Chelsea FC and USWNT star Alyssa Thompson is letting fans in on her pregame vibes, linking up with EA Sports and Spotify to drop a playlist as part of her GEN / EA SPORTS partnership with the video game giant.
Initially named to the first GEN / EA SPORTS athlete class in September 2024, Thompson released the 49-song "Good Vibes" Spotify playlist on Tuesday in the latest move in her collaboration with the gaming brand.
"This playlist is great music that fits a lot of moments for me," the 21-year-old said on Instagram, with her playlist packed with songs by SZA, Frank Ocean, Adele, Childish Gambino, Beyoncé, and Erykah Badu, as well as classic artists like Al Green and Marvin Gaye.
According to EA Sports, the collab spotlights "the personal soundtracks of the next generation of sports icons through a series of official playlist drops curated by GEN / EA SPORTS athletes."
Originally launched with four athletes "who are carving their own paths and influencing sport, in, and out of, the game," the GEN / EA SPORTS partnerships aim to "co-create content," as well as "partner on initiatives personal to each of [the athletes], and engage sports fans where they are."
How to listen to the playlist by Alyssa Thompson
Stream Alyssa Thompson's GEN / EA SPORTS playlist on Spotify.
The WSL is cashing in on the women's game, with two UK clubs surpassing €25 million in annual revenue for the first time, according to the Deloitte Football Money League report on the 2024/25 season that dropped this week.
Reigning UWCL champions Arsenal topped the list for the first time after taking in €25.6 million last season, followed closely by WSL title-holders Chelsea FC's €25.4 million.
Meanwhile, Perennial European contender FC Barcelona (€22 million) dropped to third after leading the group in 2023/24, outpacing WSL titans No. 4 Manchester City (€12.9 million) and No. 5 Manchester United (€12.8 million).
Due to a lack of revenue data, the yearly study did not include major women's leagues in the US, Sweden, or Australia, giving the rankings a European bent as the total sum crossed the €150 million mark for the first time — a 35% increase over the previous season's Top-15 Money League clubs.
Commercial income was the biggest revenue driver for many top clubs, with sponsorship deals and brand partnerships leading the charge.
Arsenal also benefitted from increased revenue on the men's side, allowing the women's team to up its investment while avoiding running at a loss.
How to watch the top Deloitte Football Money League clubs in action
Deloitte Football Money League leader Arsenal will take on No. 5 Man United while revenue runners-up Chelsea will face the WSL-leading Man City in the 2025/26 Women's League Cup semifinals on Wednesday.
The concurrent clashes will kick off at 2 PM ET, streaming live on YouTube.
Unrivaled Basketball and trading card manufacturer Panini America are teaming up, bringing the 3×3 league's first officially licensed trading cards to market on Friday.
As part of a multi-year agreement between the two parties, Panini will debut the Instant Cards just hours before the first full weekend of play in the 2026 Unrivaled season tips off on Friday.
Panini also plans to launch a Rewind set of trading cards celebrating the 2025 inaugural Unrivaled season, among other future drops.
"Our partnership with Unrivaled is a great way to reinforce and showcase our support of the women's game and female athletes," said Panini America SVP of marketing Jason Howarth in the pair's Thursday announcement. "Unrivaled's 3-on-3 format makes for exciting and compelling game play and continuing to work with the best players in the world in this format made this partnership make perfect sense."
Following Monday's Season 2 tip-off, Unrivaled is continuing to form strategic partnerships as the offseason pro league grows in popularity.
"We want to meet fans where they are, and Panini's history in this space makes them an ideal partner to highlight the biggest moments for women's basketball's biggest stars," said Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell.
How to purchase Unrivaled Instant Cards
The full Unrivaled Instant Card set will release online at 3:08 PM ET on Friday at PaniniAmerica.net.
Mercedes-Benz is getting into the women's game, with the luxury car giant becoming the official automotive partner of England's WSL and WSL2 this week.
The deal showcases Mercedes-Benz's growing commitment to women's sports, with the auto giant also signing on as the presenting sponsor of the WTA Tour last month — adding to a resume that includes serving as the official patron of the LPGA Tour's AIG Women's Open.
"The Mercedes-Benz story began 140 years ago with a bold idea," said Mercedes-Benz UK CEO and managing director Olivier Reppert in the WSL's Wednesday press release. "Now, that same spirit of innovation and ambition drives our partnership with WSL Football."
While financial terms of the partnership are not public, Mercedes-Benz is just the latest big-name sponsor to back WSL Football, with some reports saying that the two-league outfit has tripled its commercial revenue since splitting with the FA in 2024.
"Bringing a brand of this calibre…will help us elevate the game, deepen engagement with fans and players, and accelerate long-term growth across both leagues," said WSL Football CRO Zarah Al-Kudcy.
Mercedes-Benz will also present this spring's inaugural interleague playoff, in which the third-place WSL2 club will battle the last-place WSL team for a chance at promotion as a part of the top flight's planned 14-team expansion for 2026/27.
Unrivaled leadership is back in the hot seat, telling reporters at Monday's Season 2 tip-off that the offseason 3x3 league is open to whatever the future might bring — even if it's a formal partnership with the WNBA.
"We're not in constant dialogue about that," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said from Miami. "But as I've made very clear, we are open to growing the ecosystem, whichever way that looks like."
"Nothing is on the table or off the table," he continued. "I'm not going to speculate what could happen down the road, but everyone knows our door is always open."
As reported prior to the 3×3 upstart's inaugural 2025 season, Unrivaled co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier had approached the WNBA about a potential equity stake — in part to further illustrate that the new venture is complementary, rather than in competition with, the WNBA — but league leadership turning down the offer, citing a possible rules violation.
Questions have since come up about Unrivaled becoming a prioritization issue for players under the WNBA's still-developing CBA, but Bazzell underlined the league's benefits as being supplemental, rather than in direct conflict with the 5x5 league.
"As long as you can look at the space through an innovative lens, anything is doable," he said. "Anything is possible."