Basketball – TheNewsHub

State Farm signs JuJu Watkins and increases investment in women's sports

suimt — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 20:19:46 +0000

State Farm has signed USC star JuJu Watkins to an NIL deal as it increases its investment in women’s sports.

State Farm is furthering its investment in women’s sports with two new deals.

The insurance giant announced on Monday that it had signed college basketball star JuJu Watkins to an NIL, or “name, image and likeness,” deal. Last week, the company also announced its sponsorship of Unrivaled, the new 3×3 women’s basketball league.

“We want to make sure we represent the diversity of customers that we serve,” said Kristyn Cook, State Farm’s chief agency, sales and marketing officer.

State Farm will kick off the NIL partnership with Watkins starring as a “new neighbor” in a co-branded ad spot with mascot/spokesman Jake from State Farm.

Watkins, a former five-star recruit, finished her freshman season at the University of Southern California, averaging 27.1 points per game. Now in her second season for USC, she has helped lead her team to a 4-0 start.

“It’s an honor to partner with State Farm. Not only are they one of the biggest brands in sports, they’ve also been investing in basketball and in the women’s game for decades,” Watkins said in a statement.

Meanwhile, State Farm’s deal with Unrivaled, which kicks off its inaugural season in January, will give the insurance company a visible presence across Unrivaled properties throughout its season and postseason.

State Farm’s investments in women’s sports now include the National Women’s Soccer League, the Women’s National Basketball Association, National Collegiate Athletics Association basketball regular season and women’s Olympic basketball and volleyball.

Last year, the company signed its first NIL deal with basketball phenom Caitlin Clark.

Historically, State Farm’s support of women’s sports dates back years. The insurance company featured an ad in 2015 with former WNBA star Sue Bird.

“We’re very proud of having a decadelong investment in women’s sports in particular. And so we’ve seen the business value firsthand,” Cook said.

State Farm said its investment in women’s sports is already moving the needle.

The company has found that TV spots featuring Clark were 46% more effective in driving consumer engagement than an average State Farm ad, according to analytics firm EDO. State Farm saw an additional 28% boost in effectiveness when the spots aired during her Iowa Hawkeyes games. On Thursday, the insurance agency released a new ad featuring Clark, titled Rookie Move.

Cook said the company’s marketing data shows investments in women’s sports are not only profitable, but the fan base is also digitally savvy and loyal.

She said more and more women are becoming small business owners, and others are making more financial decisions, so State Farm’s strategy to be a part of women’s sports is not just important, but it also makes smart business sense.

“I think every brand should be asking, ‘How should women’s sports be part of the business strategy?'” Cook said.

Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, Jimmy Fallon join TGL New York Golf Club investor group

suimt — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 17:09:53 +0000

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s new golf league, TGL, is getting some fresh star power representing the Big Apple.

Cohen Private Ventures, the family office of Steve Cohen, announced on Thursday that Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, Michael Strahan, John McEnroe and Jimmy Fallon are joining the New York Golf Club’s investor group as limited partners. It is the latest round of big names to join the golf upstart that kicks off Jan. 7 in tandem with the start of the 2025 FedEx Cup season.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

New York Golf Club includes Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young.

Courtesy: TGL

Cohen, who also owns Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, acquired the rights to the New York Golf team last September. The team will be represented in its inaugural season by Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young.

“New York has the greatest fans in the world, and we have built a team that will make New Yorkers proud. We believe this fresh, innovative take on the sport will appeal to traditional and new golf fans alike,” Cohen told CNBC in a statement.

Former New York Giants Super Bowl-winning quarterback Manning says he knows firsthand the excitement New Yorkers have for sports.

“There [have] been a lot of exciting trends in golf with participation growing on and off the course,” Manning said in a statement to CNBC.

TGL is the new primetime, high-tech golf league launched by Woods, McIlroy and former Golf Channel executive Mike McCarley. The league will operate in partnership with the PGA Tour, which is an investor, and will run complementary to the Tour schedule. ESPN landed the broadcast rights to the league last October.

TGL will feature Tour players split into six teams, competing in two-hour, head-to-head matches in a newly designed facility in Palm Beach, Florida.

