Sports-biz report: Following soccer template, NBA commits to boosting women’s game – Capital New York

Welcome to POLITICO New York’s Sports Business Report, a weekly digest of news on what matters in one of New York’s highest-profile industries.

NBA fans will be treated to a 30-second ad on Saturday night called “Watch Me Work”, a promo for the WNBA.

This is a sign that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is taking his promise from last fall to do more to promote the league seriously, and demonstrates the league’s recognition that last year’s Women’s World Cup triumph for Fox Sports should be a template for the marketing of women’s sports.

Remember that last fall, Silver created a stir by saying the league is “not where we thought it would be” and criticizing its ability to break through on the marketing side and the coverage of the league itself.

Silver acknowledged in an interview with me a few weeks later that the NBA needed to do more to change that equation — in essence, the NBA’s bargaining power is vital to leveling the steep climb of the WNBA. 

So putting the WNBA promo up in conjunction with the NBA’s new Saturday night primetime venture on ABC — itself a heavily marketed event featuring the league’s best teams, a gambit intended to mark that territory for the league in a more permanent way — well, it is precisely a way to make certain the rising tide of that new effort also lifts the WNBA boat.

It’s notable that this is happening so early in the year — months before the WNBA, a primarily summer league, begins play — and will be repeated during the All Star Game and the NBA playoffs, per the league. This is essential for a women’s sports event to break through, given how little sports media covers such sports on a daily basis.

It is Fox’s almost nonstop promotion of the World Cup that led the entire tournament to succeed. The 26.7 million who watched the U.S. in the final is the oft-cited number, but millions watched every previous U.S. game, and even non-U.S. games drew solid audiences, from hundreds of thousands watching Brazil-Japan on a weekday afternoon to 2.33 million watching the non-U.S. semifinal.

And that’s because Fox didn’t limit that promotional push to sports programming, or even to Fox Sports 1. Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan appeared on The Simpsons and American Idol. The cross-promotion is nothing new, but it worked. The idea that promoting women’s sports is some kind of magic alchemy, different from the routine cross-promotion that has been a staple of men’s sports for years, was shattered forever.

The NBA has a real chance here, by combining efforts like these with the best WNBA players about to play for a gold medal in this summer’s Olympics in Rio, to break through in a similar way. The payoff could be even greater over the long-term: unlike the NWSL, which is still in its infancy in many ways, the WNBA can directly funnel any new viewers from this initiative into an already-eixsting television package on both ESPN and NBATV. The WNBA has a team in New York already, one that plays at The Garden. They have a team in Los Angeles. The infrastructure is there.

Now, it appears, the NBA is ready to exploit it. One thing seems certain: more people in 2016 will watch the WNBA players work than in any recent season. Societal progress, while helpful, has very little to do with it.

WELCOME! Questions? Tips? Events? Email me, hmegdal@gmail.com, and follow @howardmegdal for real-time throughout the week.

THE WEEKEND AHEAD: The Knicks host Phoenix Friday night and Golden State Sunday night. The Nets are in Dallas Friday night and New Orleans Saturday night. St. John’s hosts Villanova at The Garden Sunday afternoon in men’s basketball. In women’s basketball, Seton Hall has a really big one Friday afternoon at DePaul.

YESPEDES RIPPLES: From POLITICO New York, a look at how significant the Mets re-signing Yoenis Cespedes is for both the team and the owners who may have finally stopped siphoning all the extra revenue coming in and applying it to debt financing. An enormous move, with potentially huge consequences if it represents a fundamental change in the business model. http://politi.co/1KB1CFn

OPT-OUT FUN: So a big part of why the Mets were able to get Yoenis Cespedes to sign for less guaranteed money than he’d been offered by the Washington Nationals is the opt-out in his contract after one year. Tyler Kepner breaks down the proliferation of opt-outs here, but don’t miss Rob Manfred pointing out that because opt-outs are potentially lucrative for players more than owners, they are “bad outcomes”. Useful to remember heading into new CBA negotiations that when Manfred speaks, it isn’t as a neutral party, it is as a representative of the owners. http://bit.ly/1RPjc0c

TURF BATTLE: Caitlin Murray has an excellent deconstruction of the CBA between U.S. Soccer and its women’s national team, which hasn’t actually been a CBA for a while now, just a memorandum of understanding with some language about the National Women’s Soccer League attached. It’s worth watching this action because the Olympics looms for the players as well, after which a lot of their leverage disappears until the 2019 World Cup. http://bit.ly/1nRyPb1

THREE CHEERS FOR SETTLEMENTS: The Jets settled the lawsuit brought against them by their former cheerleaders, and will pay $324,000 in what is effectively back pay without acknowledging wrongdoing. This is one of many such suits, however, and the threat of them will hopefully lead to working conditions for cheerleaders that include such perks as minimum wage. http://bit.ly/1RPkyrL

STAT OF THE WEEK: 55: As in, the number of NBA players who will make more this season than Steph Curry, the likely MVP of the league and visitor to The Garden on Sunday. Don’t underestimate how important it was to Golden State’s ability to build a superteam that not did Curry ascend to inner-circle Hall of Fame level of play, but he did it on a four-year, $44 million contract. It’s not really a repeatable plan, though you can be sure, as always happens, that many NBA teams will try it. http://bit.ly/1nRAayt

INBOX, EQUALITY IS BIG BUSINESS EDITION:  Via Madison Square Garden PR: “As part of its marketing partnership, Resorts World Casino New York City will enjoy significant brand exposure at The Garden during all Knicks, Rangers and Liberty games. This includes in-arena identification signage at the Blue Seats, in-arena LED signage, features on Madison Square Garden’s state-of-the-art center-hung multimedia display known as Gardenvision, digital and social media sweepstakes, alumni appearances, designation as the Presenting Partner of New York Liberty Pride Month and branding on the Liberty Mega T-shirt machine.

QUICK LINKS

It appears the new NYCFC jerseys have linked. MLS Jersey Week will be fun anyway. http://bit.ly/1QvnWVJ

MLB does need to worry about how much exposure new fans get to their product in a cord-cutting world. http://bit.ly/1Se0uQv

The great Matt Miazga of the Red Bulls is headed to Chelsea. http://bit.ly/208scSY

Rutgers doesn’t have to spend as much for its woefully underachieving athletics program, thanks to the Big Ten. http://bit.ly/1P0br1v

Enjoy these highlights of the newest New York Cosmos star, Juan Arango. http://bit.ly/1OSgC5M

Greg Karam has a rundown of the top 25 Mets prospects. http://bit.ly/1NDsqF9

Fox will be televising the entire Copa America Centenario, so get ready for an epic multi-hemispheric soccer event. http://bit.ly/1JISIee

Always read Lee Jenkins. Always read about Kristaps Porzingis. Lee Jenkins ON Kristaps Porzingis? Of course. http://bit.ly/23w8kZ7

FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SPORTS BUSINESS with Swin Cash, New York Liberty forward and media personality at MSG, CBS Sports Network, NBC Sports Network and others.

POLITICO NY: Tell me a bit about how you decided to start a podcast at MSG, on top of the work you are already doing on MSG Network. CBS Sports Network. NBC Sports Network and seemingly every other media outlet in the world.

CASH: This off season I really wanted to focus on increasing my work load in the broadcasting space. Not just sports but also on the entertainment front. When we spoke with MSG about my new role with the Knicks, the idea of a podcast was presented to me. So without any experience in that space I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to learn and grow. I enjoy being an analyst but I want to continue to grow in the media space not only on camera but also behind it.

POLITICO NY: Your first interview was with Teresa Weatherspoon: is this a sign that the podcast will be more focused on women’s basketball? Your TV show is about the Knicks.

CASH: The podcast is going to be a lot of fun. We will always talk some Knicks and NBA. Spoon was great as my first guest because we know each other so I had a certain comfort level. Then the second podcast I had the pleasure of speaking with HIp Hop legends Kurtis Blow & Sugar Hill Gang. Anyone who follows me on social media knows I speak on all areas of sports – from basketball to football and also the sports business. I am also an avid follower of the entertainment industry and I expect the podcast to reflect all of those things. I hear I can be funny at times so we’ll see!

POLITICO NY: The issue of too little women’s sports coverage and too few women (particularly women of color) in sports media are often conflated. Do you believe the two issues can be solved at the same time, or does one naturally lead to the other (for instance, spotlight on more athletes will allow them to transition into media work)?

CASH: I think diversity and inclusion have to go hand in hand. It’s great to see women getting more opportunity and having a seat at the table. If companies, networks and any business want to reflect the people they serve being inclusive is the best starting point. At times even I have taken for granted the role that I play for so many women and women of color that come behind me. Until someone sends you a message or walks up to you on the street and gives you a compliment or a colleague pulls you to the side and gives you words of encouragement. Women are no longer asking can we participate, we are demanding to be seen and heard and paid for the same work. Which will hopefully make it easier for the young women behind us.

POLITICO NY: In your women’s college basketball travels this season, which players have impressed you the most beyond the consensus 1-2 picks of Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson?

CASH: I’ve been covering mostly men’s college basketball this season along with NBA so I’m sad I haven’t seen as many women’s games as I would like. Young ladies I have seen and enjoyed watching are Kelsey Plum, Brionna Jones and Jonquel Jones.

POLITICO NY: At the end of the WNBA season, you spoke of wanting to take a step back and figure out how much longer you wanted to play. Have you come to any conclusions about that, and does the fact that every media outlet in the world is hiring you change that timetable at all?

CASH: Thanks for the kind worlds lol. I think timing is everything. Over the years I have missed out on some great jobs in TV because of playing in the WNBA but it was worth it because I love the game. Stepping away has given me time to reflect on the past, present and future. I know I will be stepping away soon so when that time comes I will let my fans know with love. Because the support I have had since stepping on the scene as a wiry 18 year old has been amazing. I’m humbled and blessed everytime I get to lace up those Nike high tops and take the floor. Saying goodbye won’t be easy but it will be when I have left everything I have to give in between those lines.