In 2020, I read a tweet that changed the way I think about women’s sports. Kelsey Trainor, a women’s sports executive, tweeted, “It’s bad business to not be in the women’s sports business.” At the time, I had been carrying a good amount of frustration for how wide the gender gaps were in professional sports since, in 2020, total share of media coverage of women’s sports was 4%, only 1% of global sponsorships were going to women’s sports, and the pay gaps across the entire industry were unimaginably vast. What I realized when Kelsey shared those words was that those gaps existed not because the product of women’s sports was unexciting; it was because the sports industry was failing to treat women’s sports as a business. The industry as a whole was choosing to overlook women’s sports, treating it as a “charity” or simply unaware of the business potential that existed in the space.
That day, I realized that not only was it “bad business to not be in the business of women’s sports,” but I had a newfound purpose: to make the business case for women’s sports. From that moment on, I made it my mission to hunt down every piece of research, data point and bit of anecdotal evidence to illustrate why it’s great business to invest in women’s sports. Four years later, I’ve uncovered quite a bit. Here’s a summary of what I’ve found:
1) Women’s Sports Have Achieved Scale. In the last few years, the masses have shown up to watch women’s sports. When it comes to ratings, attendance, merchandise sales, tickets sales and more, pretty much every metric is trending upward, with a few examples including:
• The 2024 WNBA regular season had 54 million unique viewers.
• The NWSL surpassed 2 million in regular-season attendance in 2024.
• In 2023, 92,000 fans attended a single Nebraska volleyball game.
• An estimated 2 billion viewers watched the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
2) Brands That Sponsor Women’s Sports Are Rewarded By Fans. A wave of data has emerged in the last few years to prove the business case for leveraging the marketing power of female athletes and tapping into the economic power of women’s sports fans. A groundbreaking piece of research from Sports Innovation Lab in 2021 revealed that women’s sports fans are loyal to brands who sponsor at much higher rates than general sports fans, and are more likely to reward them with immediate spend and engagement. In 2023, The Collective at Wasserman found that compared to men’s sports, fans of women’s sports are 54% more aware of brand sponsors and are 45% more likely to consider a purchase from a brand sponsor. A report from The Office for Women in Sport & Recreation in Australia in 2022 found that for every $1 corporate sponsors invest into women’s elite sport, they realize — on average — $7.29 customer value in return.
3) Female Athletes Make Great Influencers. In 2024, Parity and SurveyMonkey released a study that looked at how female athletes perform as brand influencers and found that women’s sports fans are 2.8 times more likely to purchase a product recommended by a female athlete compared to all other types of influencers. Another study from The Collective found that female athletes drive twice the engagement on social media than their male counterparts.
4) The ROI Is Indisputable. When it comes to sports media, there’s one stat from 2024 March Madness that SBJ reporter Mollie Cahillane references often that demonstrates the low cost and high return on investment from investing in women’s sports. A 30-second spot in the 2024 women’s NCAA championship cost $500,000 and had 18.9 million viewers, while a 30-second spot in the men’s championship cost $2 million and had 14.8 million viewers.
When it comes to team ownership, those who have bought into women’s sports are seeing sizable returns on their investments. One notable example is San Diego Wave FC, which initial principal owner Ron Burkle acquired for a $2 million expansion fee in 2021 and sold in 2024 to new owners in a deal valued at $120 million.
5) Women’s Sports Are The Growth Stocks of Sports. The popularity of women’s sports is growing at an unprecedented rate. Deloitte has measured a staggering 300% growth in just three years when it comes to fans, viewers and customers. Parity found that 1 in 3 people are watching more women’s sports than they did just five years ago, and Forbes estimates that the fastest-growing audiences on TV are for women’s sports.
6) It’s Good For Society. While women’s sports are certainly no charity, it would be wrong to ignore the good that comes with investing in women’s sports. Research from the Women’s Sports Foundation shows that girls who play sports have a more positive body image, report higher levels of confidence and have lower levels of depression than non-athletes. Additionally, the Girls Index from Ruling Our eXperiences Inc. found that girls who play sports have higher GPAs and are more likely to pursue their dream careers than girls who don’t. Not to mention, EY found that 94% of female C-suite executives played sports when they were younger.
Four years ago, the business proposition around women’s sports was more difficult to prove. Today, the business case for women’s sports is indisputable. It’s not only good business to invest in women’s sports, it’s bad business not to.
Caroline Fitzgerald is founder and CEO of GOALS, a consultancy and media platform that’s dedicated to showing brands, networks and investors why women’s sports is good business.
