The Madness begins | Denver's new NWSL digs | WCBB ads skyrocket

Let the countdown begin.

First Four tips off

March Madness opens its doors tonight, as the NCAA tournament’s First Four tips off with eight bubble teams eyeing a ticket to the Big Dance.

• Two of the games highlight the last four at-large bids, as No. 11 seeds Princeton, Iowa State, Washington, and Columbia battle to extend their postseason runs.

• The other two games focus on the bottom of the table, with Southern, UC San Diego, William & Mary, and High Point striving for 16th-seed entry.

Star quality: Thanks to growing parity across the NCAA, this year’s First Four brings a new level of heat, with 2024 breakout stars, conference titans, and tournament newcomers raising the stakes right from the jump.

• The lineup counts two of 2025’s six March Madness debutants, as UC San Diego and William & Mary take the tournament court for the very first time.

• After securing two at-large bids, the Ivy League will also want to make a good showing, with Princeton and Columbia aiming to join No. 10-seed Harvard in the final tournament field.

• Potential underdog Iowa State nearly scored one of last year’s biggest upsets, pushing then No. 2-seed Stanford to overtime in the second round behind now-sophomore sharpshooter Audi Crooks, currently ranked 12th in the nation in field goal percentage.

• “It’s definitely possible,” Crooks said this week, commenting on the likelihood of replicating her 2024 run. “ I think for me it just amplified me personally, and also us as a team, Any success that I have is the team’s success, not necessarily about individual things.”

Tune in: Iowa State tips off tonight’s First Four action against Princeton at 7 PM ET, before UC San Diego faces Southern at 9 PM ET.

• Thursday’s slate opens with Columbia vs. Washington at 7 PM ET, capped off by High Point vs. William & Mary at 9 PM ET.

Denver drops NWSL stadium plans

The NWSL’s 16th team will kick off 2028 in a home of its own design, with Denver’s incoming expansion club announcing a plans for a new 14,500-capacity, purpose-built stadium on Tuesday.

• “This will be the largest overall investment in a women’s professional sports team in history,” said controlling owner Rob Cohen in a team release,

• The team — set to debut in 2026 — will play its first two seasons in a temporary venue until construction is completed.

Big picture: Denver’s stadium project follows in the footsteps of Kansas City’s first-ever purpose-built NWSL stadium, which opened its doors in 2024.

• Positioned inside Denver city limits at Santa Fe Yards, the stadium complex includes a 3.5-acre park and mixed-use development, all accessible via the Broadway Light Rail station.

• The blueprints also incorporate the ability to expand beyond the stadium’s initial 14,500 capacity, with the team interested in eventually extending the capacity closer to 20,000 fans.

Money talks: Denver’s big announcement is contextualized in fellow 2026 expansion side Boston’s ongoing struggle to redevelop White Stadium using both public and private funds.

• Boston is currently defending the redevelopment in court, as both local political tensions and renovation costs continue to rise.

• While Denver has yet to confirm its funding sources, Cohen told ESPN that “it is the ownership group’s intent that we will pay for and build the stadium.”

Bottom line: Soccer-specific stadiums in the US come at a premium, but Denver’s immediate large-scale investment showcases just how far prospective teams are willing to go for a seat at the NWSL table.

March Madness ad sales skyrocket

Securing a Women’s March Madness ad spot has never been tougher, with Disney and ESPN reporting a 200% year-over-year rise in total ad buys — and 95% of the 2025 NCAA tournament's overall inventory already sold.

• Ads for the championship game sold out completely more than three months ago, with brand interest surging as women's college basketball viewership continues to skyrocket.

• With some championship spots topping $1 million, Disney Advertising now puts Women's March Madness ad rates on par with the NBA Finals and College Football National Championship.

Big picture: Revenue from women’s basketball advertising has been on the rise all season, fueling the race to buy into one of the biggest sports moments of the year.

• While 45 new brands hopped on the Women’s March Madness train this year, previous brands returned with even bigger budgets, increasing spending by an average of 81% in 2025.

• “If we would have taken every single dollar and unit we had been offered, we would have sold out before the upfront was even over,” vice president of revenue and yield management Jacqueline Dobies told AdWeek.

Bottom line: As advertisers continue to elbow their way into the space, expect March Madness’s uptick to spill over into future women’s sports events — especially when it comes to brands who were late to the party.

• “A lot of years ago, the question was: ‘How do we convince brands to buy women’s sports?’” added Dobies. “That’s not the conversation anymore. It’s: ‘How do we make space for everybody?’”

On this week's all-new Sports Are Fun! presented by Intuit TurboTax, host Kelley O’Hara alongside sports journalist Greydy Diaz, retired NWSL great Merritt Mathias, and JWS intern BJ hit the JWS studio to bring you the best and brightest in women’s sports — all with an extra side of fun.

• In the episode, O’Hara and co. take the NCAA selection committee to task as they hash out this year's March Madness bracket in the wake of Selection Sunday.

• And who better to weigh in on the subject than Texas phenom Madison Booker? The NCAA No. 1 seed’s leading scorer and SEC Player of the Year joins Sports Are Fun! to give the crew a behind-the-scenes look into the Big Dance.

Watch more: “Did the Selection Committee Get It Wrong?” on Sports Are Fun!

Missouri hires a new coach

Ex-Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper has made the move to Missouri, the school announced on Tuesday, following previous Tigers coach Robin Pingeton’s resignation after 15 seasons.

• Harper helmed the Lady Vols for five seasons, leading the team to a 108-52 overall record before getting fired after last season’s second-round NCAA tournament flameout.

• Missouri hasn’t qualified for March Madness since 2019 — the year standout Tigers guard Sophie Cunningham declared for the WNBA draft.

• Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch noted that Harper’s experience in the highly competitive SEC and her prior coaching gig with Missouri State made her an ideal candidate.

Peacock picks up WNBA sitcom

The first WNBA-themed scripted series is coming to NBC’s Peacock, as The W enters the development stage behind ex-Sparks star and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike plus Glow creators Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive.

• Following a hot-shot rookie and her inexperienced agent navigating the ins and outs of the WNBA, the script is loosely based on Ogwumike and long-time manager Allison Galer.

Big picture: Highlighting the “‘glamour and grind’” of women’s sports” according to Deadline, the project also marks the launch of Ogwumike’s new women-focused production company Victorious. 

• “We are in an era where barriers are being broken, ceilings are being shattered, and the world is finally taking notice,” said Ogwumike. “And with our groundbreaking first project, we will bring the main topic to the mainstream.”

Quote of the day

Jordan Chiles
on the bronze medal she earned at the Paris Olympics, despite an ongoing dispute with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.