Sports Business

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The GIST: Google has finally addressed its search engine’s bias against women’s sports, the company announced Tuesday — just in time for the 2023 Women’s World Cup (WWC). Smart.

The details: To be more inclusive of women’s sports, Google’s search engine optimization (SEO) will be undergoing big changes. Now, the information boxes at the top of the results page will be improved to feature women’s sports, expanding coverage to 380 leagues.

• Other changes include easier access to live streams and highlights for top women’s leagues (including the WNBA and Women’s Premier League) and will feature current and trending women’s events in suggested search results.

The background: Google has been receiving backlash on the issue for quite some time, most famously over naming male football star Cristiano Ronaldo as the all-time international goal scorer. Spoiler alert: it’s not him.

• And since Google has a market share of 92.24%, that’s widespread misinformation for billions of users.

Zooming out: Aside from fighting unconscious bias against women’s sports, Google’s update will hopefully also boost funding toward women’s leagues as more eyes will drive metrics most commonly used to secure funding (interest, viewers, etc.). Cue will.i.am and Britney.

The GIST: Targeting PGA and LIV’s recent merger, senate finance committee chairman, Ron Wyden, introduced tax-exemption and sovereign wealth fund bills on Wednesday. If passed, these bills will also affect the rest of the sports world.

The details: The main goals of these bills, bills, bills are to keep the PGA paying their taxes, limiting tax breaks and imposing taxes on currently exempted wealth funds. The PGA’s upcoming merger with the LIV — the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed former-competitor to the PGA — came as a shock after the U.S.-based league spoke out against LIV for over a year.

• This isn’t the first legal action taken against the PGA in response to the merger. In June, the league was hit with an antitrust review from the DOJ and a Senate Finance Committee investigation, followed by a hearing with the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees in July.

Tax Exempt Act: The Sports League Tax-Exempt Status Limitation Act (or Tax Exempt Act) would effectively eliminate a previous tax exemption for sports organizations with assets exceeding $500M. Though the bill targets the PGA, whose tax exempt status has reportedly saved it millions of dollars, it will also affect nearly every other sport.

• The NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and are all leagues carrying assets over that $500M mark. Individual teams could also be affected. And while there aren’t any women’s leagues there yet — WNBA’s reported current value is $475 million — we know it’s just around the corner.

Wealth Funds Act: The Ending Tax Breaks for Massive Sovereign Wealth Funds Act (or Wealth Funds Act) would require funds with more than $100B invested globally by countries without a free trade agreement or tax treaty with the U.S. to pay a 30% withholding tax on dividends, interest, and payments.

• The bill would affect more than the PGA. For example, the Qatar Investment Authority recently bought a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics), and the WTA (and Billie Jean King) is reportedly looking into Saudi-backing in order to achieve Equal Pay in tennis.

Zooming out: A major concern is the moral debate of accepting funding from countries with human rights violations. Billie Jean King believes the ends justify the means to achieve equal pay in tennis, but USWNT captain Alex Morgan called rumors of Saudi sponsorships at the 2023 FIFA WWC “bizarre.” Hmm.

• While fans debate the morality and politicians debate the legality, the fact that sports business is changing is undeniable. One way or another, the money (and the leagues) will still find a way — the only question will be “how?”

Want to show your support for women in sports? We thought so. And, with The GIST’s capsule collection, you can. The pieces are sporty, bold, and playful…just like our GIST community.

Speaking of, this drop truly has something for everyone: Basketball-specific threads for hoops fans, “leveling the playing field” looks if you love making a statement, and tennis tees if you’re looking to, ahem, serve.

But don’t just take our word for it, check it out for yourself. Happy shopping!

Billionaire owner of the Tottenham Hotspurs football club, Joe Lewis, turned himself in on Wednesday for insider trading charges in the U.S. The club has been fielding rumors for months, and now experts say a sale is likely imminent. The club is valued at $2.8B, making it the ninth-most valuable soccer club in the world. That’s a lot of dough.

Just a week after we reported a proposed Name Image Likeness (NIL) bill, another one has been introduced — this time by Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Lori Trahan. In more NIL news, Caleb Williams, USC QB (and Heisman winner), is backing the Monarch Collective: a new women’s-focused NIL fund. Another win for Williams.

ScorePlay, a sports digital asset management and distribution company powered by AI, raised $5M in seed round funding with the help of Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm started by Serena William’s husband. ScorePlay is used by over 120 sports teams and leagues, including 16 MLS and NWSL clubs. Cha-ching.

⚽️ Wednesday’s USA vs. Netherlands drew 6.43M viewers, making it the most viewed WWC group stage match ever on English-speaking TV.

🛍 Fanatics launched a livestream commerce platform on Wednesday that allows sports merchandise and collectibles fans to shop online in real time. QVC, that you?

👯‍♀️ The Women’s Sports Foundation and Frito Lay have teamed up to extend sports access to 50,000 girls in youth programs nationwide. The future is female.

🏎 The F1 Academy locked in commitments from all ten F1 teams, meaning an all-female racer series is coming the 2024 season.

🤸‍♀️ Larry Nassar survivors sue Michigan State over alleged “secret decisions” about releasing documents to the attorney general’s office.

🏀 Complete Sports Management (CSM) announced Aflac as the title sponsor for next season’s “Oui-Play” game on Wednesday. Notre Dame and South Carolina’s women’s basketball teams will compete in the first NCAA regular-season game in Paris next fall.

🧳 Colorado will officially leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 in 2024, further revealing the impact of the conference’s lack of a media rights deal. Eat your words, Commissioner.

🗣 Sports Agency giant, Wasserman (who reps Megan Rapinoe and Scott Van Pelt), has announced the creation of a speakers division to compete with Hollywood agencies. The new division will fill the gap by booking media appearances for its global client roster.