The league was expected to launch in 2024, but the dome being built to house competition collapsed after a power outage.

Other big-name investors in TMRW Sports, the parent company of TGL, include National Basketball Association legends Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Durant; MLB superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout; National Football League quarterback Josh Allen; tennis legend Serena Williams; and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

Former New York Yankees star Jeter told CNBC he was drawn to the investment opportunity because it combines his passion for golf and his love of New York.

“I’m looking forward to seeing NYGC added to New York’s sports legacy,” said Jeter.

NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery agree to settle lawsuit over live game rights

suimt — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 16:16:12 +0000

A view of the NBA on TNT logo on a broadcast camera prior to the start of the third quarter of Game Four of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on May 12, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

David Berding | Getty Images

Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to end its quest to own a package of live National Basketball Association games in the U.S. for the 2025-26 season and beyond, settling all of its legal disputes with the league.

Warner Bros. Discovery sued the NBA in July, claiming the league failed to allow the media company to use its so-called matching rights on a package of live games.

The league selected three media partners — Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video — to be its U.S. distributors of live games for 11 years beginning next season. The total value of the deal, including WNBA games, was about $77 billion, CNBC previously reported.

The settlement with Warner Bros. Discovery, announced Monday, as well as a separate agreement between Warner Bros. Discovery and ESPN, will keep the company in the mix with some NBA content, production partnerships and licensing deals. However, it officially ends Turner Sports’ 40-year relationship with the NBA as a carrier of live games in the U.S. after this season.

Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984, with games airing on cable network TNT since 1988. The NBA decided to move away from Warner Bros. Discovery as a media partner for several reasons, including losing faith in the long-term future of cable TV as a method for reaching a younger audience.

Disney and Comcast have broadcast networks to showcase NBA games, and Amazon’s package is exclusively streaming.

The terms of the settlement grant Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports free access to highlights for the company’s Bleacher Report digital news site and its social media platform House of Highlights for the next 11 years, according to a person familiar with the details. The deal also allows Warner Bros. Discovery to license, create, and distribute new and existing NBA content across its media assets and includes live game rights in the Nordic countries, Poland and Latin America, excluding Brazil and Mexico.

The agreement also extends a partnership between NBA Digital and TNT Sports for five seasons that allows the NBA to engage Warner Bros. Discovery to provide promotion and “a variety of services, including production, content development and sales operations services,” according to a statement.

The settlement gives Warner Bros. Discovery years of guaranteed revenue from the NBA. The league isn’t paying Warner Bros. Discovery any additional money for those services beyond the terms of the settlement, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to speak anonymously because some details of the agreement are private.

streaming bundle that links Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max service to Disney+ and Disney’s Hulu, and on a sports-focused joint venture called Venu that’s currently in limbo due to antitrust concerns.

As a side part of the settlement that doesn’t involve the NBA, ESPN is allowing TNT to televise 13 Big 12 football games and 15 men’s basketball games each season, starting in 2025. The deal gives the Big 12 more linear TV exposure through TNT, as most of the games would have streamed exclusively on ESPN+, according to people familiar with the matter.

ESPN struck a similar sub-licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for first round and quarterfinal College Football Playoff games earlier this year.

could have reached a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery but leadership on both sides never saw eye to eye.

“It wasn’t a longtime relationship with the people currently running Warner Brothers Discovery,” said Silver. “Ideally in these partnerships, people aren’t pulling out the contract and saying page eight, paragraph three. You’re saying you understand the spirit of what you were trying to accomplish, and that you’re willing to adjust based on changes that might have been unpredictable. So when you’re actually looking at the contract, that’s a sign that the partnership isn’t going as well.”

Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and a co-owner of Hulu.

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Adidas signs first NIL deal with girls' high school basketball player

suimt — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 18:31:12 +0000

Adidas has signed Kaleena Smith as the bradn’s first NIL high school basketball player.

Courtesy: Adidas

Adidas has signed one of its youngest female athletes yet.

The German sports apparel brand on Thursday announced the signing of Kaleena Smith as its first high school girl’s basketball partner under a name, image and likeness, or NIL, deal.

