Josh Giddey is a genius

Plus reaction to major WNBA investment and the new Rising Stars Challenge.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, John Singer Sargent, 1882

Big W

So this is fascinating: the WNBA says it has just closed an equity investment that is the biggest ever for a women’s sports property. Howard Megdal reports in Forbes that a group of outside investors and WNBA team owners have invested an undisclosed amount of money in exchange for equity in the league itself, which had been owned 50-50 between the NBA and the 12 WNBA owners. Laurene Powell Jobs is the headline investor, with Nike, Baron Davis and Condoleezza Rice (an … interesting political match for the current class of WNBA players) in the mix, too.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert explains to Megdal that this investment route was seen as both preferred to and a potential precursor to expansion. Leagues typically generate big investment by charging huge expansion fees. This has been the MLS model, for instance. The WNBA is instead offering equity in the league itself to these motivated investors, which Engelbert says will allow expansion to happen more organically.

Engelbert says big investments will happen in the WNBA’s digital space and to build a merchandising platform that supports a growing fandom. That’s great news! I found this Russ Bengtson thread on Wednesday highly relevant. It sounds like the WNBA understands that certain things are constricting fandom growth, and that the league wants to address them.

The Rising Stars Challenge Is Now Hella Cool