Kelsey Plum thrived in her new role as starter for the Las Vegas Aces during the 2022 season, and she has parlayed her success into a multiyear deal with Under Armour.

The sportswear company announced the deal Wednesday, adding another feather to Plum’s cap in a career year for the 28-year-old guard.

She finished second in scoring in the WNBA with 20.2 points per game as she helped lead the Aces to the first WNBA championship in franchise history. She also won the MVP award at the All-Star game and was named to the All-WNBA first team.

The No. 1 pick in the 2017 WNBA draft out of the University of Washington, Plum still stands as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history (3,527 points). She signed with Nike in her first season, but now she makes the jump to a competitor.

Plum averaged 8.9 points and 3.5 assists per game through her first three seasons, then missed the 2020 season due to an Achilles tendon injury. But she broke out in 2021, winning the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year award.

“There’s a lot of gaps I feel I had to overcome as a young female athlete in this space and I had a lot of failures,” Plum told Forbes. “It took me a while to have success on the pro level so I want to be able to bridge that gap for young girls who want to play pro or even going from high school into college.”

Bigger than basketball. We’re taking things to the next level with @Kelseyplum10 to inspire the next generation both on AND off the court. Welcome to the sqUAd. pic.twitter.com/muc7rnbLT1

— Under Armour (@UnderArmour) November 2, 2022

In July, Plum signed a two-year contract extension with the Aces. While she underwent a “minimally invasive right shoulder arthroscopic procedure for her labrum” in October, she is expected to make a full recovery and to return to offseason training leading up to the 2023 season.

She spoke with Just Women’s Sports during the 2022 season about her struggles with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts during her career. As she makes plans with Under Armour, she knows she wants to help other athletes cope with and speak about their own mental health.

“Those transitions can be a lot easier if you have flashcards on what to do and what not to do.” Plum said. “I think you’re going to see a lot of cool things coming out in the future with me, the next generation and of course Under Armour leading the way in that.”

With the 2025 WNBA season tipping off in just three weeks, opportunities to see the league's stars in action are becoming more expensive, as top players fuel rising ticket prices in the secondary market.

According to market analysis firm Victory Live, the league's average 2025 ticket price is already up 43% year-over-year, rising from $122 in 2024 to $173 this season.

Much of the climbing 2025 WNBA ticket prices come from teams fielding young superstars.

The Indiana Fever remain huge interest drivers thanks to a revamped roster centered around 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, with demand to catch the Fever on the road rising to a league-leading $282 average ticket price — nearly $100 more than the $185 per game the second-place Chicago Sky's and third-place Las Vegas Aces' away-game slates are commanding.

Looking at individual games, Indiana also scores big, accounting for nine of the highest-cost regular-season matchups — eight on the road, and one at home.

The 2023 champion Aces' May 17th season opener at the 2024 title-winning New York Liberty's Barclays Center is the lone Top-10 game to not feature the Fever, clocking in on the price list at No. 7.

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Similar to her 2024 compatriot, 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers is helping to drive top demand for her new team, the Dallas Wings.

Bolstered by Bueckers, the Wings hold the highest average home ticket price at $241 and saw their away tickets claim the WNBA's largest increase of 89%.

Accordingly, the most expensive single-game ticket to find is Dallas’s August 1st home matchup against Indiana, with fans shelling out an average $384 to see Clark and Bueckers face off at the 7,000-seat College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

RAJ Sports, owners of the NWSL's Portland Thorns and Portland's incoming 2026 WNBA expansion franchise, broke ground on their historic dual-sport training center on Wednesday, as the 12-acre $150 million facility begins to take shape.

The performance center will support both Portland squads, becoming the first-ever training complex to house a professional women's soccer club and a pro women's basketball team under singular ownership.

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Led by Lisa Bhathal Merage as well as her brother, Alex Bhathal, RAJ Sports is the sports investment arm of the Bhathal family, who shifted into team ownership on the heels of their longtime family swimwear business.

