WNBA Draft Archives - Boardroom https://boardroom.tv/tag/wnba-draft/ Sports Business News Mon, 01 Jan 2024 19:47:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 10 Sports Business Predictions for 2024 https://boardroom.tv/10-sports-business-predictions-for-2024/ Mon, 01 Jan 2024 15:00:00 +0000 https://boardroom.tv/?p=85055 Laying out 10 predictions for the new year, including massive NBA media rights, MLB expansion, in-season tournaments, soccer, F1, and the Olympics.

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]]> Laying out 10 predictions for the new year, including massive NBA media rights, MLB expansion, in-season tournaments, soccer, F1, and the Olympics.

As the holiday season leads to the calendar turning from 2023 to 2024, there are certain tentpole events in the sports business world that we’re already greatly anticipating.

The NBA is expected to sign a new media contract that would begin in 2025 and be worth vastly more than the $2.67 billion it makes on its current deal. After the Finals in June, local TV contracts for 15 NBA teams under Bally Sports will expire, ushering in a summer of media-free agency we haven’t seen in a long time. That same month, soccer’s highly anticipated European championships in Germany will be followed shortly thereafter in late July by the Summer Olympics in Paris, where the US men’s basketball team will look to avenge a fourth-place finish at this year’s World Cup.

A college football national champion will be crowned in January, the last title in the four-team College Football Playoff era before it expands to 12 in 2025. In February, the Super Bowl comes to Las Vegas for the first time. It could make the final year Vegas doesn’t have an MLB team, with the Oakland A’s set to move when their Oakland Coliseum lease expires next October. It’s an exciting time for a city that hosted its first-ever Formula 1 race in 2023 and houses the two-time WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

Enough talk, let’s look into the Boardroom crystal ball and make 10 sports business predictions for 2024!

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Amazon, NBC, and Peacock will gain NBA media rights deals.

The NBA can’t afford to lose ESPN and Turner as television partners, and vice versa. While they’ll eventually come to an agreement to extend their respective rights deals, both deals will come with fewer games as the league’s price tag will be a limiting factor given the networks’ need to spend on other sports media rights.

A streaming partner will be a necessity for any league moving forward — Amazon will get games at least weekly in their newest breakthrough deal to complement the NFL in the US. There’s going to be a fierce battle for Thursday night, with TNT wanting to keep its traditional slot and Amazon wanting to make Thursdays its signature live sports night to go with football.

And finally, who doesn’t love the ’90s NBA on NBC nostalgia? NBC and Peacock will get a few games per month, primarily for streaming non-exclusive local games like the NHL with Hulu and MLB with ESPN+. Disney won’t be happy with ABC not being the only traditional broadcast network getting games, but times change, and having the NBA back on NBC 5-10 times a year will feel so right.

After the deal gets done, the league will get more serious about expanding from 30 to 32 teams. Las Vegas and Seattle are the overwhelming favorites to land the new franchises.

The 12-team CFP will lead to further conference realignment and turmoil.

Expanding the College Football Playoff from four to 12 teams will make things more fair and equitable, right?

Wrong!

Just take a look at the top 12 in this year’s final CFP rankings. As of next season, Florida State will have been the only team outside the SEC and Big Ten in the top dozen. While each major conference champion will get automatic spots, the SEC and Big Ten will inevitably gobble up all the at-large bids. That will only lead to more big-time schools like Florida State and Clemson pressing to leave to the behemoths.

The big question is whether the Big 12 and ACC will stay competitive enough in a 12-team playoff era to sustain itself. I’m betting it won’t, leading to the two major conference models we’re seemingly destined to enter, with NIL further separating the haves and the have-nots.

Baseball expansion talks will gain some serious steam.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred‘s said for years that when the A’s and Rays get their stadium situations sorted, the league will start thinking about expansion. Late this year, the A’s got league ownership approval to move the team to Las Vegas, and the Rays reached an agreement to build a new stadium in St. Pete that will lead to decades more of dismally embarrassing attendance.

