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Axios
27-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Scoop: Nielsen strikes WNBA measurement deal, largest ever for women's league
Nielsen, the established television measurement company, has struck a new multiyear deal with the WNBA alongside the NBA to measure its television viewership across traditional TV and streaming, a source confirmed to Axios. Why it matters: It's the largest commercial measurement deal that Nielsen has ever struck with a women's sports league. Nielsen has an existing deal with the Ladies Professional Golf Association, but the WNBA agreement marks a significant milestone in the advancement of women's sports rights. Zoom in: The deal represents the first time that Nielsen has agreed to measure the WNBA's ratings officially as a client alongside the NBA, the source confirmed. The agreement, which was struck last quarter, ensures the WNBA will get official access to Nielsen ratings as part of a paid partnership, instead of relying on data from the NBA or data that media partners may or may not release. The direct data represents significant progress in the WNBA's media rights journey. The WNBA last year struck a landmark 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC that values its live rights at $200 million per year, about quadruple its previous deal. The WNBA and NBA did not respond to requests for comment. The big picture: The shift to streaming during the pandemic pushed TV companies to experiment with new measurement alternatives such as VideoAmp and While programmers have been public about their efforts to experiment with new vendors, leagues have continued to rely heavily on Nielsen. They tend not to distribute ratings publicly from smaller alternatives. Case in point: During Paramount's multimonth contract blackout with Nielsen, the network never distributed ratings publicly from other vendors for its NFL games. How it works: While most leagues allow their distribution partners to publicize ratings, the big leagues prefer to pay to ink direct deals with Nielsen to get their hands on crucial ratings data themselves. By the numbers: Nielsen's deals with leagues are expensive but tend not to be as high as deals with major TV networks, costing upwards of tens of millions instead of hundreds of millions. The newly signed NBA renewal deal rounds out Nielsen's partnerships with all of America's biggest leagues. Nielsen currently has direct data deals with the NFL, MLS, NHL, PGA, NCAA, MLB, UFC, WWE and Premiere League, a source said. Zoom out: For years, streamers were hesitant to embrace Nielsen ratings, arguing their proprietary figures were more reliable. But as streaming became more competitive and as more streamers started to experiment with live programming, most major services have embraced Nielsen as a reliable third-party. What to watch: As women's sports leagues land bigger media rights deals, direct agreements with measurement vendors ensures not just that their viewership numbers are adequately tracked for advertisers, but also grants specific insights on how their audiences are evolving.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fossil fuel companies target America's love of college sports
Americans love college sports, and so do oil and gas companies. About 96% of more than 2,000 fossil fuel ads aired during live national games between 2022 and 2024 were during college football and basketball, compared to about 4% for professional sports, according to a CBS News data analysis of data from television ad tracking firm, Duncan Meisel, a climate activist and a leading voice against advertising by fossil fuel companies, said many of these ads during televised games talk about supporting communities and the environment without ever acknowledging the industry's role in climate change. "The problem is they're selling a product that they know harms people, that they know harms the planet," Meisel said. About one in ten of the more than 2,000 ads carried a pro-climate message, like recycling cooking oil for renewable diesel, "sustainable" aviation fuel, lower carbon emissions or fuel made from corn. While Meisel didn't dispute the accuracy of these claims, he emphasized that they're not these companies' main goal, and likely a very small percentage of what they produce. CBS News reached out to Valero for comment on its ads highlighting renewable diesel and aviation fuel, but the company has not responded in time for this story's publication. It's an effective business strategy to advertise during college sports, according to Peter Carton, who directs the Sports Management program at Southern Methodist University. Carton said the college sports demographic tends to be middle-to-upper income. The return on investment for these companies is higher than for pro sports, because it's cheaper to advertise. "When they look at where do they want to put their advertising dollars and marketing dollars to reach certain demographics, college is much more efficient," Carton said. "You're very familiar, I'm sure we all are, with the cost of advertising on the Super Bowl. That's outside of the reach of many, many companies. But to be able to get a very passionate, dedicated consumer base, that's the college market," he said. The motive is less straightforward to climate activist Meisel, whose non-profit Clean Creatives convinced more than 1,300 ad firms to cut ties with fossil fuel companies. One of those fossil fuel companies is Energy Transfer, a Texas-based pipeline company that doesn't sell products to consumers, but still advertises locally. "I think it gets to the heart of a lot of fossil fuel advertising, which is essentially lobbying in public," said Meisel. Energy Transfer provided a statement to CBS News that said, "Overall, we are trying to reach as many people as possible to further their understanding of the importance of oil and natural gas not only in the manufacturing sector but as one of our country's primary economic drivers." It's a message fossil fuel companies hope will resonate with college sports fans. Inside the booming, bourbon-driven barrel business | 60 Minutes Supreme Court pauses order mandating return of Maryland man deported to El Salvador Greenlanders respond to Trump: "It will never be for sale"