Smith, a 16-year old sophomore in Ontario, California, is the highest-rated recruit in the class of 2027. She has already received nearly 20 college offers from programs including the University of Southern California, the University of Louisville, the University of Connecticut, the University of California, Los Angeles, Louisiana State University and the University of South Carolina.

The young basketball phenomenon represents Candace Parker’s first signing since she took over as president of Adidas women’s basketball in May. Parker, a former first-round WNBA draft pick, played 16 seasons in the WNBA and is a three-time WNBA champion and seven-time WNBA All-Star.

Adidas tapped her to help evolve the company’s women’s basketball business.

Kaleena Smith is Candace Parker’s first signing since joining Adidas in May.

Courtesy: Adidas

“Signing Kaleena as our first high school NIL women’s basketball athlete is a pivotal moment for us as we lead in championing women’s sports and building greater access to and representation in the game that we all love,” Parker said.

Adidas said Smith will represent the brand on the court during all her games with Ontario Christian High School, in addition to her AAU team. She represents one of Adidas’ youngest athletes. The brand signed its youngest current athlete, 15-year-old soccer star Chloe Ricketts, in March.

“I’m blessed to be part of something Candace is creating, and to get to do that with a brand like Adidas who is taking a different approach to play a role to help grow the game for players like me,” Smith said.

The 5-foot-6 point guard was the MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year, averaging 34.9 points, 6.5 assists and 4.2 steals per game.

Smith said she’s looking forward to wearing James Harden’s Adidas sneakers this season.

While Smith is the first girl’s high school athlete to represent Adidas, the brand has signed deals with a roster of women basketball players including Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Aliyah Boston, Aaliyah Edwards, Nneka Ogwumike, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Layshia Clarendon, Sophie Cunningham, Erica Wheeler, Zia Cooke, Alysha Clark and Janiah Barker.

Adidas has been busy in the NIL space recently.

The brand signed Miami quarterback Cam Ward last month to a deal. In August, it announced the signing of six Texas Tech athletes as part of Patrick Mahomes’ NIL initiative with Adidas. The brand also signed 15 female student-athletes to NIL deals in July 2022 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX.

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Coco Gauff says Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler offered her tickets to the NBA Finals before beginning of playoffs | CNN

Ashish Singh — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 11:46:39 +0000

CNN
—

Jimmy Butler’s talents have been lauded this postseason. From his toughness to his elite shot-making, there is a reason he has earned the nickname ‘Himmy Buckets.’

But one talent we didn’t know the Miami Heat star had was clairvoyance. But according to tennis star and Heat fan Coco Gauff, Butler is either excellent at predicting the future or just extremely confident.

In the lead up to the French Open, Gauff hinted she had a “funny story” about Butler but was “going to save it” to avoid jinxing it.

However, after her victory in the first round at Roland Garros on Tuesday and, more importantly, the Heat’s dominant Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics to book their ticket to the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets, Gauff said she was finally ready to tell the story.

Gauff, who said she didn’t watch Game 7 as it was on in the middle of the night before her first round match but was “very relieved” to see the result, explained that before the playoffs, Butler reached out to her to offer her tickets for the final home game of the season in April, before contacting her a few weeks later offering her tickets for the postseason.

“I said: ‘I won’t be here. I’ll be in Madrid and then Rome and then France,’” Gauff told reporters.

“And then he said: ‘OK, when we make the Finals, let me know if your family wants some tickets.’ So this was before [the Heat] were even in the playoffs.

“This is before we lost to the Hawks for the first Play-In game. Everybody is like we have a 3% chance of making the Finals, but when he sent me that, I knew we were making the Finals because he didn’t say, ‘If we make the Finals,’ he said: ‘When we make the Finals.’ Now that we are in the Finals, I can say that story.

“But I remember screenshotting it and sending it to my family and I was, like: ‘Oh, we’re going to the Finals!’”

Butler’s confidence stuck with the 19-year-old, as she said: “I just really like that mentality of him.”

Gauff also revealed she took heart from the Heat’s resolve in Game 7 having relinquished a 3-0 lead to the Celtics in the series only to come out on top.