Cities like Nashville, Charlotte, Portland, Montreal, and Salt Lake are ready to ratchet up expansion discussions with MLB. For the first time in decades, the league will finally be open and receptive to expand for the first time since 1998.

Jude Bellingham will be regarded as the world’s best soccer player.

Maybe it’s the surreal brace I witnessed in Barcelona at El Clásico in October. Perhaps it’s the 17 goals in 20 games across all competitions for a 20-year-old in his first season at Real Madrid. But I believe 2024 is the year attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham becomes known as the best soccer player on the planet.

That designation will be sealed in June and July when Bellingham leads Madrid to the Champions League title over Erling Haaland and Manchester City, and Jude paces England to the Euro 2024 title over Kylian Mbappé and France. Mbappé will then star for the French at the Paris Olympics and turn around and spurn Paris Saint-Germain to join Bellingham at Real Madrid. But a year from now, we’ll be looking at Bellingham as the world’s top player, opening up a slew of marketing and portfolio-building opportunities for the youngster.

Barcelona & Real Madrid Need Each Other
Boardroom went behind the scenes in Spain to break down the business behind El Clásico.
Check it out!

MLB and NHL will seriously consider in-season tournaments of their own.

After seeing the NBA’s In-Season Tournament spice up its early season and increase national and local TV ratings by 26 and 20%, respectively, baseball and hockey will get on the cup bandwagon for 2025.

For MLB, this is a no-brainer. Have one Tuesday or Thursday game per week for a month in April and May count as Selig Cup matches, with the top eight heading to a single-elimination tournament at a warm neutral site over Memorial Day weekend. The NHL can do something similar, with the semifinals and finals replacing or adding to the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

It’s time we gave those sports some more early regular-season juice and conversational journey. All they need to do is simply follow the NBA’s lead. The NFL season is too short for a tournament, but we’ll soon see every team playing one neutral site, international game within the next 3-5 years.

The 2024 US men’s Olympic basketball team will rival the Redeem Team and the Dream Team as the best Team USA squads ever.

The last time a senior US men’s basketball team had a showing as poor as its fourth-place finish at the 202 World Cup, we got the legendary LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade, and Melo-led Redeem Team for the 2008 Olympics. I predict the projected roster for the 2024 team in Paris will end up being better than 2008, challenging the 1992 Dream Team for the best USA Basketball team ever.

LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, and Damian Lillard? Plus, other All-Stars waiting in the wings, such as potentially Kawhi Leonard, Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, and many others? The 2024 US team will be out for revenge in Paris and could emerge as the best basketball team ever assembled.

Bonus Olympics predictions: Look for the US women’s soccer team to avenge its poor World Cup showing, with Sophia Smith emerging as a household name. Another name to watch out for? Give me Sha’Carri Richardson dominating on the track.

The biggest women’s NCAA tournament ever will lead to the best WNBA rookie class ever.

With record crowds and television ratings, women’s college basketball has never been more popular. The game’s biggest stars like Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese will not only lead women’s March Madness to outshine the men once again but will also bring with it the best WNBA draft class ever.

Clark teaming with Aaliyah Boston with the Indiana Fever? Brink or Bueckers bringing the LA Sparks back to greatness or leading the Phoenix Mercury or Seattle Storm into their next eras? Sign me up!

On that note, the WNBA Draft needs more shine. Let’s put it at an arena where fans can bring the live energy. Even better? Hold it the night of or the night after the Final Four in the host city — ratings and buzz bonanza.

Look out for a company like Amazon or Netflix to try to get into the RSN game.

With Sinclair’s Diamond Sports in bankruptcy proceedings, more and more teams will follow the lead of the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and others to put their games on free TV with an added direct-to-consumer subscription product. But the opportunity is wide open for a streamer like Amazon or Netflix to gobble up Diamond deals across the NBA, NHL, and MLB.

