The Business of Women's Sports: Media Rights and Production

Wednesday, November 5 | 12:30 PM ET

The Business of Women's Sports

Media Rights and Production

Join SBJ media reporter Austin Karp for an in-depth panel discussion exploring the evolving business landscape of women's sports media. This session brings together leaders across sports media to examine the challenges and opportunities shaping the visibility, value, and growth of women's sports in today's evolving media environment.

Key Topics:

• Strategies for increasing viewership and engagement in women's sports content
• Navigating media rights negotiations and the impact of upcoming deals
• Addressing media fragmentation and its effect on fan access and audience growth
• The role of production innovation and new platforms in elevating women's sports

Who Should Attend:

Media professionals, league and team executives, sponsors, vendors, and anyone interested in the business and media growth of women's sports.

What You'll Learn:

Attendees will gain actionable insights into the current state and future direction of women's sports media, including practical strategies for overcoming challenges, maximizing rights value, and expanding the audience for women's sports.

Featured Speakers (Additional to be Announced)

Bella Alarie is the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at The IX Sports, a leading media and journalism platform delivering unparalleled, year-round coverage of women’s sports. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 2020, where she was a Division I student-athlete, and her Master’s in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University in 2024. A former WNBA player for the Dallas Wings and Euroleague silver and bronze medalist, Alarie brings a unique blend of athletic insight and strategic expertise to her leadership role.

She oversees brand partnerships, marketing strategy, and audience development, leading initiatives that expand reach, strengthen engagement, and drive growth across platforms. Alarie is dedicated to reshaping the media landscape by ensuring women’s sports receive consistent, credible, and high-quality coverage.

Raquel Braun is the Co-Founder of Mulier Fortis, a consultancy transforming the landscape of sports, media, and technology, and currently serves as Chief Media Officer at League One Volleyball (LOVB). At LOVB, she leads the league’s global media and content strategy, overseeing media rights, live event production, original programming, and strategic partnerships to build a permanent media business for one of the fastest-growing professional women’s sports leagues in the U.S. With 18 years of experience driving growth for major sports and media organizations, Braun has held leadership roles at EA Sports, FOX Sports, and the Women’s Sports Network, where she served as Chief Business Officer. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching sports and entertainment law to the next generation of industry leaders.

Cheri Kempf is Chief Broadcast Officer and Executive Producer at Athletes Unlimited, a network of professional women’s softball, basketball and volleyball leagues featuring the world’s best professional athletes. Kempf oversees broadcasting for all three sports, negotiating media rights deals and managing relationships with rights holders, while spearheading all aspects of production and game presentation for all live events, including Drafts.  

Kempf helped design and launch AU’s original softball league in 2020, serving as its Director of Pro Softball and working with the Player Executive Committee to shape the league and lay the groundwork for what has now become the AUSL.  

Prior to Athletes Unlimited, Kempf was Commissioner of National Pro Fastpitch for nearly 15 years and was long at the forefront of women’s fastpitch softball, as a player, instructor, an industry marketing representative and a television sports commentator.   

A four-time National Champion and six-time Hall of Fame Inductee, Kempf has also represented the United States on the international stage as a National Team member for Team USA and 1992 World Cup Champion. 

Kempf has been a color commentator covering NCAA softball for ESPN for 16 seasons, and previously commentated for FOX Sports, Comcast Sports, YES Network and the MLB Network. 

Susie Piotrkowski is vice president of women’s sports programming and espnW for ESPN. She is responsible for leading the company’s women’s sports strategy and driving the business and future vision of ESPN’s women’s sports portfolio. Piotrkowski also leads espnW’s strategy aimed at serving and expanding female audiences while working closely with ESPN’s cross-departmental teams, including content, marketing, programming, sales and more.

Piotrkowski was promoted to her current role in June 2023, broadening her scope to lead ESPN’s women’s sports strategy and working with partners across The Walt Disney Company on female audience expansion.

Piotrkowski first joined ESPN in September 2022 as vice president for espnW.

Prior to ESPN, Piotrkowski held a variety of roles, most recently serving as the Head of Women’s Team Sports at Octagon. Piotrkowski led athlete, league and brand clients on identifying, securing and amplifying growth opportunities across the women’s sports and entertainment landscapes. Before Octagon, Piotrkowski served as Vice President of Sponsorship Sales for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

Throughout her career, Piotrkowski has prioritized the creation of industry-defining systemic change within women’s sport, with a prioritization on equity, opportunity, infrastructure growth and further developing a platform for which women’s sports is deserving. In 2022, Piotrkowski was named to Sports Business Journal’s Power Players in Women’s Sports list and in 2024 she was named as one of Sports Business Journal’s “Game Changers” for women making an impact in the sports industry.

Piotrkowski is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire where she majored in Political Science and earned a dual minor in Business and Sports Studies. While at UNH, Piotrkowski competed in Division 1 lacrosse. She resides in Boston, Mass., with her wife and two daughters.

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the event.

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