In episode 212 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Charlene Polite Corley, the Vice President of Inclusive Insights at Nielsen.

Charlene joins the podcast to break down Nielsen’s new report, “More Fans, More Often: The Commercial & Cultural Evolution of Women & Sports” – which offers one of the clearest pictures yet of the scale, value and growth potential of the women’s sports audience.

The data is significant: Approximately 122.5 million Americans are fans of women’s sports, while U.S. audiences watched 28.3 billion minutes of women’s sports in just the first half of 2026. (Which by the way, is trending AHEAD of the 46 billion minutes watched in all of 2025.👀)

The data makes one thing increasingly clear: There is a massive audience for women’s sports, which means there is a massive business opportunity in serving those fans more often.

In this episode, hear about:

• 📈 Why women’s sports viewership has increased 71% since 2022 – and what’s driving that growth.
• 👀 How greater distribution and discoverability can help turn interest in women’s sports into more consistent fandom.
• 👩 Why women aren’t just driving the growth of women’s sports – they’re driving the growth of sports, period.

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In episode 211 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Rachel Axon, Women’s Sports and Olympics & Paralympics Reporter at Sports Business Journal.

After 20 years as a sports journalist and covering seven Olympic Games, Rachel is now helping lead SBJ’s expanded investment in women’s sports coverage.

In 2025, Sports Business Journal launched a dedicated women’s sports vertical – including a biweekly newsletter led by Rachel, a regular magazine column, SBJ Live conversations and expanded coverage across the newsroom.

In this episode, hear about:

• 📰 Why SBJ decided it was time to make a bigger, more formal investment in covering women’s sports
• 📈 How the stories being told about women’s sports have evolved as the business itself has grown
• 👀 What more than a year of dedicated coverage has revealed about what the sports industry wants to know about women’s sports

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In episode 210 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Jess Smith, President of the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries.

The Golden State Valkyries have sold out every home game, built one of the most passionate fan bases in sports, and become the first women’s sports franchise valued at $1 billion. 🏀📈

Jess first joined the podcast in 2023 while helping build Angel City FC. Now, she’s back to talk about how she took lessons from building one groundbreaking women’s sports franchise and applied them to another.

In just two seasons, the Valkyries have sold out every home game, surpassed 12,000 season ticket holders, reached the playoffs twice, and become the first women’s sports franchise valued at $1 billion.

In this episode, hear about:

• 🏀 How the Valkyries built a distinct brand and passionate fan community from the ground up
• 📈 Why driving revenue and building fandom have been the organization’s two biggest priorities from day one
• 💰 What has to happen behind the scenes to build a women’s sports business worthy of a $1 billion valuation

As Jess explains, the business case for investing in women’s sports can be summarized in just two words: “It works.

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In episode 209 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline interviews Assia Grazioli-Venier, Founding Partner of Muse Capital and former Chair of the brand new Women's Professional Baseball League.

For more than a decade, Assia has built her career investing in markets that others overlook – from women's healthcare to women's sports.

While many investors are only now paying attention to women's sports, Muse Capital has been investing long before the headlines.

In this episode, hear about:

• 📈 Why she believes women's sports is still one of the most mispriced investment opportunities in business
• 💰 The framework Muse Capital uses to identify high-growth opportunities before everyone else sees them
• ⚾ Why the Women's Professional Baseball League could become the next major growth story in women's sports

As Assia explains, the biggest returns often come from the opportunities that everyone else has underestimated.

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In episode 208 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Kate Johnson, Google’s Global Marketing Director of Sports, Entertainment & Content Partnerships.

Kate has played a major role in building Google’s investment in women’s sports – from partnerships with the WNBA and NWSL to collaborating with product teams to improve how women’s sports are surfaced in Google Search and investing in more storytelling around women athletes.

In this episode, hear about:

• 🔎 How Google helped make Search more inclusive of women’s sports – and why discoverability matters for growing fandom
• 📈 Why Google sees stronger engagement with its products when the company shows up authentically in women’s sports
• 🤝 How brands can move beyond traditional sponsorships to identify the unique problems they can help solve in women’s sports

As Kate puts it, the business case comes down to “the loyalty and the authenticity factor,” and Google sees a deeper connection with its products when it authentically invests in women’s sports.

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Episode 207 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, was recorded in front of a live audience at the USTA Northern California's 2026 SheRallies: Serve & Sip Summit in Napa Valley.

For this special live episode, Caroline sat down with former World No. 35 tennis player, investor, entrepreneur, and Cartan Capital Founder, CiCi Bellis.

After retiring from professional tennis at just 22 due to injury, CiCi didn't leave sports behind – she built a venture capital firm investing in sports technology, human performance, and women's health.

In this episode, hear about:

• 🎾 How CiCi transitioned from professional tennis to venture capital
• 💰 Why she believes women's sports remains one of the most undervalued investment opportunities in business
• 📈 What she's looking for as an investor – and why the intersection of women's health, human performance, and sports technology represent enormous growth markets

This episode was recorded live on May 29, 2026 as part of the USTA of Northern California's 2026 SheRallies: Serve & Sip Summit.

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In episode 206 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi, Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota.

For more than three decades, Dr. LaVoi has studied the systems shaping women's sports – from coaching and leadership to media representation and gender equity.

Her research has influenced executives, athletic directors, media organizations, policymakers, and countless leaders across the sports industry.

In this episode, hear about:

• 📊 Why research is one of the most powerful investments we can make in women's sports
• 👩‍🏫 Why women still coach fewer women's teams today than they did before Title IX
• 📺 What decades of research reveal about how women athletes are covered – and why that matters for the future of the industry

As Dr. LaVoi explains, investing in women isn't just the right thing to do – it's one of the smartest business decisions organizations can make.

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In episode 205 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline interviews Marianne Brooks, Vice President of Partnerships at Canada's Northern Super League (NSL).

As one of the league's earliest hires, Marianne has helped build the NSL from the ground up by helping drive the league’s growth through commercial partnerships.

In this episode, hear about:

• ⚽ How the Northern Super League went from an idea to one of the fastest-growing properties in women's sports
• 📈 Why Canada has become one of the most exciting growth markets in women's sports
• 🇨🇦 Why bringing professional women's soccer to Canada is strengthening the country's entire player development ecosystem

As Marianne explains, women's sports don't need to “clear a different bar” to earn investment – they simply need the opportunity to reach their potential.

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