“Honestly, today, I told myself if Jimmy Butler didn’t freak out when they were up 3-0 and all of a sudden it’s 3-all, then I shouldn’t freak out after losing the first set,” Gauff said on court after her comeback win against Rebeka Masarova.

Butler has played a vital role in the No. 8 seed Heat’s miraculous run to the NBA Finals, beating the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks, the No. 5 New York Knicks and most recently the No. 2 seeded Celtics.

The NBA Finals begin on Thursday in Denver.

Nike renews uniform partnership with NBA, WNBA as NFL opens bidding process to competitors

suimt — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:10:55 +0000

Nike will be the exclusive uniform and apparel provider for the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association for another 12 years after they renewed their partnership with the sneaker giant, the leagues announced Monday.

Under the terms of the deal, Nike will be the leagues’ global outfitting, merchandising, marketing and content partner until 2037. The company will also be in charge of designing and manufacturing uniforms, on-court apparel and fan merchandise.

Nike’s last deal with the basketball leagues, which kicked off during the 2017-18 NBA season, was reported to be worth $1 billion and marked the first time an apparel partner had its logo on an NBA or WNBA jersey. It is unclear how much Nike’s contract renewal with the leagues is worth, but a source familiar with the deal characterized it as “much bigger” than the previous contract.

As the largest athletic apparel company in the world, Nike has long been a favorite among professional sports leagues and their athletes. Even so, its contract renewal with the NBA comes at a time when the sneaker giant has had to work harder to maintain its critical partnerships, and new CEO Elliott Hill tries to regain market share lost in recent years.

Nike is also the official uniform supplier of the National Football League and Major League Baseball, but those relationships have taken a hit as the company faces declining sales and criticism that it has fallen behind on innovation.

The NFL’s deal with Nike expires after the 2027 season, but the league has opened up the process to other bidders and is already in talks with several companies interested in competing for the agreement, a source told CNBC.

Nike’s contract with the MLB does not expire until 2029. However, it will have to repair its relationship with the league after it debuted new uniforms earlier this year that led to widespread complaints from players and fans that they were see-through, did not fit right and looked “amateurish,” ESPN reported at the time.

Despite Nike’s recent stumbles, the NBA told CNBC it has no concerns about continuing its partnership with the apparel company.

“From our perspective, we have 100% confidence in Nike on a long term global basis,” said Sal LaRocca, the NBA’s president of global partnerships. “They’re endemic to basketball. They’ve been a partner of ours in one form or another for well over 30 years.”

LaRocca added the partnership has been so strong that the league did not even open the process up to other bidders.

When asked about the MLB fiasco, LaRocca defended Nike and said those kinds of issues come with the territory.

“I think any company that is on the edge of innovation and is always looking to push the envelope for improvement may run into some unintended consequences,” said LaRocca.

Nike has not faced significant criticism for its basketball uniforms. LaRocca said, “you’ll certainly see fresh new products on a regular basis from them.”

Nike has had a marketing partnership with the NBA since 1992 — and with the WNBA since its 1997 founding — and the brand endorses most of the leagues’ biggest players, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu.

As of Friday’s close, Nike’s stock has fallen about 24% this year and has underperformed both competitors and the S&P 500, which has gained about 23% this year. On Running and Deckers, two companies that have been taking market share from Nike, are up 79% and 43%, respectively.

Historically, Nike has outperformed the S&P 500 by an average of about 8%.

Diamond Sports, FanDuel reach naming rights agreement for regional sports networks

suimt — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 18:31:07 +0000

Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

More change is coming to Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks.

The company said in court papers filed Tuesday that it reached a naming rights deal with Flutter-owned FanDuel, which will rebrand the Bally Sports channels just as the National Hockey League season has started and the National Basketball Association’s 2024-2025 season is less than a week away.

Diamond Sports said in the filing that if it is able to emerge from bankruptcy protection, FanDuel will be a “long-term naming rights partner.” The new naming rights agreement would also give FanDuel the right to buy up to 5% of equity in the reorganized company and get performance warrants for up to 5% of equity.

The agreement was approved by a bankruptcy judge Friday afternoon despite an attorney for MLB raising some concerns with what he said was a lack of information about the structure of the term sheet.

