As women’s soccer gains more fans, increased investment follows.

Setting The Pace — FIFA’s benchmarking report covering women’s soccer — found that the number of women’s leagues with title sponsors has risen 11% from 2021 to 77%, while the number of leagues securing broadcasting revenue grew from nine to 10.

FIFA’s second edition of the report, which analyzes 30 leagues and 294 clubs, also revealed that 7% of clubs generate more than $1 million from matchday, broadcast, commercial, and prize money sources.

Clubs’ commercial revenue increased 33% year-over-year, and leagues’ commercial revenue jumped 24% year-over-year.

• Clubs that sell merchandise on matchday generated $311,000 in commercial revenue, while clubs that don’t generated $116,000.
• Teams spending more than $100,000 on marketing and activation generated higher average commercial revenues of $1.1 million.

“The data in this year’s report underscores that organizations that are prepared to invest in women’s football are receiving return, and we expect this will only increase,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s chief women’s football officer.

Numbers Back It Up

The Women’s Euro 2022 was the most watched ever — with projected cumulative live viewership of 365 million — as well as the best attended, averaging 18,544 fans.

The NWSL’s 2022 regular season drew 1,042,063 fans — a record — and enjoyed its highest-attended regular-season match in September with 32,000 spectators.

The Nashville Predators will reportedly be worth roughly $775 million on the completion of the team’s sale to former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam by the end of 2025.

In June, Haslam agreed to purchase the NHL franchise from Predators Holdings, a consortium of 17 owners that purchased the team for $175 million in 2007.

• Forbes valued the Predators at $600 million in 2021 — a 38% increase from the year prior.
• Haslam — who has an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion — will acquire majority ownership by purchasing shares held by Predators Holdings’ current principal, healthcare entrepreneur Herbert Fritch, and others.
• His brother, Jimmy Haslam, is the owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

Haslam’s Predators purchase will be the second-largest sale for an NHL franchise. It comes after Fenway Sports Group’s deal to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins from billionaire Ron Burkle and former Penguins center Mario Lemieux for $900 million in 2021.

FSG also owns MLB’s Boston Red Sox and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC.

On The Rise 

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league could see its salary cap rise by $4 million for the 2023-24 season, depending on revenue and the ability to pay off roughly $1 billion in debt.

The NHL generated around $5.4 billion in hockey-related revenue last season. This season the cap saw a $1 million year-over-year increase and the first uptick in three years.

U.S. investors are close to making their latest strike in European soccer.

An unnamed U.S.-based SPAC is close to buying a significant stake in Italian Serie A club Udinese from the Pozzo family, according to The Athletic.

• The deal will also likely include around 10% of Watford from the second-tier English Football League Championship.
• Udinese is valued at around $200 million. Watford’s estimated value is $160.6 million, but that could jump to $229.4 million should the team win promotion to the Premier League.
• There have also been talks of combining the transaction with a purchase of Sabadell, a team in Spain’s third-tier Primera Federación.

If the purchase is completed, the company holding the teams will seek to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

SPAC Drop

SPACs, which raise money in an initial public offering with the intent to acquire a private company and take it public, experienced a huge rise throughout the sports industry and beyond over the last two years, but are showing signs of a dropoff.

Total SPAC proceeds rocketed to $83.4 billion in 2020 and then nearly tripled to $162.5 billion in 2021. This year, the investment vehicle has seen only $13.2 billion in proceeds, similar to 2019’s $13.6 billion.

The average IPO size for SPACs has been $160.5 million this year, which would be the lowest since 2014.

One of the most popular sports in the world is taking a big step toward gender equity.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that it will equalize pay for men’s and women’s teams.

“The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be the same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Cricket,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.

• The pay for members of both teams will be $18,229 per test match, $7,292 for one-day internationals, and $3,646 for a Twenty20 international.
• India’s women players currently earn $4,861 for tests and $1,215 for the other contests.

It’s unclear if there will be a change to the contract system. Under the current system, women at the top level earn $60,764 annually, $36,458 at the next level, and $12,153 below that.

In comparison, men make $850,694 annually at the highest level, and $607,639, $364,583, and $121,528 at the lower levels.

Cricket and The Mouse

Cricket has become an increasingly sought-after media property. In August, Disney Star acquired broadcast rights to global events put on by the International Cricket Council from 2024 through 2027.

Terms weren’t disclosed, but officials said the price represented a “significant uplift” from Star’s previous pact, which was for $2.1 billion over five years.

In June, Disney Star secured domestic TV rights to the Indian Premier League in a $3 billion deal.