The Boston Globe’s Michael Silverman dutifully reported yesterday that Globe CEO Linda Henry was part of an investment group that pumped $75 million into the WNBA.
Linda Henry part of $75 million investment in WNBA
Ever since her young daughter asked, “Are girls allowed to play baseball?” Linda Henry has been searching for ways to answer in the affirmative about not just baseball but all sports.
On Thursday, Henry joined a group that made the largest-ever investment in a women’s sports league, a $75 million capital raise for the WNBA.
“Supporting professional women’s sports is a way of celebrating strength and hard work, showing girls around the world what they are capable of,” said Henry, who is the CEO of the Globe, in an e-mail.
Henry also got props at Yahoo Sports and NBA.com, but not so much in Joseph De Avila’s report in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal.
WNBA Raises $75 Million From Group Including Nike, Condoleezza Rice to Revamp League
The cash infusion from more than two dozen investors raised the combined valuation of the league and its teams to $1 billion
The Women’s National Basketball Association has raised $75 million from a group of investors that includes Nike Inc., businessman Michael Dell, and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an effort to revamp the league.
The $75 million infusion is the largest-ever capital investment for a women’s sports property and will be used to help the league overhaul its brand and appeal to more fans, the WNBA said Thursday. This also marks the first time the league has raised money through investors.
Those investors that the Journal listed: “Laurene Powell Jobs, philanthropist and the widow of Apple Inc.co-founder Steve Jobs ; Micky Arison, Carnival Corp. chairman and owner of the NBA’s Miami Heat; Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Joe Tsai and his wife Clara Wu Tsai, who own the WNBA’s New York Liberty and NBA’s Brooklyn Nets; former NBA stars Baron Davis and Pau Gasol ; and former WNBA great Swin Cash.”
Cash from Swin Cash? Check. Cash from Linda Henry? Nope. Hey – that’s show biz.
Campaign Outsider 