WNBA CBA Talks Highlight Sportico’s RISE Women’s Sports Event

With all eyes on the WNBA moving from the court to the boardroom, some of the first public comments after the WNBPA’s decision to opt-out were made during Sportico’s RISE: Women’s Sports event in midtown Manhattan. While league commissioner Cathy Engelbert looked forward to fruitful negotiations, the players’ union leader Terri Carmichael Jackson remained steadfast on making gains for her charges.

The WNBA was not the only league represented in the conference, with executives from the NWSL, NBA, NFL, NASCAR, the LPGA, PWHL and more speaking on women’s sports as a movement and not a moment. RISE featured informative discussions on investments, viewership and marketing opportunities, as well as small celebrations of the New York Liberty’s first WNBA championship. (Big Ellie, not included.)

Engelbert Sounds Confident in Success of CBA Talks

In her one-on-one conversation with Elle Duncan, Engelbert expressed optimism that the league and the WNBPA can forge a CBA that is “fair for everyone.” The commissioner also spoke about how the business side of the league has matured during her tenure, from expanding league operations to the growth of corporate sponsorships. In emphasizing how much momentum the W has gained in the last few years, Engelbert called up the Field of Dreams tagline, “If you build it, they will come.”

Liberty Owner Sees Big Wins for W Media Revenues

Basking the glow of the New York Liberty’s WNBA title win, co-owner Clara Wu Tsai reiterated her belief that the team can become the first billion-dollar franchise. During her one-on-one discussion with Scott Soshnick, Wu Tsai said one element in raising the team’s valuation comes as the league monetizes its viewership growth. “We’re about 30% of viewership of the NBA, but if you look at the media deal, even the new one that’s just coming on, 4% of the revenues are media,” she said. “So there’s a lot of room for revenues to catch up to the viewership growth.”

On the players’ decision to opt-out of the CBA, Wu Tsai acknowledged the players’ point of view of the league’s financial ascendance. “So many, as you know, played for something other than money, right?” she said. “They play because they love the game. They play for representation. They know that how they play and the values that they show when we play are going to inspire future generations.”

Sports Business Attorneys Offer Wise Counsel

Three of the brightest legal minds in the sports world reflected on the sophistication of the sports industry, with their expertise not only lending to contracts but also to other facets of teams and leagues such as marketing. This largely comes from the maturation of sports as a business, as Portland Trail Blazers’ general counsel Zandria Conyers pointed out. “To come into the sports world, you have to bring a certain level of sophistication because this isn’t your momma’s sports world.”

Part of that sophistication is recognizing what a stakeholder actually needs. NASCAR’s head of privacy Nichelle Nicholes Levy did offer advice for teams and leagues trying to assess the reams of data that comes their way. “You don’t need to collect everything, just collect what you need.”

As the only panelist who interacts directly with athletes, NFLPA chief operating officer Teri Smith reflected on how NIL has presented opportunities and challenges in educating her constituents on their finances. “Now with the surge of NIL and players being contacted by business younger and younger,” she said, “we have to pivot a little bit.”

The Prospects for Labor Peace and Rising Valuations

Representatives of the WNBPA, the U.S. women’s national soccer team union and Athletes Unlimited offered insights on the financial gains made in women’s sports. With the WNBA players taking their turn on labor talks, Jayne Appel Marinelli, SVP for player relations at the WNBPA, said that “they are looking to benefit from of the growth they helped create.”

Sports labor talks have often been public and combative, but Becca Roux, the USWNT union’s executive director, said a CBA shouldn’t be viewed as a battleground. “A CBA is a strategic planning document,” she said. “If you look it like that, it could become a different dynamic.”

Another panel probed how the labor/management relationships in women’s sports are quite different than in men’s sports. In women’s sports, there are few qualms among owners “about paying our athletes more, because we do feel like it’s what they deserve,” said Cate McManmon, chief strategy & finance officer for the NWSL’s newly rebranded Chicago Stars. “And I think the leagues have done a really good job of managing it so that the salary cap is growing alongside the revenue growth, so that we can support it sufficiently.”

Though the revenue multiples for women’s sports aren’t yet in the realm of those in men’s sports, stadiums and training facilities for women will play major roles in raising those valuations as much as media deals have. Maddie Winslow, the vice president of Inner Circle Sports, best summarized the rise in valuations: “You’re selling the value today for what’s to come.”

For Liberty Exec, It Was a Long Way to the Top

Top executives shared their experiences of suddenly being in the midst of unprecedented attention on and investment in women’s sports. Liberty CEO Keia Clarke, who has spent 18 seasons with the organization, had been there through every step of a nomadic journey before the Tsais purchased the franchise. “The North Star was always the athletes,” she said. “Even when we found ourselves in low times, I was always focused on what can we use we’re ready for that moment when it’s going to happen.”

More Viewers Are Great, but Be Wary of the Expectations Game

The most public sign of women’s sports growth has been in viewership, as evidenced by women’s basketball. One point of emphasis from the co-head of WME Sports Karen Brodkin was that while advertisers are making more media buys targeting women, they’re making those buys because men are watching women’s sports.

The panelists believe storytelling is the next area of improvement. They also hope that the leagues are given some grace as the triple-digit viewership growth won’t happen every season. “Every day isn’t going to be the top of the top,” Brodkin said. “We don’t have to have a Caitlin Clark phenomenon every single year. There is a very engaged, active marketplace, and I just want to see women’s sports get the same grace (as) the males.”

Sportico’s event was sponsored by the WNBPA, which hosted the gathering, Genius Sports, Horizon Sports & Experiences, Monarch Collective, Sidley Austin LLP, Angel City Football Club, Next League, Premier Rugby Sevens, the WNBA, Elevate, Populous, the NBPA, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates.