Sue Bird is the newest owner of the WNBA. Fans still hope that more money and attention will be paid to women’s sports

Sue Bird recently became a part of the Seattle Storm ownership group. She is now one of a small group of former NBA and WNBA players who own teams. She is the third former WNBA player (after Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) and Renee Montgomery (Atlanta Dream)) to become a business owner.

Women’s basketball is on the rise at both the professional and college levels at the same time that Bird made her move. The sport is getting more attention from fans of all ages, genders, and backgrounds.

One important question still stands: how does the sport keep the energy going?

“I don’t think the moment comes in the form of, ‘Oh, it’s starting to grow,'” Bird told CBS Sports that he is also a co-founder of the sports media company TOGETHXR and the production business A Touch More. “I can talk about what I did at UConn.” There were 30,000 people at my Final Four 22 years ago. But why didn’t it keep getting bigger? Because there was no investment and no publicity, “I walked into a room with 30,000 people.” Now that I’ve left and joined the WNBA, everyone tells me they don’t care. That didn’t make sense.”

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Finally, the math makes sense. A record-breaking 2.45 million people watched the 2024 WNBA Draft. This comes as the league gets ready for what could be one of its best seasons ever.
Cathy Engelbert, who is the commissioner of the WNBA, hopes that the league can build on this progress.

He told CNBC, “We hope to at least double our rights fees.” “Women’s sports rights fees have been undervalued for too long, so we have this enormous opportunity at a time where the media landscape is changing so much.”

Engelbert said earlier this month that she is “pretty confident” that the WNBA will have 16 teams by 2028. At the moment, there aren’t enough contract spots for half of the players who were picked in the WNBA Draft.

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Bird was the first player picked in the 2002 WNBA Draft. She had led the UConn Huskies to two national titles. After that, she played for the Storm for 20 more years before quitting in 2022. She didn’t stay away for too long because she still wanted her team to do well even though she wasn’t there.

Before she bought her share, Bird said, “As a player, I put my all into every game for the Seattle Storm. Now that I’m a part of the ownership group, I’m excited to keep contributing to the growth of the game.”

“Putting money into women’s sports isn’t just a hobby; it’s also a good business move.” This is about recognizing the huge amount of skill, hard work, and market potential our league has always had. For decades, Force 10 Hoops and the Storm have been at the front of this. We’re not only creating the future of basketball by working together; we’re also making the world a better place for everyone.

NBA and WNBA players who own shares in their teams