Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg’s 2024 Plans

Mayor Katie Rosenberg joins us to talk about her decision to run for re-election in 2024 and to convince all of us the move to Wausau (or at least come visit this summer).

Now that eyeballs watching and the dollars invested into women’s sports are on the rise, what professional women’s sports teams would you like to see in Wisconsin?

Guest: Katie Rosenberg

Check out this episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Mayor Katie Rosenberg is Running for Re-Election

You heard it here first folks, (unless you saw it on her personal Instagram last night), Mayor Katie Rosenberg is running for re-election in Wausau. 

Listen to the interview to hear more about how she came to this decision, and why you should consider buying a house in Wausau or at least visiting this summer.

What’s a Girl Got To Do To Get Some Women’s Professional Sports in WI?

Women’s sports are having a moment. This week, private equity firm Sixth Street committed to spending $125 million on a new Bay Area franchise for the National Women’s Soccer League. It’s the biggest institutional investment made in a pro women’s sports team, Sixth Street said. Just how big is it? The $53 million the firm is spending on a league expansion fee is nearly 10x the $5 million expansion fee paid for a Kansas City franchise in 2021.

In general, investors see major opportunities in the growth of women’s sports. With more eyeballs comes more lucrative TV contracts—and there have been plenty of eyeballs:

• The LSU–Iowa NCAA tournament final drew an average of 9.9 million viewers on ESPN, smashing the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.
• More than 87,000 people packed into Wembley Stadium in London for the 2022 Women’s Euro final, breaking the attendance record for a women’s or men’s Euro final.
• More than 1.1 billion viewers around the world watched the 2019 Women’s World Cup. That number will almost certainly balloon for this summer’s tournament.

Considering Wisconsin Badger Women’s Sports just this past year. Wisconsin is the only college in the nation to hit 8,200+ fans at three women’s sports events this season. Standout games at the Kohl Center include:

• 14,430 fans for a February women’s hockey game against St. Cloud State—the second-highest NCAA women’s hockey single-game attendance in history
• 16,833 fans for a September women’s volleyball match against Florida
• 8,217 fans for a neck-and-neck women’s basketball game against Northwestern in January 

So – let’s get ahead of the curve and either recruit a women’s pro soccer team or bring back a women’s pro basketball team.