The business of women’s basketball has never been more powerful—or more in flux. Both the WNBA and the NCAA college tournament posted record viewership numbers last season, with the NCAA final alone pulling in 9.9 million viewers, a sign of the sport’s surging fandom.
Name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsement deals on the college level, meanwhile, have raised the profiles of younger players to unprecedented levels; a star like Louisiana State University forward Angel Reese is commanding brand contracts that value her at an estimated $1.6 million.