Sports Business

Happy Friday!

Sign Up

The GIST: Once again, women’s basketball (WBB) is going viral. Of the 20 Final Four athletes with the largest Instagram audiences, a whopping 16 are women, including Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese, who are dominating March Madness’ wave of social media momentum.

The top players: Fellow Tiger star Flau’jae leads the pack on Instagram with 879K followers, while Reese is second with 533K. Rounding out the top five are South Carolina’s Zia Cooke (235K), Clark (230K) and Cooke’s teammate Aliyah Boston (122K).

• Reese’s following has jumped nearly 20% since the tourney started, and she scored around 14 followers a minute in the two days after LSU secured a Final Four spot. Shoutout Bayou Barbie.

• As for Clark, her Instagram audience grew by over 35K in the hours following Iowa’s Sweet 16 victory, and her combined social media following currently stands at 315K, up from the 248K she had before March Madness.

The platforms: While TikTok comprises the bulk of followers for several WBB stars, Instagram still reigns supreme in the college sports business. The Meta-owned platform hosted 55% of sponsored posts in the last year, while TikTok accounted for just 12.5%, in part because marketers are more comfortable with Instagram.

The context: The massive follower gap between men’s and women’s players can be partly explained by unprecedented upsets in the men’s tourney, but female student-athletes still ace other cross sections. Six of the top 10 highest-followed players on this year’s No. 1 seeded teams are women, and the women’s Naismith Player of the Year nominees have more followers than their male counterparts.

Zooming out: Clark and Reese are coupling their on-court talents with an off-court following that strengthens their brands and dealmaking prospects. Their success also bolsters arguments that advertising dollars are better spent on social media than on TV. Follow the money.

The GIST: How about some good news with a side of bad news? Earlier this week, motorsports exec Craig Pollock publicized plans for Formula Equal, a Formula One (F1) team that’s 50% male and 50% female from the racetrack to the boardroom…and could be the newest face of sportswashing.

The details: Pollock has been secretly working on Formula Equal for the last four years but recently confirmed submission of a bid to enter the championship. F1 governing body FIA opened apps this year for “one or more” teams to join in 2025, 2026 or 2027 and will require an estimated entry fee of $1B.

The funding: The exec is in conversations with an unspecified “Gulf area country” to finance Formula Equal, saying he “hope[s] it’s going to work because … it does take a lot of money.” However, Pollock did not comment on his team potentially becoming a shiny new sportswashing example. Convenient.

• Some speculate the unnamed nation is Saudi Arabia because of its public F1 ambitions — it hosted an inaugural Grand Prix in 2021 and is building another racetrack in hopes of hosting two yearly F1 events.

The context: F1 doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to sportswashing, regularly catching flak for staging races in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. Just this month, human rights advocacy group Reprieve said the championship “has never seriously engaged with human rights.” Black flag.

Zooming out: No one’s happier than F1 to slap logos on any available sponsorship inventory, and the championship’s new revenue heights have inadvertently created an ideal scenario for sportswashing. A $1B entry fee may price out wealthy individuals, and F1 is very inviting to nations with appalling human rights records.

• It also begs the question: Will brands avoid striking deals with Formula Equal because of its potential financial backer, or will they also ignore accusations of sportswashing and continue to pour money into F1? Only time will tell.

Yesterday, the sportswear giant unveiled “Nike Leak Protection: Period” to provide more comfort for athletes during their periods. The product line features a two-layer system that wicks and absorbs fluid, while also acting as a barrier to leaks. The gear will make its pro debut during July’s FIFA Women’s World Cup but hits shelves for the public tomorrow. About damn time.

The NWSL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC announced two new deals yesterday with Johnnie Walker and US Fertility. The whiskey brand inked a multiyear agreement and will supply beverages at fan events, while the fertility network will provide relevant services to players and staff.

Investment bank Stifel expanded its deal with U.S. Ski & Snowboard (USSS) on Wednesday, becoming the naming partner of all USSS teams through April 2026. A day later, the governing body booked United Airlines as the presenting sponsor of several World Cup events and a backer of its women’s empowerment programming. Flying high.

Corporate partners raked in almost $90M through sports-adjacent digital sponcon in 2022, despite using just 2% of available inventory. England’s Women’s Super League was the only women’s sports league to crack the top 25 after generating $21M for partners, amounting to $0.83 per fan.

• The Premier League led all organizations by scoring $617M in total value, but Japanese soccer’s J1 League delivered the best bang for sponsors’ buck by garnering $2.13 per fan.

🏀 Tickets for the women’s Final Four currently start at $280, after rising 168% once matchups were confirmed.

⚽ The NWSL broke its opening weekend attendance record last week when 90K fans filled stadiums, marking a 48% increase YoY.

🎓 The NCAA renewed its longstanding agreement with Hershey’s. Yummy.

🎧 The USWNT’s Becky Sauerbrunn and Sam Mewis will host FIFA Women’s World Cup shows for the Men in Blazers media network.

🎥 Just Women’s Sports picked up distribution rights to NWSL game highlights and content for the second consecutive year.

📺 NBC Sports Washington inked a regional broadcast deal with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit.

🇨🇦 Ottawa Tourism is trying to turn the Canadian capital into a women’s sports hub.

ICYMI, last year we relaunched our job board, complete with GIST-approved roles across the sports industry. It’s your one-stop shop for finding new roles or the right candidates for your roster. Check out our curated list and submit your own openings today.

Here comes the weekend, highlighted by these great selections.