iHeartMedia is partnering with Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment to launch Women’s Sports Audio Network (WSAN).
The new brand is described as the first-ever audio platform dedicated exclusively to women’s sports podcasts, daily sports reports, spotlights and audio vignettes, social content, promotion and industry event presence, and will be available across iHeartMedia’s broadcast, digital and podcast platforms and everywhere podcasts are heard.
Deep Blue, which provides agency services including strategy, media, creative, and experiential to brands who seek to directly and intentionally invest and tell stories in the women’s sports space, is led by Founder/CEO Laura Correnti and former WNBA star Sue Bird as Chief Strategy Officer. The new WSAN will offer talent and programming year-round with talent such as former ESPN personality Sarah Spain and former WNBA and US Olympic Basketball star Sheryl Swoopes among the first talent brought on board. iHeart has committed to running dedicated women’s sports reports daily across its network of over 500 stations and digital streams serving multiple formats.
Deep Blue CEO Correnti stated, “While women’s sports continue to break ratings and attendance records on a seemingly regular basis – it’s imperative the media marketplace and commercial investment keep pace to not just meet consumer demand, but sustain this growth market. By partnering with iHeartMedia, we’re unlocking the ability to immediately share more women’s sports stories with more fans while addressing the need for more discovery, visibility and scale – a common pain point for the advertising and media marketplace in this space. This partnership effectively moves the coverage of women’s sports from 15% to 90% overnight through the power of audio.”
iHeartMedia Chief Marketing Officer Gayle Troberman added, “Women’s sports are on fire and so is audio. The timing is perfect to deliver on the massive fan excitement today and most importantly use the power of iHeart’s massive audience reach to ensure women’s sports gets the attention it deserves. We all win when the athletes, the fans and the brands get to play together every day in the biggest audio arena on the planet at iHeart.”
