As her team gains in key numbers — wins and losses and valuation, Clara Wu Tsai continued talking up the WNBA Thursday, this time at a Forbes conference where she spoke about the potential of both the New York Liberty and Brooklyn Nets, confirming media reports that the Liberty is now worth nearly a half billion dollars while pointing up the disparity between the leagues in TV revenue and volunteering praise for the Libs GM Jonathan Kolb.
Wu Tsai was joined at the Forbes Iconoclast Summit in New York by Alex Rodriguez, the new co-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, and Marc Lasry, who sold his 25% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks ... and whose daughter bought into the Liberty ownership group last week.
A lot of the discussion was about, no surprise, money and the investment potential of both the NBA and WNBA, with Wu Tsai confirming with a simple “yes” that media reports were correct that the Libs now have a valuation of $450 million ... and with a nod that the rise in valuation has surprised even her. Wu Tsai had twice in the last year predicted the Liberty would reach a billion dollar valuation within 10 years, which would make it the first women’s pro team to reach that mark.
Talking about the Liberty’s investment potential, Wu Tsai was asked about the W’s ceiling.
“We don’t know what the ceiling is for the WNBA. There’s still so much upside, and so, you can be really creative.” she responded.
“Women’s sports is a growth asset with a lot of long-term upside potential,” Tsai said. “The viewership is growing. The revenue hasn’t quite caught up.” She pointed out, “The national broadcast audience for WNBA games is 30 or 40% of the NBA, but we’re only two percent of the revenue, the media deal. Even next year, we’re only going to be four percent of the revenue.”
She also noted, “we’re long and holding our core assets, the WNBA, NBA and Barclays Center” noting that the Nets valuation has increased from “two to six” billion dollars “to we don’t know what we’re going to see,” describing the NBA as “scarce, premium, mature” and the W “large and growing viewership ... there’s value there.”
She also volunteered how Barclays Center fits into the Tsais’ overall plans, mentioning, as has BSE Global CEO Sam Zussman its role as the center of what the Tsais are planning in Brooklyn, an “ecosystem,” code for an entertainment district centered on the arena as well as media offerings.
“I just want to point out how important Barclays Center is to our world and our ecosystem,” she said. “Because it not only allows us to take advantage of the demand in live entertainment but it lets us control our full fan experience and it’s the anchor for everything we do in the community.”
She spoke about Kolb in the context of acquiring talent, saying basketball isn’t just limited to players. Wu Tsai credited Kolb with being the architect of last year’s championship.
“It really started with the general manager, probably the most important decision we made when we bought the team in 2019. We hired Jonathan Kolb and he is the one who architected the team that won,
“All the things that we did in turning around this distressed asset when we bought it — the first thing was moving the team to Barclays back to where the fan base was but the second thing was to build a team that could win,” she said, adding, “That was all through the incredible eye and persistence of Jonathan Kolb. Your general manager is probably your most important higher.”
Kolb, who was the WNBA Executive of the Year in 2023 is not just seen as a top WNBA executive. Many in both leagues think he could ultimately wind up with an NBA job.
Finally, as Forbes reports, Wu Tsai was asked about the Knicks firing of Tom Thibodeau earlier this week.
To address the most pressing question on much of the New York audience’s mind, Lane closed the panel by asking for a yes or no answer on whether the Knicks should have fired Tom Thibodeau, the coach who led them to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. Rodriguez and Lasry dodged the question, but Tsai took the opportunity to criticize her Nets’ crosstown competitors with a succinct “no.”
It’s not the first time Wu Tsai has criticized Dolan from whom she and Joe bought the Liberty for a reported $10 to $14 billion.