Amazon is reportedly already in talks with Diamond for an investment to do just that with a multi-year Prime Video streaming partnership. But if that fails, streamers should try to pick teams up a-la-carte to bring more premium sports content to their subscribers. The RSN model is clearly dead, and 2024 will be when seismic change occurs in how local fans watch their sports.

As F1 interest levels off stateside, the league will try to pursue a fourth US race … in NYC.

While Formula 1 remains incredibly popular in the US, its average television viewership of 1.11 million per race is down from 1.21 million in 2022. It’s the first major sign of F1 popularity peaking in the US despite three American races on the schedule in Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas.

As 2024 progresses, noise will grow louder about moving the Austin race to New York City in the future, whether at Central Park, the Brooklyn waterfront, or a more remote location like Randall’s Island.

Who are the Highest-paid F1 Drivers?
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“Racing in New York, in Manhattan, if that were ever to be possible, that would be great without discounting all the other venues,” Mercedes principal and part owner Toto Wolff told me earlier this year. “We’ll find a way around that’s spectacular. I don’t know where it would be, but racing on Fifth Avenue? It would be amazing.”

New York City would continue the sport’s momentum that may have finally leveled off in 2023.

Volleyball will separate itself as the next big women’s sport.

Women’s sports has never had more momentum. The WNBA is expanding and growing. The NWSL signed a record-breaking media deal, cementing its well-earned ascent. And after seeing the success of college volleyball, capped by Texas upsetting Nebraska in the national championship game, it’s clear to see that volleyball will emerge as the next big women’s sport.

Pro women’s volleyball leagues like League One Volleyball (LOVB) and Athletes Unlimited will take advantage of that in ways softball couldn’t, promoting the top college stars, combining them with the top global pros, and gaining more visibility. It’s a long, drawn-out process to gain relevance and popularity — look at pro women’s basketball and soccer— but volleyball is next.

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]]> Loading Boardroom & ChatGPT Expand the WNBA, Part 3: Draft Day https://boardroom.tv/boardroom-chatgpt-wnba-expansion-draft/ Fri, 01 Sep 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://boardroom.tv/?p=70639 With our team cities and names selected, all that's left in our expansion exercise is to conduct an AI-powered WNBA Expansion Draft.

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]]> With our team cities and names selected, all that’s left in our expansion exercise is to conduct an AI-powered WNBA Expansion Draft.

This is Part 3 of our “Boardroom & ChatGPT Expand the WNBA” series. If you missed Parts 1 & 2, catch up on how we picked our expansion cities and developed team names and branding for them.

One of the main reasons fans are clamoring for WNBA expansion is because there are too few roster spots compared to how many deserving women can compete in the league. That makes a potential WNBA expansion draft all the more fun.

And so, the Nashville Rhythm and Vancouver Vortex are on the clock. With some help from ChatGPT (and a little more hand-holding than we needed before), we conducted a full-on WNBA expansion draft to fill their rosters. For added measure, we asked AI to give us a coaching staff for each team and some priorities for the WNBA’s traditional first-year player draft.

Behold.

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WNBA Expansion Draft Rules & Assumptions

The WNBA CBA does not outline exactly what an expansion draft would look like. There also hasn’t been one in the league since 2008, and there hasn’t been one involving multiple teams since 2000. We do, however, want to ensure a few things:

  • Current WNBA teams should be able to protect some of their players from being taken.
  • There should be a maximum number of players from a current team that can be taken.
  • The expansion teams still need to adhere to salary minimums and maximums.

To do that, we decided that each current team would be allowed to protect 50% of its roster. Additionally, no more than three players from a current team would be allowed to be drafted. After that? We just gave ChatGPT the list of available players, their salaries, positions, and basic stats and let the bot go nuts.

We asked that ChatGPT consider roster construction when drafting players but didn’t elaborate. If AI thinks a team of 12 centers is the best way to win in the WNBA, well, who are we to challenge our future overlords?

