The E. W. Scripps Company has announced plans to produce and televise two new women’s sports tournaments that will debut later this year.
The first will see Scripps Sports partner with Sports Illustrated on a new biennial all-star tournament called the “SI Women’s Games,” which will feature athletes from six different sports. This year, the tournament will take place in Oceanside, California and run from October 28 to November 2, the companies said.
Teams of athletes representing “Team Americas” and “Team World” will compete in tournament events, including basketball, gymnastics, tennis, volleyball and combat sports. The tournament will broadcast on Ion, the multicast channel acquired by Scripps five years ago. Ion is available on free streaming platforms and on broadcast and cable TV.
“The SI Women’s Games are a groundbreaking opportunity to do what we have always done at Sports Illustrated,” Steve Cannella, the Editor-in-Chief of Sports Illustrated, said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is an exciting new way for us to tell the best stories in sports. We can’t wait to watch these incredible athletes compete in California and celebrate everything they do, both on and off the field.”
“We’re proud to partner with Sports Illustrated, one of the most iconic brands in sports, to showcase and bring the compelling and exciting stories, athletes and events of the SI Women’s Games to every American household,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports. “This is another milestone for Scripps Sports and Ion as a premier destination for the best in women’s sports.”
Additionally, Scripps Sports is teaming up with Intersport to bring the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off to broadcast and streaming TV. The tournament formed in 2022, and has established itself as a premier earl season tournament for college-level sports.
The first broadcast will take place on Ion during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend (November 28-29), and will be held at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Florida.
“As the popularity of women’s sports among audiences and advertisers continues to explode, the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off will immediately become another major sports property for Ion,” Lawlor said. “We’re proud that women’s sports have found a home on Ion, and we look forward to bringing fans the action-packed world of women’s college basketball this fall.”
“Scripps Sports and Ion are now a top destination for women’s sports, and we’re thrilled to partner with them for the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off,” said Mark Starsiak, the Senior Vice President of Intersport. “This tournament has proven to be an exciting one for college basketball fans everywhere, and the Scripps Sports team will elevate this event even further.”
Live sports rights are becoming a bigger part of Scripps’ business model as the company seeks to attract and retain viewers and advertisers alike.
For broadcasters, live athletic competitions are “appointment-viewing events,” one where the best experience for the viewer is to watch a game as it happens in real-time, compared to scripted TV series and films, which can be watched and enjoyed on-demand.
Live sports also attracts advertisers because those types of TV events are unlikely to result in a viewer switching across channels or services, or finding other ways to avoid commercial spots.
At its Upfront event Wednesday evening, Scripps touted the prominence of live college and professional sports on its local and national channels as part of a broader strategy to deliver appointment-viewing programs of interest that can reach the broadest audience possible.
In addition to the two tournaments announced on Wednesday, Scripps also had the rights to Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) games for Ion, and some of its local stations have regional broadcast agreements for NBA and National Hockey League (NHL) games.
But, is anyone watching? So far, the answer appears to be “yes,” with 20 million unique viewers tuning in to watch NWSL matches and shoulder programming on Ion this year, and nearly 23.4 million people tuning in to watch WNBA games last season.
Advertisers appear to be taking note, too: More than 20 new ad buyers signed on to deliver their spots against WNBA games on Ion last year, the company said in September.
