Monumental will make a significant investment in the revolutionary guide organized for new female sports and its vertical women’s basketball
Washington, DC (June 16, 2025) – Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) announced today that it had made a strategic investment in the sports media platform IX And Its dedicated women’s basketball vertical The next one.
IX is a daily newsletter written by six journalists who provides a guide organized female sports, including football, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics. Founded in 2019 by the veteran of sports journalism Howard Megdal who is also editor -in -chief of publication, IX Offers unrivaled original relationships, interviews and analyzes on several platforms.
The following, Founded in 2020 by Megdal Under IXThe umbrella, inaugurated the first editorial hall 24/7/7/365 of the industry dedicated to the women’s basketball cover. Following Published more than 100 pieces reported on women’s basketball each month, as well as six podcasts per week.
Monumental’s significant investment will equip itself IX And Following With resources to hire two full -time business employees to supervise business daily operations and longer initiatives. The expansion of operational capacity and dedicated corporate personnel allows IX And Following To grow more, reaching and reaching an impact on a pace that historically lacked dedicated coverage. IX And Following will maintain complete editorial independence, as explicitly described in terms of the investment agreement, to ensure continuous autonomy.
“Our partnership with IX And Following Reflects our deep and long -standing commitment to advance female sports and guarantee that athletes, coaches, executives, fans and other votes shaping this space receive the visibility and the recognition they deserve, “said Zach Leonsis, president of Media & New Enterprises at Monumental Sports & Artitings. As owners and mansions of Washington mystics for two decades, and readers of IX Since its creation, we have been proud to support them by raising their stories and expanding their scope. »»
“We are entering a central growth phase, and the investment of Monumental positions us to connect brands wishing to reach the sports audience of women with our passionate readers and listeners,” said Megdal. “We were looking for a partner who was also aligned with our mission while preserving our independence. Given TED’s interest in our platform and its ability to recognize changes in paradigms in many industries, Monumental is this partner. This investment will unlock our ability to develop and evolve our platform, a really independent source for news and the analysis of sports women. ”.
“I was one of the first subscribers to the two platforms, and I’m always looking forward to seeing their newsletters in my reception box every day,” said Ted Leonsis, CEO and founder of Monumental. “My real interest as a fan is what hung me to continue this investment. I am proud of the work they do to cover female sports. ”
IX And Following Innovate
Also available at Theixsports.com,, The IX ‘Daily newsletters provide original reports, interviews with athletes, coaches and industry leaders; And a complete guide on the sporting content of essential women for reading, observation and listening. Writers include Annie Peterson on Soccer (Monday), Joey Dillon on Tennis (Tuesday), the founder Howard Megdal in basketball (Wednesday), Marin Dremock on Golf (Thursday), the contributors of the Garden on Hockey (Friday) and Lela Moore in gymnastics (Saturday).
In addition to the foundation IX And as editor -in -chief, Howard Megdal is also the founder and editor -in -chief of Following. Megdal wrote eight books, including the next Become Caitlin Clarkand covered female sports at The New York TimesTHE Washington Post,, Illustrated sports And many other points of sale.
Since their foundation, both IX And Following quickly put on the impact and readership scale, the public reaches competing with the most established editorial rooms.
The two platforms have recorded a growth of almost 82% of subscribers in the past year – a significant contrast of the subscription currently decreases in the information industry
In 2024, IX collected more than 12 million readers and Following Raised over 30 million
Currently, Following reached more than 3 million readers on average, and IX reached an average of more than 1.6 million
FollowingThe podcast “Locked on Women’s Basketball” attracts more than 350,000 monthly listeners.
A monumental commitment to female sports
The investment is based on MSE’s work of several decades to defend female sports, with the mandate of Ted Leonsis over 20 years as one of the oldest and longest WNBA owners reflecting this long -standing commitment.
Monumental is an industry leader in female sports programs since its foundation, including a multitude of pioneer initiatives supporting women’s sports and expanding its coverage in the media.
In 2023, the Mystics became the first WNBA team to present a pre and postgame program dedicated for each regional game broadcast on Monumental Sports Network (MNMT)
In addition to the coverage of the mystics of the network, during the university basketball season of 2024-25, MNMT has teamed up with college sports departments to broadcast more than 30 women’s university basketball games, including several historically black college and universities (HBCU). MNMT also broadcasts basketball and High School Girls programs and fully produces NWSL Washington’s minds, as well as a post-match post dedicated after all MNMT matches.
As part of its Sports Youth District of Play initiative, MSE made its debut Girl’s empowerment program in 2025 which included a revolutionary partnership with Coach across America It changes the game®
Mystics were a founding member Washington Coalition of Women’s Professional Sports, created to connect and support women’s sports teams in the DMV region
Capitals created the All the caps all The platform, which has given access to hockey and has raised the game for more than 2,000 women and girls in the Washington DC region since its launch in 2021 through hockey and young hockey programs, professional development possibilities and coach training / referee
In 2022, Wizards District Gaming, the Esports de Monumental franchise, joined the Mystics to support new and continuous efforts to raise players
Capitals, Wizards and Mystics are constantly hosting activations during their regular seasons focused on the commitment of young female athletes and raising women in the sport industry, including annual night games for women and pre-match / at stake.
Monumental Sports Network recently announced an expansion of the “Monumental Game Center” in the monumental +application, which will offer sports betting and integrated gamification for all Washington Mysics games broadcast on the network throughout the 2025 season. With this offer, MNMT is the first holder of the rights of local media known to offer an interactivity of the spectator, in particular Advanced statistics and gamification options through the female sports landscape.
For more information
To get all IXWomen’s sports newsletters are delivered directly to your reception box each week, subscribe to Theixsports.com/subscribe/. To obtain each story and podcast produced by Following delivered directly to your reception box, subscribe to thenxthoops.com/subscribe/.
###
On monumental sports and entertainment
Monumental Sports & Entertainment is the main family of American sports and entertainment. Our people, our players, our teams and our events bring excitation and joy to millions. We invest and innovate to regularly raise the game so that we can offer extraordinary experiences that will inspire and unite our community, our fans and our employees. To find out more, please visit https://monumentalsports.com/.
About IX
IX is a daily newsletter and a guide organized on female sports that provides readers with ideas cannot go anywhere else. The publication is focused on highlighting people and female sports stories that the current sports landscape does not provide. For more information, visit: www.theixsports.com.
About the next
Following is a 24/7 basketball editorial room which produces more than 100 editorial pieces each month, as well as a daily podcast. For more information, visit: www.thenexothoops.com.