The MLB wanted more information on the deal structure because of the association of its content with sports betting, MLB’s attorney James Bromley said at the hearing.

Joseph Graham, an attorney representing Diamond Sports, said the agreement still forces both parties to follow all the existing league rules on gambling.

The judge ended the hearing by urging the legal representation for Diamond Sports to show MLB and any other interested parties a redacted term sheet to alleviate their concerns.

“A large cohort of FanDuel customers are devoted RSN viewers and this agreement allows us to further cement the FanDuel brand with sports fans and provides a unique vehicle to reward our users,” Mike Raffensperger, FanDuel Group’s president of sports, said in a company release shortly after the hearing concluded.

The launch under the FanDuel Sports Network brand will officially happen Monday across all of Diamond’s 16 regional sports networks. There will be different names depending on the region.

Friday’s court hearing was also the first time that Diamond Sports or the MLB said the Miami Marlins and Diamond were close to an agreement.

A spokesperson for the Miami Marlins declined to comment or confirm.

Earlier this month, Diamond Sports said it was planning to drop all of its MLB teams except for the Atlanta Braves for the 2025 season. The existing teams’ contracts are in various stages with Diamond Sports, but in total, the company would see 11 MLB teams exit.

A Diamond Sports attorney said in court earlier this month that dropping these teams “is not our preferred path.”

Three of those 11 teams will have their games produced by MLB next season, according to a league release.

The new partnership will allow Diamond Sports to get one step closer to emerging from bankruptcy and will give FanDuel, which is already the top sports betting company by market share, even more exposure.

In Tuesday’s court papers, Diamond said that while discussions with FanDuel began in February, it waited until it finalized agreements with the NBA and NHL to negotiate the final terms of the naming rights deal. A FanDuel representative declined to comment beyond the filings, and the specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Diamond Sports said in court papers it considered FanDuel “an attractive potential partner … due to the high degree of alignment” between the regional sports networks and the online gaming business.

Fox Corp.’s assets, Disney had to divest the networks in order to gain regulatory approval. Disney offloaded the networks, still under the Fox Sports banner, in 2019 to Sinclair. A naming rights deal was later signed with gaming company Bally’s Corp.

The Bally’s Corp. agreement ended as part of the settlement that came earlier this year between Diamond Sports and Sinclair.

Diamond, which remains an independently run, unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair, alleged in the lawsuit that Sinclair’s ownership exacerbated its problems. Sinclair did not admit wrongdoing.

Diamond Sports filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Since then, Diamond’s restructuring has been filled with back-and-forth discussions with the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball as the debt-saddled company has attempted to emerge from bankruptcy.

Diamond Sports has said in court papers that based on financial projections, it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy as early as December.

Throughout the bankruptcy proceedings, teams across all three leagues have been exiting the networks and flocking to different local viewing options for their fans.

Several MLB teams, including the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, left the regional sports networks in 2023, and the MLB has produced the teams’ local games since then.

Some NBA teams that have left the regional sports networks have turned to local broadcast stations to air local games. The NHL’s Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks have launched over-the-top streaming partnerships with Victory+, a sports streamer owned by Canada-based A Parent Media Co., for their local viewing.

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WNBA to expand Finals to 7 games, add to regular season next year

suimt — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:57:21 +0000

Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, scores the game-winning basket during the game against the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 10, 2024.

Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Basketball fans will have even more chances to see their favorite stars play in the Women’s National Basketball Association in the 2025 season.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league will expand its regular season from 40 games to 44 games, and its Finals series from five games to seven games, both beginning next year. The Finals round will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format for home games, with the higher seed hosting first.

The three-game first round of the playoffs will alternate hosts, instead of the higher seed hosting the first two games before switching, like it did this season.

Engelbert said the league has considered the playoff changes since the Covid-19 pandemic, but the surge in its popularity and introduction of charter flights for teams was the final push needed to implement the new playoff format.

“The league’s growth and increased demand for WNBA basketball made this the ideal time to expand the schedule, lengthen the Finals and provide fans more opportunities to see the best players in the world compete at the highest level,” Engelbert said during a Thursday press conference.