We also had to make some assumptions, partly because we don’t know exactly how an expansion draft would work in real life and partly because we need to simplify the process for our own sanity.

  • Unrestricted free agents this offseason will just be eligible with their 2023 teams.
  • The draft will be 12 rounds to equal the size of a WNBA roster. When you throw in regular WNBA draft picks and free agents, that’ll be plenty for training camp competition.

Without further ado, here is how ChatGPT ran the expansion draft.

WNBA Expansion Draft Results

Round 1: Nashville Rhythm select: Monique Billings, Vancouver Vortex select: Kiah Stokes
Round 2: Nashville Rhythm select: Danielle Robinson, Vancouver Vortex select: Natalie Achonwa
Round 3: Nashville Rhythm select: Sug Sutton, Vancouver Vortex select: Shay Peddy
Round 4: Nashville Rhythm select: Kayla Thornton, Vancouver Vortex select: Jade Melbourne
Round 5: Nashville Rhythm select: Katie Lou Samuelson, Vancouver Vortex select: Ruthy Hebard
Round 6: Nashville Rhythm select: Tiana Hawkins, Vancouver Vortex select: Isabelle Harrison
Round 7: Nashville Rhythm select: Kristi Toliver, Vancouver Vortex select: Lexie Hull
Round 8: Nashville Rhythm select: Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Vancouver Vortex select: Nia Clouden
Round 9: Nashville Rhythm select: Haley Jones, Vancouver Vortex select: Kadi Sissoko
Round 10: Nashville Rhythm select: Bridget Carlton, Vancouver Vortex select: Sika Kone
Round 11: Nashville Rhythm select: Dearica Hamby, Vancouver Vortex select: Joyner Holmes
Round 12: Nashville Rhythm select: Nikola Milic, Vancouver Vortex select: Alaina Coates

WNBA Draft Needs

One of ChatGPT’s drawbacks is that it does not have much knowledge about events 2021-present. That makes it impractical to let it simulate a WNBA Draft of current college players. So, instead, we asked it to come up with draft priorities for each team based on the rosters it compiled. From there, we simulated a mock draft ourselves in which the Rhythm and Vortex got the first two picks. Nashville had the first pick in the expansion draft, so here, that pick goes to the Vortex.

ChatGPT Recommendations

Nashville Rhythm

  • Playmaking Guard: While Danielle Robinson is on the roster, adding another playmaking guard could provide more depth and versatility in the backcourt.
  • Outside Shooting: The Rhythm could benefit from more consistent outside shooting to stretch the floor and open up driving lanes for their guards and forwards.
  • Wing Scorer: Adding a versatile wing player who can create their own shot and contribute on both ends of the floor would enhance the team’s offensive and defensive capabilities.
  • Frontcourt Depth: Although the roster has solid frontcourt players, adding depth in the post could provide more options in terms of matchups and rotations.

Vancouver Vortex

  1. Interior Defense and Rebounding: The Vortex could prioritize adding players who excel in interior defense and rebounding to complement their existing roster, especially in protecting the rim and controlling the boards.
  2. Versatile Wing Players: Players who can play multiple positions on the wing and contribute on both offense and defense could enhance the team’s flexibility and lineup options.
  3. Perimeter Shooting: Adding players who can consistently knock down three-pointers would help space the floor for the team’s interior players and create more offensive opportunities.
  4. Backup Point Guard: While they have solid guards, having a backup point guard who can manage the offense and relieve the starting guard could be beneficial.
  5. Depth Across Positions: Building depth at various positions would provide the Vortex with more flexibility in terms of rotations and matchup strategies.

