At the Olympics and beyond, women’s sports media outlets are writing their own playbooks

Veteran sports columnist Christine Brennan remembers when male colleagues used to laugh at her for insisting on covering women’s sports back in the 1990s. “It was absolutely infuriating to me,” said Brennan, a best-selling author who served as the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. Now? Entire media outlets dedicated to centering women’s sports are springing up, growing rapidly and tackling coverage themselves, including in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Alongside the historic growth of women’s sports, the women’s sports media ecosystem is likewise flourishing, and outlets like TOGETHXR, The GIST, Just Women’s Sports, The IX Sports, GOALS and Good Game with Sarah Spain are expanding their reach.

NFL and StatusPRO Expand Partnership with New Rights, Renewed Gaming License

The National Football League and StatusPRO, a sports entertainment and technology company that combines AI and performance data with emerging technology to create experiential content, today announced an expansion of their partnership, granting StatusPRO new rights that enable the company to build a device-agnostic training product. The expanded agreement also includes the renewal of StatusPRO’s NFL gaming license, continuing the evolution of NFL PRO ERA

First college sports CBA proposal unveiled as players association pushes reform

Jim Cavale has heard the complaints. Yes, college leaders are wary of the full professionalization shifts of the ecosystem. Yes, an overhaul to athlete representation is a scary thought. But doing nothing to address those issues? That, he feels, isn’t an option. Cavale, founder of Athletes.org, and representatives from his organization have spent the better part of a year drafting what is believed to be the first collective agreement for college sports. “This takes a lot of private conversations public and is the start of a conversation with more stakeholders from athletes to schools and in between,” Cavale told SBJ. “It’s not the final word. It’s the start of a conversation and it’s a conversation we’ve been having for over a year, but it’s a conversation we wanted to bring to light to get more people to feel comfortable to have it with us and without us.” The 35-page document, which Cavale shared with SBJ, includes a multitude of regulations, rules and more that would help address the battles college sports leaders are fighting in court and seeking assistance with on Capitol Hill.

Vidmob Announces Launch of Creative Data Collaboratory and New Leadership Structure

Vidmob, The Creative Data Company, today announced a series of strategic initiatives to accelerate its leadership in creative intelligence. These include the appointment of two Ad Tech leaders to its Board of Directors to deepen client focus and further the integration of creative data into the fabric of the advertising ecosystem, the launch of the Creative Data Collaborative, an external innovation and research lab designed to accelerate the impact of creative data on emerging AI infrastructure, and a bi-furcation of executive focus to drive sustained growth across both near-and long-term horizons. Collectively, these steps mark a major step forward in the company’s mission to unlock the full performance potential of advertising creativity.

Slate Milk Raises $23 Million Series B Round To Bolster Protein Drink’s Rapid Growth

A new slate of functional beverages is about to dominate the ready-to-drink shelf, ushering in a more modern era of easily incorporating more protein in our diets. Today, Slate Milk cofounders Manny Lubin and Josh Belinsky reveal the brand has raised a $23 million Series B funding round. Led by Foundership, a new fund by Yasso frozen greek yogurt cofounders Drew Harrington and Amanda Klane, the money will allow Slate to continue its momentum towards ubiquity as it hits 100,000 points of distribution across 20,000 stores nationwide by the end of 2025.

NWSL partners with The GIST

The National Women’s Soccer League and The GIST, the women-led, fan-first sports media brand, on Wednesday announced a new digital media partnership designed to grow the game, elevate women’s soccer, and unlock monetization opportunities through storytelling. As an official digital media partner of the NWSL, The GIST will bring league moments to life through highlights, original programming, and content across its multi-platform ecosystem, including its newsletter audience of more than one million sports fans. The partnership will connect the NWSL with The GIST’s Gen Z and Millennial community.

Transmit, Bally’s partner for in-stream monetization of Savannah Bananas games

Bally’s Corporation is seeing strong early returns on a partnership with adtech vendor Transmit, which powers in-stream advertisements for the company’s free ad-supported TV channel, Stadium. The primary focus of the partnership, which began in March, is on Stadium streams of minor league baseball games and “Banana Ball,” the baseball off-shoot popularized by the Savannah Bananas. On the latter front, Transmit’s technology -- which automatically inserts relevant video ads into livestreams using picture-in-picture or squeeze-back graphics -- has increased monetizable instream impressions by 300% and garnered a video completion rate of near 100% during 36 Banana Ball games, according to Transmit CCO Bo Han.

NFL Teams With The GIST to Find Football's Hidden Fans

The NFL wants to get a younger, more diverse segment of its audience into the game, but The GIST has them all ready to come off of the bench. Today, the NFL and The GIST announced a content partnership that would give the league access to more than 1 million newsletter subscribers and 40 million sports fans already consuming The GIST’s newsletters, podcasts, and social media each month. Founded in 2017, The GIST was built to connect with millennial and Gen Z women who were being overlooked and underserved by traditional sports media.

From Venice Beach to the Manila Streets – This Yellow School Bus is Turning Basketball Into a Global Movement

The Hoopbus started as a grassroots passion project in Los Angeles and has grown into a global nonprofit using basketball to drive cultural connection and social impact. For entrepreneurs, it's a powerful case study in how purpose, mobility and community can scale into a movement...

Golden State Valkyries To Host ‘Slam Night’

The Golden State Valkyries are set to host 'SLAM Night' in collaboration with the iconic basketball brand when the Valkyries host the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday, August 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Chase Center. An exclusive merchandise collaboration between the Valkyries and SLAM will be available to fans, beginning at 8 a.m. Pacific on August 8 at the Golden State Team Shop and at the Valkyries Shop online.