Bhathal Merage, in particular, is taking charge in ensuring the new facility is pushing the needle for women's sports.

"We don't look at our investments as philanthropy at all," said Bhathal Merage. "It's about moving things forward."

"I've been involved in hand selecting every finish, carpet, tile to make it through the female lens of how we interact, how we look at things, what we want to see," she explained.

"I think this performance center will be changing the dynamic for women's sports for generations to come," added Bhathal Merage. "Our view is to collaborate, involve the community and really lift up everybody by that collaboration."

The Bhathal family are also eager to reveal their incoming WNBA team's name, telling reporters that they’ve "literally compiled every single comment from every single person into a massive spreadsheet and rank them in order of how popular they were."

"We're waiting for final league approval," said Bhathal Merage. "Hopefully within the next two, maximum three months, we'll be able to unveil everything."

Before the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) takes the field for its inaugural season on June 7th, the pro venture is gearing up by announcing the player pool for its first-ever college draft on May 3rd.

Taking an unconventional approach to revealing the debut collegiate draft class, AUSL began handing out "golden tickets" to join the league on April 13th, showing up at NCAA games across the country to dispense invitations one at a time.

12 NCAA players to turn pro with AUSL

To date, six of the draft's 12 total players have received their golden tickets, with No. 14 Virginia Tech's Emma Lemley — a pitcher who's tossed four no-hitters so far this season — earning the historic first invite.

Joining Lemley in snagging a golden ticket to the AUSL are fellow pitchers Devyn Netz — No. 13 Arizona's two-way workhorse — and No. 2 Texas A&M southpaw Emiley Kennedy.

Also making the professional leap to AUSL are a trio of field players: No. 18 Duke shortstop and the Blue Devils' career home run leader Ana Gold, No. 6 Florida's two-time All-American left fielder Korbe Otis, and No. 9 Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis — the NCAA's leading slugger this season.

Those six NCAA stars, along with six more to receive their elite draft invites, will join one of AUSL's four debut teams — the Volts, Bandits, Blaze, and Talons.

Beginning with the Volts, teams will select from the 12-player collegiate pool across three draft rounds, with NCAA athletes rounding out each squad's 16-player roster.

Each team is already stacked with pro veterans, with the league's inaugural January draft distributing former Women's College World Series superstars like overall No. 1 pick Lexi Kilfoyl and fellow pitcher Montana Fouts, as well as second baseman Tiare Jennings, third baseman Jessi Warren, utility player Maya Brady, and shortstop Sis Bates, across the four AUSL rosters.

How to watch the AUSL College Draft

The first-ever AUSL College Draft will being at 9 PM ET on May 3rd, with live coverage on ESPNU.

NWSL teams continue to attract big-name investors, with a few new ownership shake-ups making headlines in recent weeks.

Former USWNT World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lauren Holiday and her husband, two-time NBA champ Jrue Holiday, bought into the North Carolina Courage this week, becoming NWSL investors via the couple's Holiday Family Trust.

Retiring from pro soccer in 2015, Holiday will be an active owner with the Courage, serving as an advisor, ambassador, and consultant on the operations side.

"I'm an investor in North Carolina, but I think I have invaluable insight being as I was part of the league when it was in its inaugural season," the two-time NWSL champion and 2013 league MVP told ESPN.

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NWSL draws more investors as league grows

As club valuations skyrocket, money has flowed into the NWSL through high-profile investments — and even outright sales.

Earlier this month, former Utah Jazz owners the Miller family purchased the Utah Royals, as well as MLS club Real Salt Lake, from short-term owner David Blitzer in a deal weighing in at a reported $600 million.

Last September, Angel City sold for a record $250 million, while the expansion fee for Denver's incoming NWSL team reportedly tops $110 million.

With further expansion looming and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman recently saying she sees the league growing to as many as 32 teams, expect transactions to keep building as more investors look to buy into the game.