Draft Picks

Nashville: Angel Reese, Nika Mühl, DeYona Gaston
Vancouver: Caitlin Clark, Diamond Johnson, Aubrey Griffin

The Coaches

What good is it to have a roster of players if there’s no one around to coach them? We weren’t about to pull names out of thin air to lead the Rhythm and Vortex, so we entrusted ChatGPT to do this for us as well. To start, we simply asked who the coaches should be, and let’s just say the AI aimed rather high, suggesting the likes of Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, and Eric Musselman, to name a few candidates.

So we refined the criteria, limiting the candidates to current WNBA head and assistant coaches, NBA assistant coaches, and college head coaches who have never won a national championship (this would get Geno and Dawn out of the mix).

Ultimately, ChatGPT settled on two highly qualified candidates with strong assistant staffs to match.

Nashville
Head coach: Adia Barnes
Assistant coaches: Salvo Coppa, Tamisha Augustin, Cameron Newbauer

Vancouver
Head coach: Lindsay Gottlieb
Assistant coach: Jackie Stiles, Tamika Catchings, Vickie Johnson

Team Rosters

Pre-training camp cuts that would be needed to get the rosters down to 12 each.

Nashville Rhythm

G Daniell Robinson
G Sug Sutton
G Kristi Toliver
G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough
G Haley Jones
G Nika Muhl
F Monique Billings
F Kayla Thornton
F Katie Lou Samuelson
F Tiana Hawkins
F Bridget Carlton
F Dearica Hamby
F Nikola Milic
F Angel Reese
F DeYona Gaston

Vancouver Vortex

G Lexie Hull
G Nia Clouden
G Shay Peddy
G Jade Melbourne
G Caitlin Clark
G Diamond Johnson
F Kadi Sissoko
F Sika Kone
F Joyner Holmes
F Ruthy Hebard
F Isabelle Harrison
F Natalie Achonwa
F Aubrey Griffin
C Kiah Stokes
C Alaina Coates

Read More:

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]]> Loading WNBA Draft: Redefining Poise & Perspective https://boardroom.tv/wnba-draft-2022-rhyne-howard-shakira-austin/ https://boardroom.tv/wnba-draft-2022-rhyne-howard-shakira-austin/#respond Tue, 12 Apr 2022 19:30:16 +0000 https://boardroom.tv/?p=27607 The 2022 WNBA Draft class is entering the league more prepared to succeed than any other that came before it. No one is going to mistake the 2022 WNBA Draft class for being the

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]]> The 2022 WNBA Draft class is entering the league more prepared to succeed than any other that came before it.

No one is going to mistake the 2022 WNBA Draft class for being the deepest to ever come out of college. In fact, there really aren’t any sure stars after the first handful of picks. That showed in just how unpredictable the night was, with Lexie Hull — who ESPN didn’t project going until late second round — going sixth overall and Destanni Henderson falling to No. 20.

But each draft class brings something unique to the W, and this one is no different. It’s a group that arrived at college in a different era — before COVID-19 changed the way we went about our lives, before the social justice movement of 2020 and the reckoning with gender equity in the NCAA of 2021, and before July 1, 2021, when college athletes were finally allowed to profit off their name, image, and likeness rights.

The result? Perhaps the savviest and most confident group of draftees we’ve ever seen. Not all 12 of the invitees to the draft will stick on WNBA rosters this season, but they all seem sure that they will find their way in professional basketball.

Here are a few who made a statement on draft night in TriBeCa:

Rhyne Howard (Kentucky)
First overall pick to Atlanta Dream

Years later, drafts aren’t remembered by their year, but by the first pick. This was the Rhyne Howard draft, and she seemed aware of the moment and unafraid to show emotion — both on-stage and as the night wore on. It was a celebration of four years at Kentucky, where she helped put the Wildcats’ women’s basketball program on the map, punctuated by an upset win over eventual national champion South Carolina in the SEC title game this year.

Howard’s job doesn’t get any easier from here — she heads to an Atlanta Dream team that went 8-24 last year. It helps that Atlanta is located less than two hours from where she grew up in Chattanooga.

