Sports Business

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The GIST: The WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and their NBA brother squad, the Suns, announced Friday that they’ll both move forward with their previously reported TV deal with Gray Sports. The groundbreaking agreement is a possible preview of the local sports television future.

The background: The deal with Gray Television — a broadcasting company with 180 stations in 113 local U.S. markets — was initially announced in April, but a bankruptcy judge voided the partnership in May to give the previous rights holder, Diamond Sports, an opportunity to match the deal.

• Diamond Sports, which filed for bankruptcy in March, is the parent company of Bally Sports, the (now) former carrier of Suns and Mercury games. The company reportedly failed to match Gray Television’s offer, making April’s deal finally official.

The details: The revolutionary contract, whereby the teams sold all of their local media rights to the over-the-air broadcasting company, will provide nearly 3M households free access to Suns and Mercury games with distribution in Arizona’s three major markets: Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma.

• Not only does the deal give unprecedented, free access to Arizona’s NBA fans, it lays out the orange carpet for WNBA stans, too. A trailblazing sports partnership that includes women from the start? Yes, please!

Why it matters: Many expected this deal to serve as the blueprint for future sports media inks, but similar ones have already come to fruition. In June, the NBA’s Utah Jazz struck a comparable agreement with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, who owns and operates local Utah channels.

• Even more, these partnerships also prove that joint pro hoops ownership groups — like Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Washington Wizards and Mystics) and Pacers Sports & Entertainment (Indiana Pacers and Fever) — can snag the best of both worlds.

The GIST: ESPN continues to make headlines. Just weeks after the sports network’s mass layoffs, Disney is considering selling some of its stake in the company. If the “worldwide leader in sports” is struggling to make financial sense of their broadcasts, what does that mean for the future of televised sports?

The details: Disney CEO Bob Iger announced late last week that the company is “open to potentially selling an equity stake in ESPN,” He further stated that Disney is seeking a partner to help transition the sports behemoth deeper into the streaming-world — a task the company has struggled with, thus far.

• ESPN’s been hemorrhaging cable subscribers for years, losing 914K U.S. customers in Q1 of 2023 alone. As for boosts from ESPN+, the company reported $1.47B in losses from its direct-to-consumer streaming division in Q4 2022, and CEO Bob Chapek previously said those losses were only partially offset by cord-cutters.

• Iger, who doesn’t see ESPN or its network monster ABC as “core” to Disney, admits the traditional TV model may be more broken than he once thought, hinting at the creation of a more direct-to-consumer streaming service akin to Disney’s other subsidiaries, like NatGeo.

The background: ESPN’s recent layoffs comprised just a sliver of Disney’s total number of pink slips. In an attempt to cut $5.5B in costs, the Mouse company slashed 7K jobs so far this year. With these moves, it continues to avoid reductions in revenue earned, generating about $22B in revenue in Q2 of 2023 — up 13% YoY.

Zooming out: Despite revenue trending up for ESPN, broadcast expenses remain high. Given that, will (some) distance from Disney help or hurt ESPN? An outside company with streaming experience could help steer the sports co. in the right direction, and set them up to successfully execute a modern TV strategy.

• As users’ consumption habits — especially Gen Z — continually change, ESPN’s under pressure to step up, change, and keep up…or be left behind.

NBA legend Dwyane Wade officially announced his investment in the WNBA’s Chicago Sky on Friday, just weeks after visiting the Sky facility with the presumed intention to invest in his hometown squad. It’s unknown what percentage Gabrielle Union’s husband Wade owns, but a 10% ownership for $8.5M was up for grabs.

• With his check, Wade becomes the second former NBA hooper to sink dough into a W franchise, following Magic Johnson’s 2014 investment in the LA Sparks.

Johnnie Walker and Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham — of Ted Lasso fame — have teamed up on a tune-in initiative around women’s sports. Beginning with the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), the pair will produce “Match Day Memos” in which Waddingham will give match reminders, stats, and info on the gender disparities in sports.

• Fans over age 21 who wish to opt-in must simply text EQUITY to 24272. Easier (and tastier) than biscuits with the boss.

Major League Cricket (MLC) officially launched in the U.S. this weekend, with six men’s teams competing in its inaugural season. Some believe this is cricket’s opportunity to grab North America the way it’s engaged the rest of the globe.

• With league funding mainly from India — where women’s cricket is booming — could a women’s MLC be in our future? Hope so.

🚫 Disney’s woes don’t end with ESPN — last Friday, SAG-AFTRA (the screen actors’ union), went on strike alongside the WGA, halting filming and promotion of all previous and current productions. Plus, Iger angered The Nanny.

🧥 An AT&T activation at the WNBA’s All-Star weekend used AR mirrors to let fans try on clothing inspired by the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale. Style icons.

📺 The CW network has snagged the exclusive broadcast rights for 50 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) college football and basketball games starting in 2026.

⭐️ Talent recruiting for last month’s star-studded USWNT roster announcement video (featuring Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne, and the Bidens, among others) started at February’s SheBelieves Cup camp.

⚽️ The NWSL fined San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney for her tweets criticizing referees and VAR. This is Stoney’s second fine this season and third in the last 13 months. Lesson not learned.

🎾 The Winners Alliance — the for-profit branch of the Professional Tennis Players Association — named Eric Winston as its new president late last week.

💸 A group of high-profile athletes, including NBA star Russell Westbrook and PGAer Jordan Spieth, are joining the 49ers Enterprises’ investment in Leeds United FC, which boasts both a men’s and women’s squad.

Want a chance to win cash, have fun and support women’s sports? Then you have to join The GIST’s free-to-enter FIFA Women’s World Cup bracket challenge. The winner will take home $1,000, with $500 and $250 going to the 2nd and 3rd place brackets, respectively.

• Submit your picks for the group stage by July 19th at 11:59 p.m. ET and look out for an email from us before the knockout round begins. Good luck!