New investors change the game for women’s pro sports
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) keep breaking attendance records – by a lot. Eight new professional leagues have launched since 2020, including softball, volleyball, and lacrosse. The optimism around women’s pro sports is so high that accounting firm Deloitte predicts the global women’s sports industry will surpass $3 billion in revenues this year – an increase of 340% since 2022. By all accounts, it’s not a fluke or a fad. And that’s largely because of one key reason: venture capitalists are pouring money into the burgeoning business of women’s sports for the long haul. Notably, many of them are women investors with decades of experience and capital to spend.