The inside scoop on women's sports
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Welcome to The Swing, your destination for news in the women’s sports world. Over the past few years, there’s been an increasing emphasis on supporting all women athletes—from basketball and soccer to rugby and gymnastics—and for good reason.
In 2024, the WNBA delivered a record-setting season in a variety of areas. The league attracted over 54 million viewers across ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ION and NBA TV and has a record 22 regular-season game telecasts that saw at least 1 million viewers. They also set the single-game attendance record and highest total attendance in 22 years and saw all-time records for digital consumption and merchandise sales. In total, the season was consumed for a record of 136.29 million hours across all national networks, per ESPN.
The National Women’s Soccer league 2024 championship game drew record viewership. It aired on CBS and Paramount+ from Kansas City’s CPKC Stadium—averaging 967,900 viewers, peaking at 1.1 million viewers. This was an 18% increase from last year and 6% from the previous record high for the league’s championship game, which was set at 915,000 in 2022, per Variety.
Similar viewership increases were seen across other sports as well, including the Women’s College World Series Championship game between Oklahoma and Texas—which set the record as the most-watched title series with two million viewers. During the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this past summer, the US women’s gymnastics team final averaged 12.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock—this was one of the networks top weekly daytime events in Olympic history, per USA Today. Simone Biles and her teammates drew in more viewers than any single game of the 2024 NBA Finals or the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.
It’s safe to say that women athletes are in demand. People want to root on their favorite women’s rugby team on TV (PS: The U.S. finally got their own professional women's rugby league and they’re kicking off their season this month. Read about it here), and brands big and small want to work with them. We’re talking: Insurance companies, phone companies, beauty brands, apparel brands, and wellness companies.
WNBA star Cameron Brink has partnerships with various brands, including New Balance. Last month, the duo released this ad. “Cameron Brink Student of the Game,” the brand wrote on Instagram.
Just yesterday, Adidas Rugby announced rugby star and olympic athlete Ilona Maher to their list of athletes. The retailer shared the news on Instagram with the caption, “The best things come in threes. #BeastBeautyBrains Welcome to the adidas family IIona.”
Retired tennis star Serena Williams recently made the transition to basketball by becoming the owner of a new WNBA franchise, the Toronto Tempo. She shared the news in an iconic Instagram post. “New court, new game. 🏀
I am incredibly excited to join the @torontotempo as the team's newest owner,” the caption read.
The Swing is a daily newsletter that will cover all the news in the women’s sports world you’ll want to know. Here’s a look at the news worth taking a look at today:
Forbes published an article titled “Women’s Sports Growth Is A Win For Investors, Brands And The Planet” — respectfully, DUH. “Women’s sports fans have a values-first mindset, and prioritize brands that demonstrate integrity and social responsibility,” the article says. “Female athletes use their platforms to advocate for important causes, and as their platforms grow, so does the reach of messaging.” Anyone (as a fan, investor, or brand) is missing out on a big opportunity when they decide to not pay attention to women’s sports.
Big news for moms—the WTA announced that pregnant players on the women’s tennis tour can now receive 12 months of paid maternity leave. What’s more, those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption can get two months off with pay. This is all thanks to a program sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. It’s pretty wild that it’s taken this long for something so important to be put in place.
Auburn recently parted ways with their head women’s basketball coach, Johnnie Harris.
UConn’s Caroline Ducharme scored her first points since 2023. The player has been injured since and only recently started entering games again. Her team was beyond excited, and rightfully so. See the clip here.
The Washington Spirit won the 2025 Challenge Cup in a thrilling rematch against the Orlando Pride. The squad won in penalty kicks after finishing in a 1-1 tie.
Naomi Osaka, Maria Sharapova, Aryna Sabalenka, and Ons Jabeur have partnered with UNICEF to help close the women’s health gap through better health and nutrition resources for women and children worldwide. “I am so proud to support the WTA Foundation as it rallies the world this International Women’s Day,” Maria Sharapova, former WTA World No. 1, said. “As an athlete and a mum, I understand the powerful role that good health care and nutrition plays - especially during pregnancy - in determining life outcomes.”
DJ Lagway has pledged a 6-figure donation to women’s sports to the Florida Victorious NIL collective to benefit women’s sports on the university campus. “I am truly inspired by these women. Their passion pushes me to go harder every single day. Because of this, I want to show my appreciation for everything that they do, and encourage others to do the same,” he said. “That’s why I’ve decided to personally make a contribution to our Florida Victorious women athletes.”