Women's sports are having a big year; Austin taps into it as local basketball league starts 20th season

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- If you haven't heard yet, sports are for the girls -- especially in the year 2024.

Amid a growing interest in women's sports -- particularly basketball, with plenty of buzz surrounding the WNBA's rookie class and the USA Basketball Women's National Team looking to take home its eighth gold in a row at the Paris 2024 Olympics -- a nonprofit in Austin is connecting the community with the hype and love of the game.

Before the WNBA's Olympic break started, the league's All-Star Game drew in a record number of viewers. The game -- which saw the All-Stars beat the U.S. Olympic team 117-109 -- brought in 3.44 million viewers, the third most viewed WNBA event ever, and the largest audience for the league since its first two nationally televised games in 1997, according to the Associated Press.

Women's basketball in Austin

The Austin Women's Basketball League is honing in on the hype and giving local women an alternative community space and a way to connect with other people, while also offering a way for women to keep physically active.

"Empowerment." That's how AWBL's Carmen Drumgoole summed up what the league means to her, in one word. Drumgoole is the league's marketing director and one of its founding members.

The league was formed in 2013. AWBL has a spring and fall season each year, and this fall will mark its 20th season, since the league took a break during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We saw a need. We were a group of women who wanted to do something special and create it for women, and empower women in turn, you know. I mean, it is sports, and sports can mean different things to different people.

But you don't have to be an exceptional athlete to love to get out there and push yourself and challenge yourself and compete. And we wanted to give people a place to do that, to play, to learn, to make new friends, to stay active. And then in turn, hopefully empower them, you know, in multiple ways.

Carmen Drumgoole, Marketing Director and founding member of AWBL

The league started in 2013 and celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. It's the longest-running women's sports league in Austin, a point of pride for the league's founding members. Drumgoole has been along for the ride since the beginning.

AWBL's formation was simple: Drumgoole and a group of her friends saw a need for a women's sports league. At the time, they were playing in co-ed recreational leagues and wanted a space "by women, for women," so they formed the Austin Women's Basketball League and thought, "let's just see how it goes." It's now warming up for its 20th season.

Lauren Dickens and Erica Cray have both played in the league since early on. They both said the league has had a positive impact in their lives over the last decade, with it not only being a form of exercise, but it also provides a sense of community.

"Camaraderie," Cray said, describing the league. "Just seeing all these ladies and these young girls out here just staying with it, even after saying they're playing years in college, keeping themselves healthy and just showing the younger generation of girls, 'hey, you can keep playing basketball even after high school,' if it's not on a super competitive level, it's something that you can do that's a lifelong activity, and meet a bunch of new people while doing it."

"This league has been very good to me," Cray said. "They always end up putting me in the Elite League, even though I don't want to be in the Elite League anymore," she joked, since she holds the AWBL record for highest points scored by a player in a single game (which was 51).

Dickens shared a similar sentiment, saying that playing basketball with AWBL not only helps her physical and mental wellbeing, but it also is an "amazing way to meet people."

"Basketball for me is like a form of meditation. It helps me deal with my life, you know, on a day-to-day basis, and it just lets me put my energy in a positive place," Dickens said.

"Immediately after leaving the court, I feel like a sense of lightness. I feel more comfortable in my body after I play, I feel more confident," Dickens explained. "It really extends out past these, these four lines, out of this rectangle, and into your daily life. I think that, you know, people can use sports as a way to better their lives, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well."

Women from all backgrounds and walks of life play in AWBL, Drumgoole said, noting the diversity within the league. She mentioned specifically a mom who had never played basketball before but joined to "challenge herself" and show her kids they can always pick up something new.

"I think about the types of women that kind of play in our league -- it's broad ranging of women that come out," Drumgoole explained. "We've got, you know, the former college players, former semi-pro, some played overseas. And then we have women who come out who haven't played since middle school, or maybe high school. And then we have one in particular that I always think of who was a mom who had never played before," she said.

"So it's a broad range of the types of women that come out and play with us."

Gray said there's a level for everyone in the league, and that's what she loves about it. "They don't shy you away if you're not good enough or anything like that. They find a good spot for you to play and come out and be a part of a great program."

Dickens said AWBL, and sports in general, reaches beyond gender identity, too.

"I think that regardless of your gender identity, like if you're a baller, you're a baller, and if you love the game, you love the game. And I'm glad that people are starting to recognize that, Dickens said.

"It's just about the love for the game," Dickens said. "It's about self improvement. It's about meeting great people, it's about making friends, and it's about great competition, and that's what this league has provided so many women in Austin."

Increasing interest in women's sports

Some of the increased hype can be credited to this year's rookie class, in particular Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky's Angel Reese, who played as teammates for the first time on the All Star team. The two have been playing against each other since their college days, and their fan bases like to pit them as rivals -- often comparing the pair to a great NBA rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird -- though the WNBA rookies have themselves denied being rivals. That so-called rivalry, however, has been a big talking point on social media throughout the 2024 WNBA season, increasing the buzz surrounding the league on various platforms and pulling more viewers for their games.

Clark's impact alone began making a difference for the league from the jump. It's often dubbed as "the Caitlin Clark effect," after the the Iowa rookie gained quite the fanbase breaking records in her college basketball career and becoming the No. 1 career scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history. That fanbase has followed her into the WNBA and helped put more eyes on the entire league and thus women's sports in general.

"I think it's amazing to watch the athletes that are at the Olympics right now. But level of competition -- and you know, the college game, and the WNBA -- is so exciting to watch. And I think that type of excitement can only be a great thing, a positive thing for a league like ours or any other similar leagues," Drumgoole said when asked about the increased attention on women's sports through the WNBA and Olympics.

"It puts the spotlight on us. And you know, people are watching, people are talking about it. I haven't heard as many people talk about the NCAA Tournament, as they did this past year, and everyone is keyed in watching watching the women's team in the Olympics," Drumgoole said. "So I think it's definitely positive. I think it's great. Anything that highlights women's sports, gets people to support and cheer is awesome."

Women's sports have also generated more money in recent years, too. According to Forbes, the value of women's sports is expected to surpass $1 billion in 2024, with revenues growing at 16% annually. Viewership is also on the rise, and women's sports sponsorship deals have seen a 20% year-over-year increase since 2020.

The boost helps lead to necessities for women athletics teams, like a $50 million commitment from the WNBA over the next two years to provide full-time charter flight service for its teams during the season. The league had previously planned to only provide charter flights during for the playoffs; Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had cited finances as the reason it couldn't provide full-time charters.

Other positive impacts include more investment in the teams. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced earlier this year that it will provide a $100,000 annual sponsorship to each Las Vegas Aces player for this season and 2025. The Phoenix Mercury also just opened a 58,000-square-foot, $100 million state-of-the-art practice facility. Mercury owner Mat Ishbia paid for the facility in cash without any help from the city, according to Sportico.

The hype on women's sports has also expanded into a new business model -- women's sports only bars. A handful have popped up in the U.S. over the last few years, and one is in the works in Austin, though details are limited at this point. Drumgoole said she's "had some conversations" with the people behind the bar concept.

"Again, anything that puts a spotlight on women's sports, I'm a huge fan of. I think that it's a market that a lot of times is untapped, underrepresented," Drumgoole said. "We're just happy to support and work with them in any way possible."

KXAN photographer Morganne Bailey contributed to this story.