FILE - Mark Davis, left, owner of the Las Vegas Aces and Las Vegas Raiders, sits beside former football player Tom Brady during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series between the Aces and New York Liberty, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. Magic Johnson’s love of basketball a decade ago motivated him to save the Los Angeles Sparks from folding and also put him on the forefront of what is now a growing WNBA trend. Tom Brady did the same with the Las Vegas Aces.
Marc Ganis, the president and co-founder of the sports business consulting firm Sportscorp, said the WNBA looks to be on the right path to become a good long-term investment but is still being subsidized by the NBA. He said a new TV deal would go a long way in increasing team values.“There are multiple purposes behind former athletes and current ones investing in smaller sports and particularly women’s sports,” he said.
While Johnson got involved to save a franchise, Brady said his part of his interest in women’s sports goes back in part to his sisters. Wade had always been a fan of his hometown team the Chicago Sky. His mother, JoLinda, got season tickets when the franchise first came into existence in 2006 and it was important to the Hall of Fame NBA player that his mom and sister also had ownership stakes in the team.
“Investing works well when you see the trend coming,” she said. “Me being in women’s sports I understand the game, understand the value of the women’s game. People didn’t see that value that I saw before the wave happened.”