Guest Post; WNBA Strife, College Sport Looking Ahead…

Summer keeps rolling along and our James Gumina keeps delivering his thoughts as a climber in the business…

As a young person in an age of limitless information, there are always a lot of things on my mind, mostly sports-related, and often focused on what’s happening off the field. From marketing campaigns to broadcasts to business strategy, it’s a lot to process. So, to clear some space, here are a few things from this week that have stuck with me more than most. Whether you’re in the business, a media nerd, or someone who can’t stop thinking about how the game is packaged, I hope something here sticks with you, too.

WNBA CBA Discourse

Over the past week I have had the distinct misfortune of encountering a significant amount of Twitter discourse over the WNBA CBA and the players’ All-Star Game “Pay us what you owe us” shirts. Like most Twitter discussions, negativity and incendiary comments far outweighed any meaningful discourse. Public criticism of the players often centers on the fact that the league has never turned a profit. And despite explosive growth, losses have reportedly accelerated in recent years instead of inching toward break-even. Even with revenues surpassing $200 million, the WNBA reportedly lost about $50 million in 2024. The word “reportedly” is doing a lot of work there, because, as most sports fans know, owners aren’t in the business of transparency when it comes to losses. If there is one thing that is guaranteed to create even more strife within the league, it would be revealing an accurate revenue number.

While it is impossible to come up with an accurate figure without looking into the books, what is clear is that the WNBA is experiencing explosive growth. Team sponsorship revenue alone has hit over $75 million, already nearly half of the owners’ reported revenue. The league is expanding by three teams, each one bringing with it a $250 million dollar expansion bonus. If the league were truly in dire financial straits, it’s hard to imagine three new franchises joining at $250 million apiece. Add to that a new 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon. Outside of pure revenue, the 2024 season saw record merchandise sales, attendance, viewership, social media engagement, and more.

While NBA players receive a roughly 50/50 split of revenue with the teams, MarketWatch reported that WNBA players receive under 10% of the revenue. Salaries in the WNBA range from the $250,000 supermax to a roughly $66,000 minimum, and Spotrac data shows average base salary is $102,249. The gap is glaring. And as the WNBA continues to grow, expect the volume, and validity, of player demands to rise right along with it.

Collegiate Sports Funding

Since the recent House v. NCAA settlement the world of collegiate athletics has been shaken. As the cost to field competitive teams will continue to rise, teams and conferences have begun to explore the possibility of taking on outside capital. Elevate Sports Ventures launched a $500 million fund aimed at supporting university projects tied to “long-term growth”, with two schools already signed on. In recent days, the commissioners of all the major NCAA athletic conferences were asked about the possibility of taking on PE capital, and nearly all of them gave similar answers. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti told Front Office Sports that the conference is actively exploring the idea. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was more cautious but acknowledged the league is keeping options open. 

With Elevate being the first mover so far, and the conferences sniffing around potential deals, what seems clear is that PE funding will arrive in college sports, what remains to be seen is when it will happen. If funding becomes ubiquitous, the structure of the deals will be very interesting. Private equity firms are in the business of making money, and universities are distinctly not set up to be profit making machines. How universities and athletic departments will be able to balance their academic mission, while also being viable vehicles for investment into athletics will be a fascinating development. It seems like we will have to wait a while to find out how it will work, but I, for one, will be following these developments closely over the next few months and years.