USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Irwin A. Kishner, Daniel A. Etna, Joel Wagman and Barry Werbin, Herrick, Feinstein LLP
of the largest ever capital raises for a women’s sports property. New league properties such as Unrivaled, a women’s 3-on-3 basketball league, have attracted significant investment. Finally, the ongoing trend of appreciating franchise valua - tions has also carried over to women’s sports, as two franchises in the National Women’s Soc - cer League (NWSL) were sold in 2024 for record valuations. Multi-club ownership groups, often a feature of ownership structures in men’s foot - ball leagues, have recently been formed for the purpose of acquiring stakes in women’s football clubs in Europe. The ongoing competition for sports program - ming has also created opportunities for women’s sports content. The All Women’s Sports Network, a new streaming service which debuted in 2024, provides continuous coverage of female athletes on and off the field along with original program - ming and live sporting events. The service is available in over 60 countries, making it the first global network dedicated entirely to women’s sports. Media rights for women’s sports have also increased significantly in value. In 2023 the NWSL announced a multi-year media deal with CBS Sports, ESPN and Amazon Prime Video for USD240 million, representing a 40-times multi - ple of the NWSL’s previous agreement. In 2024, the WNBA announced its own new media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC, val - ued at over USD2 billion for 11 years. Despite these new opportunities, several chal - lenges remain for women in sports. Funding dis - crepancies and disparate treatment at universi - ties continue to be a source of controversy. The participation of transgender women in women’s sports has driven conversation regarding main - taining competitive balance while respecting and recognising transgender rights. In college, while some women have earned significant NIL
income, the average NIL income for women stu - dent athletes is significantly lower than for male athletes. Professionally, despite the significant increase in media rights and franchise values, the salary gap between male and female ath - letes remains. The recent settlement agreement to establish equal pay for the men’s and wom - en’s US national soccer teams in the new CBAs represents an important step towards equality. 9. Esports 9.1 Esports Overview The esports industry went through several nota - ble changes and milestones in 2024. The year saw the inaugural Esports World Cup event and the announcement by the Internation - al Olympic Committee of the Olympic Esports Games to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Addi - tionally, there were several notable acquisitions in the esports industry in 2024. These factors, along with a general influx of funds from the Saudi Arabian government, moved the esports industry in a positive direction after a difficult post-COVID-19 period. The first esports world cup was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this past July. The event brought together esports fans and 1,500 of the top esports players, representing more than 100 nations, over an eight-week-long competition that included a record-breaking USD60 million prize pool. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also made signifi - cant investments in the esports industry in 2024. With over half its population being esports enthu - siasts, the government of Saudi Arabia views the esports industry as a vehicle to both grow and diversify its economy. In March 2024, the
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