The schedule is not the only thing expanding in next year’s season. The Golden State Valkyries will debut in 2025 as the league’s 13th team. Two more expansion teams have been announced, one in Toronto and one in Portland, and there are discussions in the works to lock in a city for the 16th team, Engelbert said Thursday. The Toronto and Portland teams, which are both unnamed, will start play in 2026.

The additions come as the WNBA is rapidly increasing in popularity, which led to the league’s most-recent media rights deal being worth $2.2 billion for 11 seasons, CNBC previously reported. The league’s media contract is negotiated within the National Basketball Association’s deal.

Viewership, attendance and engagement numbers all increased for the 2024 season, and in some cases set new records. The influx of exciting rookies such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, in combination with established stars such as Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson, who are the respective 2023 and 2024 MVPs, contributed to the surge.

As the league has grown in popularity, more players have said they experienced racism or online harassment. When Engelbert appeared on CNBC last month, she did not outright condemn either when asked about the issue, sparking criticism. Engelbert later clarified and condemned “hate or racism.”

The WNBA is not the only women’s sports league growing in popularity, and media executives and investors are taking notice. Both RedBird IMI’s Jeff Zucker and Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell spoke to CNBC about the enticing opportunities across women’s sports.

This year’s Finals are currently underway between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty. The Lynx are up 1-0 in the best-of-five series after winning in an overtime thriller Thursday night.

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US Open women’s semifinals: Coco Gauff and Madison Keys lead American quest for home glory | CNN

Ashish Singh — Sat, 05 Oct 2024 05:30:39 +0000

CNN
—

It began with 128 contenders, but now the women’s draw at the US Open is down to just four.

After almost two weeks of grueling action in the searing heat in New York, the semifinalists have been confirmed for the fourth and final grand slam of 2023.

American teenager Coco Gauff faces Czech world No. 10 Karolína Muchová, while world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka takes on local favorite Madison Keys.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the US Open women’s semifinals.

Gauff and Muchová kick off proceedings in Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, with Keys and Sabalenka following them.

Viewers in the US can watch all the action on ESPN, while Sky Sports will broadcast the matches in the UK.

For those eagle-eyed fans, you might remember this specific match-up taking place very recently.

The two took to the court just under three weeks ago in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, with Gauff winning in straight sets to claim to biggest title of her career.

Her victory in Ohio came in the midst of Gauff’s best period of form in her blossoming tennis career, momentum she’s continued into the US Open.

The American’s most recent outing at Flushing Meadows was another impressive performance, beating Jelena Ostapenko with ease for her 10th victory in a row.

It has been somewhat of a coming-of-age tournament for Gauff, who looks like a serious contender to win her maiden grand slam title, but she insists she’s not getting ahead of herself.

“There’s still a lot of tennis left to play,” Gauff said. “I’m still in the mindset that I’m in the beginning of the tournament. Before I would think close to the end, but right now, I have the mentality that I told myself I still have another two weeks to play.

“Right now, I feel emotionally fresh, which I think was the problem in the past in grand slams. I would emotionally be drained.”

Muchová is very much seen as the underdog against Gauff, despite also showing excellent form recently to rise up to a career-high ranking of No. 10 in the world.

The Czech, who lost in the final of the French Open earlier in the year, has only dropped one set en route to the semifinal as she continues an extraordinary comeback season after suffering a series of injuries last year which threatened her career.

“Mental strength … how would I describe it?” Muchová asked. “I always feel that I’m a pretty tough cookie in life. That helps with tennis. But yeah, some days are better; some days not.

She added: “I don’t really want to say all the keys with the tactics. So I’ll just focus on myself. She’s very athletic. She never gives up. Runs for every ball. Doesn’t do many mistakes. She has all the strokes.”

The second semifinal of the day will also see an American with the crowd behind her taking on a European as Keys faces Belarus’ Sabalenka.

No. 17 seed Keys is enjoying a revival at the tournament, having lost in the final to Sloane Stephens in 2017.

She has already beaten three seeded players on her way to the semifinals, most recently blitzing past Wimbledon champion Markéta Vondroušová in the quarterfinals as she continues to draw on the home crowds to inspire her victories.

