever. However, Visa’s marketing team has been recently forced to pivot after numerous stars on its roster suffered ACL injuries before the WWC.

• All three of its USWNT players (Mallory Swanson, Sam Mewis, and Catarina Macario) are out, as is English star Fran Kirby.

• The injured athletes will instead use their star power to promote Visa’s Player of the Match award, which also includes distributing $500K in grants to women-owned small businesses.

To help viewers wake up (or stay awake) for this year’s early morning and late night WWC matches, the sports betting company and the former USWNT star partnered with women-owned North Edge Craft Coffee to create “FanFuel Extra Kick Coffee.”

• Starting tomorrow, FanDuel trucks will give out free coffee in NYC, Boston, Columbus, and Kansas City, and the product will also be available online. Sounds like a latte fun.

⭐ Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game on ABC was the most watched in 16 years as 850K people tuned in (up 16% YoY).

🏀 The NCAA announced a new women’s basketball tournament for the 32 teams that don’t make March Madness, which will operate like the men’s NIT and debut this season.

🌍 TNT Sports is going global, replacing the BT Sport moniker in the U.K. and Ireland as part of a rebrand by partners Warner Bros. Discovery and telecom company BT.

⚽ Adobe and Just Women’s Sports are teaming up for an eight-episode WWC show with former ESPN personality Katie Nolan and Gotham FC star Midge Purce that debuts tomorrow.

👯‍♀️ Speaking of shows, former USWNT stars Christen Press and Tobin Heath will host their own semi-weekly WWC show. Pinky holding hopefully included.

🏐 Athletes Unlimited Volleyball’s third season will begin in October in Phoenix, with 44 athletes competing for a share of $1M. Cha-freaking-ching.

⛳ Rail network CPKC has extended its sponsorship of the CPKC Women’s Open, the LPGA’s only Canadian stop.

💳 In more Visa news, the company renewed its partnership with U.S. Soccer through 2028.

🏒 Nike’s incredible WWC ads aren’t the only reason why they’re in the headlines — the sportswear company finally cut ties with Hockey Canada as the fallout from the organization’s mishandling of sexual assault cases continues.