Weekly Roundup – May 19th, 2026
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‘Worst marketing in sports’: WNBA snubs Caitlin Clark in advertising graphic
"Caitlin Clark is the biggest name and face in the WNBA right now, but you wouldn’t know that from a recent WNBA advertising graphic.
Sunday featured a few high-profile games and matchups between some of the league’s most high-profile players with A’Ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces taking on Angel Reese in the Atlanta Dream on Sunday afternoon followed by Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever taking on the Seattle Storm on Sunday evening.
Perplexingly, though, the league chose not to include Clark in a graphic advertising the league’s Sunday games.
...
Instead of Clark, who is undeniably the most high-profile player in the league, the graphic included a photo of Fever guard Raven Johnson, a bench player who averages just 1.3 points per game, playing an average of 7 minutes per contest."
Our Take: Engagement is the only metric that matters to professional sports leagues (whether this is a good thing or not is an entirely different issue). Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with something, the fact that it compelled you to post about it on the internet merely functions as free advertising. Contentious culture war questions are not excluded, and the WNBA know full-well what they are doing. Provoking one’s own fanbase has long been a go-to move for stand-up comedians, directors, and authors (to name a few). And apparently, provocation (with plausible deniability) is a go-to move for WNBA Social Media admin as well. Clearly, it is working, because the only thing we’ll be talking about for the next couple of months is Caitlin Clark (and, naturally, Sydney Sweeney).
Charter Adds Discovery+ to Select Spectrum TV Plans for No Additional Cost, Joining HBO Max in Cable Company’s Streaming Lineup
"Subscribers of Charter Communications‘ higher-end Spectrum TV plans now have access to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Discovery+ for no extra charge.
Of course, much of the content on Discovery+ (but not all) is already available through WBD’s HBO Max, which also is currently available to the same Spectrum TV customers. For example, Discovery+ includes 63 seasons of Food Network food-competition series “Chopped,” while HBO Max currently has just 10 episodes from the most recent season.
Discovery+ offers a lineup of programming from networks including HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery and Animal Planet. The content includes reality shows “90 Day Fiancé,” “House Hunters,” “Chopped” and “1000-Lb Sisters,” adventure and documentary programs like “Gold Rush,” “Expedition Unknown,” “Ghost Adventures,” “Ghost Brothers” and “Planet Earth,” and lifestyle shows such as “Magnolia Table With Joanna Gaines.”"
Our Take: The conversation has been about cable vs. streaming for at least a decade. The fact of the matter is that cable usage will hover a little over 50% for US audiences for the foreseeable future. This is because streaming overall became a markedly worse product after operating for 10+ years at critical mass. And yes, the convenience of cable is clawing people back. However, the fundamental reason why cable is sticking around, is because internet providers are more than often not one’s cable providers as well. The bundle deals cable companies can offer (basically a complimentary subscription to every major streamer), in addition to the traditional roster of news and sports channels and 24/7 channels ostensibly devoted to Law & Order reruns, are too good to turn down. And people are sticking around. The era of infinite choice has reached its logical conclusion, and investors overestimated the public’s desire for a perpetual scroll of algorithmically optimized entertainment. Sometimes people just want to turn something on and not think about what their options are (or could be).
Gen Z shoppers helping revive America’s malls with push for in-person experiences
"Gen Z shoppers are helping fuel a new chapter for America’s malls as younger consumers increasingly favor in-person shopping experiences over simply filling online carts. Their spending habits are becoming a major focus for retailers and mall operators looking to adapt to changing consumer behavior."
Our Take: Alternate headline: "Gen Z go outside, look up from their phones, and like what they see."
Exorbitant World Cup ticket prices creating sticker shock for soccer fans
"FIFA is facing backlash for sky-high prices and fees for the upcoming World Cup, causing consternation among fans and providing fuel to critics who accuse soccer's world governing body of greed.
This World Cup will be the biggest ever after it was expanded from 32 to 48 teams, with 104 matches across the U.S., Canada and Mexico that are projected to generate a record $10.9 billion in revenue, according to FIFA.
FIFA's official resale marketplace has shown staggering prices, with the sport's governing body pocketing a 15% fee from both the seller and the buyer for each sale.
"If some people put on a secondary, on the resale market, some tickets for the final at $2 million, Number one, it doesn't mean that the tickets cost $2 million," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in an interview earlier this month. "Number two, it doesn't mean that somebody will buy these tickets."
Infantino joked that if someone does pay $2 million, "I will personally bring him a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience.""
Our Take: I think news outlets have a certain (financial) interest in painting the world cup as a ‘bust’ or ‘underwhelming’ with regards to ticket sales. It functions well as clickbait and it also plays into the political angle (a lot of Americans associate this World Cup with Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino). However, Fifa has already sold more than 5 million tickets at premium prices for this World Cup – Two million more than any world cup ever. Beyond the framing of the World Cup through the lens of politics, you essentially have the greatest, most widely watched cultural event on the planet. The ticket angle makes easy headlines because FIFA expanded the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 teams, and some of the matches between lesser nations are understandably just not selling as well as a match featuring one of the host nations or one of England, Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil, or Portugal. Also, the prices are gradually coming down. Also, no one balks at a $50,000 courtside ticket for a regular season game between amateur basketball teams (UNC vs. Duke) at Cameron Indoor. Everyone thinks, “Wow, what a rivalry.” The World Cup will invariably be a commercial success. This is not even a question. I would take headlines like this with a grain of salt.
An appreciation of Ted Turner, a baseball maverick who used the Braves to conquer the world
"The suite level was never Ted Turner’s style.
When he bought the Atlanta Braves, in 1976, he took a front-row seat by the home dugout. But even that was not close enough for Turner. On his opening night at Fulton County Stadium, when Ken Henderson hit a home run, Turner did what came naturally: He hopped the fence to greet him.
About six months later, at the last home game, more fans poured onto the field. Turner had invited them there for a champagne toast, win or lose. He didn’t have to buy many bottles: The last-place Braves were no-hit by John Montefusco of the San Francisco Giants, with only 1,369 witnesses at the ballpark."
Our Take: Ted Turner figured out before basically anyone else that baseball’s real value was volume: 162 games meant cheap, constant TV programming every night. CNN probably doesn’t happen without the Braves on TBS, because he bought the team specifically to control the TV rights and keep his station filled with live content. And the sneaky genius part was realizing fans mostly fall in love with familiar local voices (i.e.Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren) as much as the actual team (This last point is of real salience in today's digital economy - People crave authenticity and local color.)
