By Caitlin Phelan
These last two weeks in the women’s sports world were relatively quiet, but nonetheless, history was still made with shattered attendance records, multi-million dollar deals being negotiated by women, and off-court initiatives being launched by star athletes. In the basketball world, stars Paige Bueckers and Kelsey Plum announced this week their own individual projects they will be launching to give back and help their community, while Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon will be interviewed for the open Toronto Raptors head coach position. If Hammon is hired, she will be the first women head coach in National Basketball Association history. Additionally, Nebraska volleyball crushed a women’s sports attendance record, selling over 80,000 tickets for their outdoor match that will take place Aug. 30, inside of Memorial Stadium.
Basketball
The NBA’s Toronto Raptors received permission to interview Becky Hammon for their vacant head coach position. Hammon is a six-time WNBA All-Star, two-time All-WNBA first-team member, and won the 2022 WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces in her first season as coach. Hammon was also voted the league’s coach of the year. Additionally, she spent eight seasons as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich. If Hammon is selected as the Raptors head coach, she would be the first woman to ever be a head coach of a NBA team.
Former Louisville star, Hailey Van Lith announced Thursday, April 27, that she will be transferring to Louisiana State University as a graduate transfer. Van Lith will now be teaming up with the reigning NCAA national champions, and be playing for Hall of Famer coach Kim Mulkey. Notably, Van Lith will be playing with Freshman of the Year, Flau’jae Johnson, and First Team All-SEC forward Angel Reese. With the addition of Van Lith, LSU is now one of the favorites to win it all in next year’s tournament.
The WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces’ unveiled their new practice and training facility Friday, April 28. The 2022 WNBA champions now have the first facility built solely for a WNBA team in league history. This first of its kind facility features two basketball courts, a weight room, film room, nutrition bar, locker suites, and athletic training amenities including a cryo chamber and infrared sauna.
Off the court, UConn star Paige Bueckers, a Minnesota native, announced that she would be using her Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal to open a free grocery store in Minnesota for local students.
Another off-court effort has been announced by WNBA All-Star guard Kelsey Plum. Plum revealed that she will be launching a mental health initiative, called the Kelsey Plum Dawg Class. This project aims to help women college athletes navigate the journey from college basketball to the professional level. Plum revealed she was inspired to create this project based on her own personal struggles with mental health and confidence.
Volleyball
Nebraska volleyball announced this week that they’ve sold almost 83,000 tickets for an Aug. 30 doubleheader. Nebraska’s goal was to set the NCAA volleyball attendance record when it announced the “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” outdoor event at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln this summer. The event starts with a Division II exhibition between Wayne State and Nebraska-Kearney and will be followed by a regular-season match between the Cornhuskers and Omaha.
Nebraska hopes to set the overall one-day U.S. women’s sports attendance record of more than 90,000. The largest crowd to attend a women’s sporting event in the United States was 90,185 fans watching soccer for the 1999 Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Soccer
FIFA announced this week that they expect 2 billion global viewers for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. If that estimate is correct, it would nearly double the viewership from the 2019 World Cup in France, which netted 1.12 billion viewers.
The U.S and Mexico federations announced that they will bid to co-host the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The last time a world cup was hosted in North America was in 1999.
In the two past weeks, 15-year old Melanie Barcenas made National Women’s Soccer League history when she became the youngest player to make her NWSL debut on Saturday, April 29. Barecenas made her professional debut with the San Diego Wave. Barcenas was able to sign with the Wave due to an NWSL rule approved in November that allows each team to have two under-18 players as long as a parent or guardian approves the signing, along with various other rules outlined by the league.
Overseas, Arsenal women’s soccer team made history when they shattered the attendance record for a UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) match in England. Arsenal recorded 60,063 fans in attendance for their Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg at Emirates Stadium on Monday, May 8.
Football
On Thursday, April 27, the NFL announced that the Baltimore Ravens had signed their star quarterback, Lamar Jackson, to a $260 million five-year deal. This deal now makes Jackson the highest paid player in NFL history, surpassing Jalen Hurts. Jackson hired his mom, Felicia Jones, as his agent to negotiate the deal. With this deal, Jackson gave Jones a $7.8 million cut, as part of her agent fee.
Within the last month, the two highest paying NFL contracts in history have been negotiated by women.
In other NFL news, the Chicago Bears announced they hired Darby Dunnagan as their new Director of Video Operations, making her the highest-ranking woman in football video across the NFL. This also makes Dunnagan the first female Director of Video Operations for the Bears in their 103 year history.
Baseball:
Two women head coaches faced off for the first time in High-A MLB history. Ronnie Gajownik, manager of the Hillsboro Hops, and Ashley Stephenson, position coach for the Vancouver Candaians’ made history Tuesday night, May 2, coaching against each other.
