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1 day ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Alex Silverman |Mollie Cahillane |Austin Karp |Joe Lemire |Rob Schaefer |Tom Friend
The 17th Annual Sports Business Awards were celebrated Wednesday night in New York City. Below is the running list of the winners in the 16 categories:The inaugural award for Brand Activation of the Year went to one of the more unique, hilarious and viral sensations in recent memory -- the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
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1 week ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
The Dream have finalized a dual jersey patch and abdomen patch partnership with Cash App that team President & COO Morgan Shaw Parker called “the largest deal in team history.” The arrangement, which industry sources believe is worth seven figures and was facilitated by Excel Sports Management, will include equity-driven activations that provide basketball camps and clinics for girls as well as S.T.E.M.-based leadership training.
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1 week ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
WME Basketball, now operating independently of WME Sports but still anchored by veteran agent Bill Duffy, revealed a 2025 draft class Tuesday that includes three projected lottery picks and potentially a pair in the Top 5. Overall, WME Basketball’s entire five-man class could be first-rounders. The top prospects are Rutgers G Dylan Harper (rated No. 2 overall by most scouts), Texas G Tre Johnson (rated No. 5 overall) and Maryland F Derik Queen (No. 11 overall).
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
Linear viewership for local NBA broadcasts dropped 9% this past regular season -- partly due to deteriorating numbers in the sizeable markets of Philadelphia and Chicago -- but a 30% rise in streaming audiences in a sample-sized study by Playfly Sports has potentially offset the decline and validated the NBA’s pursuit of a national streaming RSN. According to the Nielsen data, only seven NBA teams had linear year-over-year household increases this season.
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
The Knicks’ local TV revenue will plummet $41.4 million next season and $202M in total by 2029 after a public SEC filing last Friday revealed the team must take a 28% media rights fee haircut as part of MSG Network’s attempt to restructure its debt.
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
If Year 1 was an epiphany, then Year 2 is a digitized business model. While you were away, the Indiana Fever were analyzing their database, posting content roughly 14 times a day, adding their staggering 73rd partner, tastefully raising ticket prices and making sure Caitlin Clark was pumping iron. Gifted a generational asset from Iowa who turned a last-place WNBA team into the Rolling Stones, the Fever have managed to shrink the world in just one calendar year.
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
The sequel to last year’s Liberty-Lynx WNBA Finals is: emerging revenue. Six months after the matchup, season-ticket memberships for the defending champion Liberty are up 152% year over year, while the Lynx will have their largest season-ticket member base in franchise history with a year-over-year rise so far of 48%. Both teams are oozing with encouraging developments, including a new ownership group in Minnesota.
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
It starts with a shade of violet and a sighting in France. It continues with the chemo patient joining the scavenger hunt, and 20,000 season-ticket deposits for the team with no players. It is the launch of the Golden State Valkyries, a case study in color scheme, target audience, women’s sports and the NBA team across the hall. They have gone from a concept in 2023 to a brand in 2025 that has won off the court before even one trip down the court.
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
The city of Dallas has caught Paige Bueckers Fever — pun intended. By drafting Bueckers No. 1 overall out of UConn, the Wings could turn into this year’s Indiana Fever and become must-see. Just a millisecond after the pick, Bueckers jerseys (made by Nike) were available at the team’s draft party, with Wings merchandise selling online in 50 states and 17 countries.
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2 weeks ago | 
sportsbusinessjournal.com | Tom Friend
WNBA players will be multitasking this season. It’s called playing and negotiating. The league’s collective-bargaining agreement expires on Halloween, roughly two weeks after the Finals, meaning the specter of a strike/lockout will be a persistent narrative all season. The WNBA’s executive committee and board of player representatives opted out of the CBA six months ago for a reason — so bargaining could be fast-tracked and a deal could be consummated sooner than later.