“To be so close is huge,” she told the media. “A lot of family and close friends will be able to come and support me. But to go first, I don’t even have words for it right now. I’m still kind of shaking, but it’s super exciting. I’m proud of what I’ve done, proud of myself, and thankful for everyone that’s been on this journey with me.”

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Shakira Austin (Mississippi)
Third overall pick to Washington Mystics

Austin is a native of the DMV, and she called the opportunity to come home “an honor.” As soon as she knew that Washington was a possible destination for her, she began thinking of giving back.

“We’ve been nonstop talking about ideas,” she said. “I’m thinking camps. I’m thinking AAU teams. I’m thinking facilities. Just a lot of things that are bigger than me. I have a lot of things that I want to do off the court, and I feel like being back home and being able to impact the community is something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

As Holly Rowe pointed out in her on-stage interview with Austin, the former Ole Miss Rebel oozes confidence. The last thing she said as she left the stage:

“I’m coming home.”

Emily Engstler (Louisville)
Fourth overall pick to Indiana Fever

Even at fourth overall, Engstler was the second frontcourt player the Fever took in the draft, after Nalyssa Smith at No. 2. While Engstler is heading into a situation where she will have to compete with a host of newcomers to join a rebuilding team, she was clear about the goals that lay ahead for her.

“My main goal is to get up there and get signed,” she told the media. “We might have gotten drafted, but we didn’t get a contract yet.”

After that? To win. Engstler can help by continuing to develop her three-point shot, something that would make her much more valuable. She shot 38% from deep as a senior at Louisville, and she knows she can be better.

“I think I can become a 45% three-point shooter if I really just lock in and allow the game to come to me,” she said.

Nyara Sabally (Oregon)
Fifth overall pick to New York Liberty

The Liberty seem to like taking Oregon Ducks. Sabally never had a chance to play with Sabrina Ionescu in Eugene, as she missed Ionescu’s senior season with a knee injury, but the two will finally have a chance to play together this summer. Sabally is looking forward to the opportunity to continue learning from her.

“Sab is such an amazing point guard, such an amazing person,” Sabally said. “I saw her in practice every day. I saw her working every day on the court, so I’m just very excited to finally share the court with her and not just in practice.”

In addition to her Sabrina connection, Sabally has another advantage — her sister, Satou, just finished her second season in the WNBA as a forward for the Dallas Wings.

“Satou has given me a lot of advice, especially just saying that I gotta be ready for the physicality and how fast-paced the game is,” she said. “It’s a completely different level than in college.”

Kierstan Bell (Florida Gulf Coast)
11th overall pick to Las Vegas Aces

Bell was the only invitee from a non-power conference, but she feels just as prepared as anyone for the challenge of playing in the pros. FGCU ran an offense reliant on both the three-point shot and plays near the basket, eschewing the mid-range and becoming one of the most efficient teams in the country.

“A lot of times WNBA teams look for the three-point shot,” she told Boardroom. “You gotta be consistent with it, and I think I have that in my bag.”

Bell didn’t have her best three-point shooting season last year, but with the Aces, she will have more talent around her and won’t need to take nine a game.

One thing she wasn’t able to do at FGCU, far from the national spotlight, was take full advantage of NIL. She had a few opportunities that left her hungry for more partnerships as a pro, and was confident that they would come.

“My followers on Instagram, I don’t have that many,” Bell said. “But they’re definitely going to be up there after this.”

From here, Bell wants to start building her own brand and eventually work with mainstays in athlete endorsements like Polo and Nike.

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]]> https://boardroom.tv/wnba-draft-2022-rhyne-howard-shakira-austin/feed/ 0 WNBA Draft: Redefining Poise & Perspective - Boardroom The 2022 WNBA Draft class is entering the league more prepared to succeed than any other that came before it. basketball,Emily Engstler,Kierstan Bell,Nyara Sabally,Rhyne Howard,WNBA,WNBA Draft,WNBA Draft Loading Loading