Here Are The Most Powerful Women In Sports For 2025

Forbes

From the wealthiest owners to groundbreaking players to innovative executives, meet the sports world’s 25 most dynamic game-changers.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2025/10/22/americas-most-powerful-women-in-sports-2025/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, America's Most Powerful Women in Sports

00:04During September's U.S. Open tennis tournament, ESPN cut away from a marquee match between two-time

00:12champion Naomi Osaka and the 2023 title holder Coco Gauff to air an ad for other sports coverage

00:19on the channel. The athletes in the spot? Caitlin Clark and several of her WNBA peers.

00:26The moment served as a powerful reminder that women's influence in American sports

00:31has gotten too big to ignore. The money has been flowing into the sector for the past few years

00:37now. In 2024, revenue for all of women's sports surpassed $1 billion for the first time,

00:44and it is projected to hit $2.5 billion by 2030. According to a recent report by McKinsey,

00:51revenue from women's sports is growing at more than four times the rate of men's sports.

00:57Meanwhile, the WNBA's 11-year $2.2 billion media rights deal will begin next year,

01:04quadrupling the value of the league's previous contracts and virtually ensuring that viewership

01:09records will continue to be broken. And women are leading the way. In women's and men's leagues,

01:17as well as in the owner's box, in the front office, in the media, and of course, on the

01:21playing fields. The 25 women on Forbes' 2025 ranking of America's most powerful women in sports

01:28have unprecedented influence on the country's most popular sports, and are among the highest

01:33earning athletes, including number 13, golf. And coaches. South Carolina Gamecocks coach Don Staley

01:40is number 20. At number one is Gail Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans

01:47Pelicans. She made history in 2018 when she became the only woman to own both an NFL and NBA franchise,

01:56taking control of the Saints and the Pelicans after the death of her husband, Tom. The two teams now

02:01carry a combined valuation of $8.35 billion, while Benson herself has an estimated net worth of $7.9 billion.

02:10She has been central to the NFL's international ambitions, with the Saints becoming the first

02:16franchise with marketing rights in France, and partnering with the Paris Musketeers of the

02:21European League of Football. Benson was also instrumental in bringing Super Bowl 59 to New

02:26Orleans, according to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said in February that, quote,

02:32in business, philanthropy, and football, Gail is a leader, always advocating for the Saints and her

02:38native city. At number two on the list is Amy Howe, the CEO of FanDuel. Legal Sportsbooks recorded

02:46nearly $150 billion worth of bets in the U.S. in 2024, and Howe is the executive at the top of the

02:53market. Since she became CEO in 2021, the company has captured 41% of American sportsbook revenue and

03:01last year recorded nearly $6 billion in revenue. Howe has expanded FanDuel's footprint through partnerships

03:07with the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, and MLB, while also rolling out The Pulse, a newsier live update

03:15feature that bettors use to follow their favorite teams. In her previous role as chief operating

03:20officer of Ticketmaster, Howe doubled the ticketing platform's growth and increased mobile app downloads

03:26by five-fold. At number three on the list is Amy Montaigne, the president of Nike brand. Montaigne

03:35oversees a $44.7 billion business that defines the company's global identity and growth strategy.

03:42A 20-year Nike veteran, she is responsible for product, marketing, and consumer initiatives across

03:48all categories. Before her May 2025 promotion, Montaigne was vice president of Nike Women and had

03:55oversight of some of the retailer's buzziest athlete deals, including Aja Wilson's smash-hit

04:01signature shoe, the A1. Montaigne also previously ran Nike's Asia-Pacific and Latin America business.

04:08In 2022, she delivered what was then one of the division's most profitable quarters in company

04:14history. And at number four on the list is Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. She has turned her

04:21record-breaking college basketball career into early dominance in the WNBA. Her estimated $8.1

04:27million in income from her rookie season with the Indiana Fever was bolstered by big deals with Nike,

04:33Wilson, and Gatorade, and signals a shift in how female athletes are being valued in the world of

04:39professional sports. For full coverage and to see the whole list, just released last week,

04:45check out Maggie McGrath's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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