Forwarded this newsletter by someone in your network and want to receive it yourself? Subscribe here 

Got any feedback for me? Respond to this email or on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter).

Good Thursday Morning. After’s this week edition, I will be off the next two weeks, as the future Mrs. SBP and I are officially tying the knot and enjoying some much needed R&R. Will be back in October freshly married and ready to drop some sports business knowledge!

Here’s the rundown of this week’s Sports Business Playbook:

• 📰 This Week’s Topic: The new Sportico NWSL valuations dropped, and here are my three biggest takeaways.

• 🤯 “Whoa of the Week”: The Savannah Bananas set a new record

• 💪 Weekly Reminders that Sports are Awesome: The Padres’ improbable play to clinch a playoff spot, and an Oakland TV anchor tells the truth about A’s owner John Fisher as the A’s played their final game in Oakland this past weekend.

Hey team,

Sportico is back with its latest league valuations; this time for the rapidly ascending National Women’s Soccer League.

The NWSL is currently enjoying a ton of business momentum coming off of last year’s Women’s World Cup, including a new, $240-million media rights deal and record breaking attendance this year.

Here are my three key takeaways from the valuations.

Takeaway #1: A rising tide raises all ships

The aforementioned growth is being felt across most of the league, as aggregate team revenues are up 91%, largely driven by the new media rights deal and attendance growth, and the average team value is up to $104 million (57% YoY).

To hug the elephant, much of this growth can be attributed to increasing expansion fees and a series of ownership changes. Nearly all of the 14 teams are either expansion teams or have taken significant investment within the last three years, which inflates the price.

But, that’s also a positive.

The broader story here is that the interest in the league from all sides — fans, viewers, sponsors, media companies, and prospective owners — is propelling the league to new heights, and the inherent scarcity of these teams creates a flywheel and demand.

Takeaway #2: Owning your building helps!

In 2024, the Kansas City Current opened the $125 million CPKC Stadium, the first women’s professional sports-focused stadium in the world. Instead of sharing a building or playing in someone else’s stadium, the Current are the only tenant and the stadium is controlled by the Current ownership group.

This stadium not only represents a long-awaited milestone moment for the proponents of women’s sports, but it also signals the arrival of the NWSL as a business entity on par with other sports organizations.

Meaning, there has been a growing movement across sports where these groups have evolved into platform companies. The brand on the field, court, or ice is just the tip of the spear, and there are countless ancillary businesses, namely real estate, that roll up underneath the portfolio.

CPKC Stadium, and the subsequent jump in the Current’s valuation ($75m —> $182m; 142% YoY), highlights the opportunity to both make an impact and augment the organization’s value.

Given the new wave of deep-pocketed owners stepping into the league, I’d expect other clubs to look at this path.

Takeaway #3: I don’t think we’re done seeing ownership change hands given the get-in price

Even though there has been so much turnover in the NWSL, I don’t expect there to be less demand for ownership stakes.

Sports as a whole is receiving significantly increased interest over the last few decades due to the fixed supply, media rights growth, and perceived non-collinearity with the financial markets.

The challenge is that with that surge in demand, prices have also surged.

With the traditional big four teams now all worth well over $1 billion on average, the wealth required to acquire one of these teams means there is an ever shrinking pool of potential owners.

So, these more nascent leagues like the NWSL offer more risk, but they also mean lower get-in prices and more potential reward in terms of ROI.

So, in addition to the reasons described above, the NWSL is attractive because of its relative affordability. The 6.8x revenue multiple puts it squarely in the middle of the professional leagues, and it has many of the tenets of other successful North American leagues without the potential risk of other international soccer leagues (i.e., uncapped spending, relegation).

The one thing to note here: the league and players’ union signed a new CBA earlier this year that started to chip away at hallmarks of the traditional American sports system — i.e., removing the player draft — in favor of elevating itself to look more like the other soccer leagues around the world.

It will be an interesting challenge for the players and owners to balance this desire to compete on the global stage while mitigating risk and ensuring the league continues to grow.

Regardless, these valuations tell the story of a league on the rise, and the sports world is taking notice.

🤯 “Whoa” of the Week

Insane, mind-blowing things constantly happen in the sports business world. Here was my favorite of the past week.

1. The Savannah Bananas continue to break records on their barnstorming tour.

💪 Weekly Reminder that Sports are Awesome

This newsletter is, of course, mostly centered on the business side of sports and the things that happen off the field. That being said, it’s important to remember why we fell in love with sports in the first place, though.

This section is meant to highlight the amazing things that happened in sports this week that serve as that reminder.

1. A game-ending triple play is awesome. A game-ending triple play against your biggest rival is unbelievable. A game-ending triple play against your biggest rival to clinch a playoff spot is all-time.

2. This is not necessarily “awesome,” but this takedown of A’s owner John Fisher by a local Oakland TV anchor is cathartic.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what feedback you have.

Also, if you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and network by clicking the social media icons at the top of the newsletter.

Until next time, sports fans!

-Alex