The E.W. Scripps Company has announced a strategic partnership with FreeWheel, a leading television advertising technology platform, to enhance advertising opportunities across women’s live sports on ION. As ION solidifies its position as a national hub for women’s sports, this collaboration is poised to significantly expand advertiser access and programmatic capabilities, ensuring brands can reach audiences on every major pay TV and connected TV (CTV) service in the U.S.
This partnership reflects a broader industry push to meet growing demand for women’s sports content while providing scalable, data-driven ad solutions that benefit both advertisers and viewers.
Developments and Strategic Goals
ION’s Expanding Women’s Sports Portfolio
- ION delivers top-tier women’s sports content, including:
- WNBA games and the “State Farm® WNBA Friday Night Spotlight.”
- NWSL matches with expanding reach and fan engagement.
- New exclusive rights to the inaugural SI Women’s Games and Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip Off college basketball tournament.
- These events provide advertisers with premium, high-visibility inventory on both linear and digital platforms.
Surge in Brand Participation and Viewer Growth
- Viewership growth:
- The 2024 WNBA Friday Night Spotlight saw a 133% year-over-year increase in average viewership.
- More than 23 million unique viewers tuned into ION’s WNBA broadcasts and related programming.
- New brand adoption:
- Over two dozen new advertisers joined ION’s women’s sports inventory last year.
- Seth Walters, Head of CTV Sales at Scripps, emphasized the momentum: “As demand for women’s sports accelerates, we aim to bring more brands into the fold through our expanding roster and always-on distribution.”
FreeWheel’s Role in Scaling Programmatic CTV Advertising
- FreeWheel is optimizing programmatic advertising in live TV and sports with tools designed for:
- Creative pre-approvals to enable faster campaign launches.
- Real-time viewership modeling to ensure balanced pacing and effective ad-serving.
- Scale and flexibility, allowing advertisers to reach audiences during unpredictable live sports moments.
- CTV monetization for NWSL on ION has surged over 200% in the first eight weeks of the current season compared to last year, demonstrating the partnership’s early success.
A Unified Front to Power Streaming Growth
- With ION’s distribution model — including over-the-air, pay TV, and connected TV — the platform ensures complete national reach across audience segments.
- Greg Bel, VP and Head of Supply at FreeWheel, highlighted the collaboration’s strategic importance: “We’re ensuring that advertisers who rely on programmatic as their primary strategy can leverage the momentum of women’s sports and connect with highly engaged audiences.”
The Business Case for Investing in Women’s Sports
Favorable Consumer Trends
- Comcast Advertising’s 2024 “Behind the Remote” report reveals that:
- 36% of fans who currently don’t watch women’s sports plan to start within the next 12 months.
- Viewers are increasingly turning to streaming platforms to access live women’s sports.
Opportunity for Advertisers
- With growing demand and new tournaments and leagues, women’s sports are no longer a niche — they’re a high-growth, brand-safe environment for engagement.
- The Scripps–FreeWheel partnership makes programmatic access more efficient, appealing especially to:
- Brands seeking precision targeting and attribution.
- Agencies looking to diversify ad placements in high-performing verticals.
The partnership between Scripps and FreeWheel marks a transformative moment for the monetization of women’s sports on connected TV. With ION’s expanded rights and FreeWheel’s advanced ad-serving infrastructure, the initiative unlocks powerful, scalable advertising solutions. As audience enthusiasm for women’s sports reaches new heights, brands have a timely opportunity to invest in programming that combines cultural relevance, mass reach, and digital-first targeting.
Through unified execution and strategic foresight, this collaboration not only enhances the media landscape but also ensures that women’s sports continue to receive the investment and recognition they deserve across the streaming ecosystem.
