This Week's Women's Sports Recap
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New women's professional baseball league set to launch in 2026: 'Our time is now.'
The United States is getting a women’s professional baseball league.
The Women’s Pro Baseball League will launch in 2026 and feature six teams based in the Northeast. It will mark the first active professional women’s baseball league in the country.
The league is co-founded by Justine Siegal, who was the first woman to coach professional men’s baseball in the United States when she joined the Oakland Athletics organization in 2015. Siegal is also the founder of Baseball For All, which is a nonprofit organization that helps girls play and coach baseball throughout the country.
“I am so excited that there will finally be a professional women’s baseball league,” she said in a statement. “It is a dream come true for all the girls and women who play America’s pastime.
Pro Women’s Hockey League says it could add as many as two teams for 2025-26 season.
Expansion is on the table for the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League, and executives aren’t placing limitations on which North American markets they’ll consider in a bid to add as many as two franchises for the 2025-26 season.
The only certainty is a vision of the timing being right to build on the support the PWHL generated in its inaugural year, and the growth the league projects entering its second season, which opens on Nov. 30.
“I don’t think we rule out any market,” senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “This is a good opportunity for us to learn and continue to explore. So everything’s on the table right now.”
To reinforce how open-ended the PWHL’s expansion search will be, senior VP for business operations Amy Scheer told the AP the league has targeted more than 20 markets to be issued requests for proposals for expansion by next week. And that doesn’t include additional markets that might approach the league for consideration.
The elephant in the room is leading a new era in women’s sports.
I recently had the thrill of attending a New York Liberty semi-final game, and let me tell you—the energy in the arena was electric. But it wasn’t just about the game; it was about something much bigger. Women’s sports are no longer just a moment—they’ve become a movement. And the New York Liberty are at the forefront of this revolution, with impressive basketball on the court and a powerful symbol: Ellie the Elephant.
As one of only three female-identifying WNBA mascots, Ellie isn’t your typical mascot. She’s not just there for sideline entertainment; she’s a dynamic force reshaping fan engagement and athlete storytelling. From the moment she steps into the arena, Ellie commands attention, sparking joy in fans of all ages. Her presence is more than fun–it’s transformative. She’s part of a cultural shift that’s connecting sports, fashion, and entertainment in new ways, and making sports more inclusive, personal, and deeply connected to the people who love the game.
Ellie represents something deeper, too. When the Liberty joined the WNBA in 1997 as one of the eight original teams, the league itself was breaking barriers in women’s sports. The Liberty quickly became one of the most prominent teams, making it to the finals four times in their first six years. Fast forward to today, and the WNBA has grown into a league filled with extraordinary talent, game-changing moments, and a growing fan base that is demanding more visibility and recognition for women athletes.
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GroupM exceeds goal to double women's sports investment.
Earlier this year, Group M, WPP’s media investment group, launched a dedicated women’s sports marketplace ahead of the upfront, committing to double its annual media investment in women’s sports.
Today, there are no buzzer-beaters necessary. The company has officially achieved its goal.
Though GroupM didn’t share total volume numbers, the company told ADWEEK it’s already surpassed its pledge to double investment by 15% and counting. Those numbers also don’t include the scatter market, which is being added to the tally.
And scatter could significantly impact the numbers, with the scatter market including as high as double-digit CPM (cost per thousand viewers reached) increases for sports inventory, according to an ad sales leader speaking on the condition of anonymity.
With that investment, GroupM said more than 20 brands across its portfolio have expanded their sports investment strategies to prioritize and monetize women’s sports, including Adidas, Adobe, Ally, Coinbase, Danone, Discover, Domino’s, DoorDash, Google, Indeed, Mars, Method, Nationwide, Target, TJ Maxx, Unilever, and Universal Pictures.
ESPN’s unmatched coverage of NCAA Women’s Basketball tips off this November – more than 3,420 games during 2024-25 season.
ESPN continues to be the industry leader in women’s college basketball coverage, with a schedule of more than 220 games during the 2024-25 regular season campaign across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ACC Network. More than 3,200 additional games will be available across ESPN digital platforms, including ESPN+, SEC Network+ and ACC Network Extra.
The 2024-25 campaign tips off with a doubleheader across the pond in Paris, France with four top teams facing off in the Aflac Oui-Play Event on Monday, Nov. 4. No. 3 USC, led by returning star JuJu Watkins, is set to face off against No. 20 Ole Miss, followed by No. 17 Louisville vs. No. 5 UCLA. The USC-Ole Miss game will tip off from Adidas Arena at noon ET on ESPN, while Louisville-UCLA is slated for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The lead women’s basketball commentator team of Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo will call the games, with additional studio programming surrounding the event.
Tipoff Week continues Friday, Nov. 8, with No. 10 Oklahoma hosting Virginia on SEC Network at 9 p.m.
‘Parity Week By Gainbridge’ Kicks-Off In November By Awarding $150,000 In Grants To Support Women & Girls In Sports
Gainbridge, Parity, and the Women’s Sports Foundation are working together on a program throughout November to invest in the future of women’s sports. The program, called Parity Week by Gainbridge was first established in 2023 by Gainbridge, which is a Group 1001 company, and its sister company Parity, which is a brand sponsorship platform that connects companies with women athletes for marketing and endorsement deals. The purpose of the program is to support girls and women through sports and education, which includes the distribution of $150,000 in grants to 21 organizations and athletes across the United States.
Each grant recipient will receive a minimum grant of $5,000, inspired by Billie Jean King, who started the Women’s Sports Foundation 50 years ago with a $5,000 check that she acquired from tennis winnings.