The WNBL has just experienced a groundbreaking year with unprecedented growth but it’s culminated in the loss of the woman who spearheaded that success, CEO Jennie Sager.
The appointment of Sager to the role of CEO 15 months ago was met with much hype and fanfare and she didn’t waste time revamping the league.
The WNBL launched a rebrand and approved a new groundbreaking CBA with players which included a 104 per cent minimum wage pay rise to $46,952 among the changes.
Across the next 12 months the competition continued to shatter records, it was the most attended WNBL season on record with crowds up 43 per cent, broadcast figures up 130 per cent, YouTube views were up 1237 per cent, website views up 75 per cent and new users up 104 per cent.
On top of that, the league announced the expansion of two new teams over the next two years, WNBA superstar Angel Reese invested in the Brisbane Bullets bid for a WNBL team and they announced a host of new sponsors including makeup giant Sephora, marking the first time the global brand entered Australian sport. Sager told foxsports.com.au at the time that she cold-called the popular brand and convinced them to invest.
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All that also saw Sager named in Newscorp’s annual Power 100 of the most influential women in Australian sport.
Yet despite that impressive list of achievements in her first year in charge, Sager finished up in her role this week.
The announcement came on the Thursday afternoon before an Easter long weekend which would include the epic Game 5 NBL Championship decider.
The release stating that the operating model is being evolved, with no further details or specifics of that model, which foxsports.com.au has been told will be released at a later date.
“Jennie has played a substantial role in progressing the league over the past 15 months, including strengthening commercial partnerships, enhancing broadcast and marketing, and driving audience growth,” the Ownership Group said in the statement.
“We thank Jennie for her commitment, energy and leadership, and wish her success in her future endeavours.”
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved during my time at the WNBL,” Jennie Sager said in the same statement.
“We delivered record-breaking attendance and broadcast audiences, more than tripled commercial revenue, and drove significant growth across digital and social platforms.
“Most importantly, we elevated the visibility and recognition of elite female athletes, our clubs, and the league as a whole.”
The WNBL is under a new ownership model with the Wollemi Capital Group forming a consortium with the NBL in 2024 to take control.
The Wollemi Capital Group was founded by Tesla Chair and Hoops Capital (which owns the Sydney Kings and Flames) majority owner Robyn Denholm.
The appointment of Sager was hailed at the time as “a bold new direction for the WNBL and its clubs” by NBL CEO David Stevenson.
The WNBL is going through a rebuild phase, with Wollemi Group CEO Victoria Denholm likening it to a ‘start-up’.
“The two worlds I spend the most time in are start-ups and women’s basketball, and women’s basketball in this country is now like a start-up. We bought this asset, and it’s being run like a start-up. We’re targeting that hockey stick growth,” Denholm told the Australian Financial Review in May 2025.
The NBL went through its own rebuild phase in 2015 when Larry Kestelman bought a majority stake for just $7 million. The successful businessman then poured a reported $70 million into the league. It took some time for the NBL to return a profit too with Kestelman telling The Australian in 2024: “I’m happy to report that over the last couple of years, finally we have started turning a profi.
“… Okay, I’m certainly still a long way behind from my original investment but I truly believe in the future of the league, and I’m very confident I will get my investment back at some stage and hopefully turn an overall profit.”
The NBL is now estimated to be worth well over $300 million.
Denholm addressed the potential of the WNBL in a documentary series “Beyond the WNBL” that the league produced last year saying.
“Women’s sports for a long time have been viewed as charity, it’s not that. We’re not investing in the WNBL because it’s charity. You look at women’s basketball globally and the kind of rocket ship it’s been on, the WNBA 12 months ago was not where it is today. The ability to make change and make change quickly is really exciting. Why can’t Australia follow that model?”
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The WNBA is experiencing the biggest period of growth in its 30 year history.
The players have signed a landmark CBA which sees the salary cap rocket from $1.5million to $7 million, the minimum wage from around $66,000 to more than $300,00 and an average salary around $600,000.
The WNBA is also expanding, the Golden State Valkyries entered last season and this upcoming season sees two new teams including the Toronto Tempo – coached by Opals legend and coach Sandy Brondello.
Brondello told Fox Sports News earlier this year that she hopes the success of the WNBA will filter through to the WNBL in Australia.
Whatever the new structure of the WNBL looks like, a strong platform has been built over the last 12 months to grow the league and sustain it. The ownership group, like Kestelman achieved with the NBL a decade ago, can’t let that go to waste.