4 seasons after the WNBA scrambled to play a season in a bubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the league is having fun with its finest 12 months up to now. Each tv scores and attendance are up, as is its standing within the tradition.
“I don’t know if we might have made it, however I do know we wouldn’t be the place we’re as we speak with out having had that extremely aggressive 22-game season within the bubble,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert mentioned.
Earlier than Engelbert took over because the WNBA’s first official commissioner in 2019, she was advised by the league’s homeowners that extra capital was wanted.
In early 2021, the WNBA put out a pitch deck to buyers. A 12 months later, they closed a $75 million capital elevate that got here with a $475 million post-money valuation for the WNBA. Michael Dell and Nike had been the biggest buyers, based on a supply. Nike invested $25 million within the league.
“Nike known as and needed to make a considerable funding as a result of a part of their technique was to double down on girls’s sports activities,” she mentioned.
Buyers within the capital elevate took a roughly 16 % stake within the league, with WNBA homeowners and NBA homeowners every splitting the remaining in half, and took most well-liked fairness.
The WNBA invested that cash into advertising efforts and human capital. The WNBA has gone from roughly 12 staff to greater than 60 now.
Franchise valuations have additionally elevated dramatically. Mark Davis purchased the Las Vegas Aces for a bit of greater than $2 million, whereas this 12 months Portland’s all-in growth payment hit $125 million.