“I think I have had just a really good mindset going into the matches. I’ve been trying to be maybe just a little bit more emotionally balanced,” Keys said on her US Open success after her victory over Vondroušová.

It was her 26th career victory over a top-10 player and sets up a heavyweight clash against Sabalenka, who is currently the in-form player in women’s tennis having not dropped a set on her path to the semifinals.

The Belarussian eased past Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals to reach her fifth consecutive grand slam semifinal and continue her remarkable record in major quarterfinals – she has now won her first seven grand slam quarterfinal matches, second on the all-time list behind Chris Evert who, amazingly, won her first 48.

The 25-year-old will be crowned as the new world No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday and, after claiming her first grand slam title at the Australian Open earlier in the year, Sabalenka is the favorite to win her second of the year.

She’s the first woman to reach the semifinals at all four grand slams in a year since Serena Williams in 2016 and says she has learned a lot from her prior results.

“I had a couple of really tough losses this year,” Sabalenka said. “But as I said, we’re not losing, we’re learning. I’m just getting more experience and getting stronger.”

WNBA viewership soars to new record, while attendance hits more than two-decade high

suimt — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:52:22 +0000

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, drives to the basket against Atlanta Dream guard Destanni Henderson, #33, during a WNBA preseason game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2024.

Brian Spurlock | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

The Women’s National Basketball Association’s viewership and attendance boomed during the 2024 season, as the league’s popularity soared due to young stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

The league’s games drew more than 54 million unique viewers, an all-time record, across various networks, including Disney‘s ABC and ESPN, Paramount Global’s CBS, E.W. Scripps’ Ion and NBA TV, among others, according to data the WNBA released Friday.

In addition, WNBA game attendance hit its highest level in 22 years and grew almost 50% from the 2023 season, according to the league. There were 154 sellout games during the year, more than triple the 45 sellouts in 2023.

The explosive metrics and popularity this season came with a top rookie class, including Clark of the Indiana Fever and Reese of the Chicago Sky, and as the Las Vegas Aces made a bid for their third straight championship. The figures underscore why the league was able to attract a lucrative new media rights deal and is in an expansion phase: The WNBA announced this month it will be adding a 15th team in Portland in the 2026 season.

As attention on the league increased, more players said they experienced online harassment or racism. Asked about the dynamic on CNBC earlier this month, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert did not explicitly condemn the vitriol toward players, sparking criticism from around the league.

She later clarified that she opposes “hate or racism.”

Clark’s impact also showed in the Fever’s attendance numbers. Every WNBA team had a double-digit year-over-year increase in attendance. However, the Fever had more than a fourfold jump, significantly more than the Los Angeles Sparks’ 69% growth, which was second, according to the WNBA.

The WNBA also saw sizable growth across merchandise and social engagement during the season. WNBA social media accounts drew nearly 2 billion video views, more than quadruple the number from the 2023 season.

The heightened attention has led to a $2.2 billion media rights contract for 11 seasons, with a price reevaluation after the 2028 season, CNBC previously reported. WNBA media rights were negotiated within the broader NBA agreement earlier this year.

During the rights negotiations — which led to a $77 billion, 11-year agreement in total — the NBA had pushed to get more money for the WNBA given its rising popularity.

During the 2024 WNBA season, 22 regular season game telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.

Several individual games broke records for WNBA viewership on ESPN, and this was the most viewed regular season ever for ESPN, with an average of 1.19 million viewers, up 170% from last season, according to the league. The 2024 season featured the seven most-watched WNBA games of all time on ESPN, as well as the top two on ABC.

It was also the most watched regular season ever for CBS Sports, with CBS Sports’ five most-watched WNBA games ever, including the Sky at Fever game in June that averaged 2.25 million viewers.

The explosive viewership has carried into the postseason, as a Sept. 22 matchup between the Fever and Connecticut Sun attracted a record audience, according to ESPN. Clark’s Fever were eliminated in two games in the first round.

The league’s playoffs are now in the semifinals, which feature a rematch between the Aces and the New York Liberty, last year’s runner-up.