This Week's Women's Sports Recap
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WNBA Finals Game 5 draws highest viewership in 25 years.
It was a big finish for the 2024 WNBA season.
The fifth game of this year’s WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty was the most-viewed WNBA finals game in 25 years across all networks, according to ESPN, citing Nielsen data. The game aired on ESPN and topped out at 3.3 million viewers.
The viewership for Game 5 is especially impressive considering the competition for attention Sunday night. Both the National Football League’s “Sunday Night Football” and Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series aired at the same time.
Viewership across the entire WNBA Finals series more than doubled in comparison to last year, a continuation of the growing popularity for the WNBA and women’s sports more broadly.
This year’s finals were helped even more by a close battle between a perennial WNBA powerhouse in the Lynx and a previously championship-less contender in the Liberty. Four of the five games were decided by 5 or fewer points, and two games, including the final, went into overtime. The Liberty eventually prevailed, winning 67-62 in front of their home crowd.
We went wedding dress shopping with Paralympian Oksana Masters, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Immediately after the 2024 Summer Paralympics, 19-time medalist Oksana Masters left Paris with two new road cycling gold medals in her collection. Yet, she didn't go straight home to Illinois. Still riding the adrenaline of the competition, Masters made a stop in New York City for something new to add to her suitcase (as in, her wedding dress).
A lauded athlete, Masters is engaged to fellow Paralympian Aaron Pike, who, like his fiancée, competes in both the Winter and Summer Paralympics. The couple met at a cross-country skiing event in Utah, and things turned romantic during the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. After eight years of dating, Pike proposed with her grandmother's ring during a vacation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
In 2024, with both Masters and Pike set on the Games, the couple faced yet another milestone head-on: balancing their Paralympic preparations with wedding planning. Of course, for Paralympians competing every two years, finding time to plan a wedding is easier said than done. With their sights set on a fall 2025 celebration in the American West, Masters was able to squeeze in a wedding dress shopping appointment exactly one year before—and The Knot tagged along to give you an inside look at what it's like trying on gowns with a prolific Paralympian.
Unrivaled 3×3 league reveals 6 team names, branding ahead of inaugural season.
Unrivaled — the new 3×3 basketball league tipping off in 2025 that features some of the WNBA’s biggest stars — revealed the names and branding for its six teams Thursday.
The six clubs will be called the Laces, Mist, Rose, Lunar Owls, Phantom and Vinyl. The teams launched their social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok and Threads, but have yet to release their rosters. However, many high-profile players have already committed to the league, including co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
Angel Reese, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jewell Loyd, Kahleah Copper, Rhyne Howard and Arike Ogunbowale are among the others who have committed to joining the league, which has promised to pay the highest average salary in women’s professional sports league history.
NWSL's Chicago Red Stars to become Chicago Stars Football Club: How the women's soccer team got a new identity.
The Chicago Red Stars will officially be part of the NWSL's past as the club will now operate under a new name and iconography for the upcoming 2025 season --- meet Chicago Stars Football Club. The franchise will adapt the new identity following the conclusion of the 2024 playoffs after utilizing Red Stars for nearly 20 years.
"As the stewards of this club, Laura Ricketts, the ownership group, and the leadership team believe it is time to evolve our identity as a symbol of this new chapter," said Karen Leetzow, Chicago Stars FC president. "It is our intent going forward to honor the legacy made by past players, fans and associates, while carving a new path for the club and representing Chicago more authentically on and off the pitch."
When the NWSL launched in 2013, the Red Stars were one of the founding clubs with ties to the WPS, the NWSL's predecessor. The organization recently celebrated one year of new ownership in NWSL with Ricketts -- MLB's Chicago Cubs co-owner -- and her investor group. They will compete with the original Red Stars crest and name for the remainder of the regular season and through playoffs until a complete brand changeover takes place for the 2025 season.
WNBA players opt out of CBA: Salaries, long-term benefits among focus.
The WNBA players' union announced Monday that the players will opt out of their current collective bargaining agreement with the league. The news comes a day after the WNBA Finals concluded with the New York Liberty winning their first league title.
The announcement isn't a surprise. It has been assumed that the players would opt out, which they also did in 2018 for their previous CBA. The current agreement was reached in January 2020, one of the first major accomplishments for the league under Cathy Engelbert, who took over as commissioner in 2019.
The players had until Nov. 1 to opt out, but made the announcement with the impact of the best-of-five WNBA Finals still resonating in the sports world. The current agreement lasts through Oct. 31, 2025, giving the league and the union a year to negotiate the next agreement.
In July, the WNBA announced a new 11-year media rights deal featuring partnerships with Disney, Amazon Prime Video and NBCUniversal. It is valued at about $2.2 billion, or $200 million per year, but future agreements with additional partners could bring the league's overall media deals closer to $3 billion.