It’s noteworthy that while numerous athletes and media figures have started their own production companies, Victorious, a women-focused company founded by former WNBA player and current ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike alongside her longtime agent Allison Galer, has launched with an existing deal for a scripted series. This launch was covered by Sportico’s Eric Jackson on Tuesday, who highlighted that Victorious has partnered with NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock for The W, a scripted comedy series centered on the WNBA. The series will feature GLOW creators Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive as showrunners, with Ogwumike and Galer serving as executive producers, alongside Helen Estabrook, Lajoie St. George, and Jodi Hildebrand from Conde Nast’s Glamour Studios.
In a phone interview, Ogwumike stated, “We have not seen the women’s point of view,” referencing successful male sports series like HBO’s Ballers. She credits Penny Marshall’s 1992 film A League of Their Own for opening up the possibilities within the genre, declaring, “This is the first ever [series] for women’s basketball. We’re going to see what the league looks and feels like and what these women do to be successful.”
Although there have been previous attempts in this domain, such as Amazon’s short-lived League of Their Own series, which was canceled after a single season, Ogwumike correctly notes that there has yet to be a series dedicated to a contemporary women’s professional sports league. While many sports-themed TV comedies and dramas have come and gone, few have achieved lasting success, making The W a unique venture.
In Jackson’s write-up, he also mentions Ogwumike’s role in the 2021 ESPN documentary 144, which focused on the WNBA’s 2020 season during the pandemic bubble. Ogwumike expressed some dissatisfaction with how that project unfolded:
Ogwumike, who renewed her contract with ESPN last year and became the first Black woman to host a national daily sports radio show, reflected on her experience in documentary production. Although the Emmy-nominated story of the 2020 season was a significant milestone in her career, she felt that she and Galer could have earned more had they worked independently from ESPN. “Not only did we not get what we felt like we deserved, but people looked to us after accomplishing that and acknowledged that we know the stories that matter,” she asserted.
Furthermore, there is a broader trend regarding the production of content aired on ESPN, stemming from projects being produced outside the company. This includes efforts by former ESPN VP (content) Connor Schell and longtime ESPN Films executive Libby Geist with their Words + Pictures company, not to mention the content being generated by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. As Ogwumike continues her relationship with ESPN, it will be intriguing to see if her new production company collaborates further with the network.
