SBJ Women’s Sports: How -- and how much -- fans are spending

Until further notice, assume I am writing to you with “The Life of a Showgirl” as my soundtrack. This elder millennial is rocking my Eras Tour sweatshirt while repeating tracks 1-5 to bring you this newsletter, basking in the witchy vibes of “Elizabeth Taylor” and dancing at my standing desk.💃

A new report from Ally out Wednesday sheds some more light on fan behavior in general but also brings key insights on the way women’s sports fans spend. (We love to see it and will add it to the lengthy and growing list of research on women’s sports in my spreadsheet. 🤓)

I caught up with Stephanie Marciano, head of sports and entertainment marketing at Ally (and member of SBJ’s 2024 class of Forty Under 40), ahead of the report’s release to dig into the data in “The Cost of Fandom.”

First, the report -- which surveyed 3,000 sports fans from Gen Z through Boomers last month -- found 67% saying their spend on women’s sports has increased (22%) or stayed the same (45%). Like Marciano, I expected that might be higher.

“What that is showing us is the staying power of women’s sports that year over year, particularly in the last few years, that people that are loving women’s sports are continuing to invest,” Marciano said.

The research has a lot of insights, but here’s what else that stood out to me as being particularly relevant in women’s sports:

Everyone watches women’s sports. No really, we mean it. The notion that only women watch women’s sports (as persistent and frustrating as it is), isn’t true, and Ally’s data provides another measurable point. The research found men outspend women on women’s sports, $600 vs. $400 annually.

“We’re seeing spending across men and women, but you’re seeing male fans come in, which is important to this landscape to continue to grow that scale,” Marciano said. “This is mainstream, and I think we’re going to continue to see upticks in investments from both women and men in women’s sports.”

Fans are still spending more on men’s sports. Ally found they spend 90% more -- $950 annually on men’s sports compared to $500 on women’s -- likely reflecting often higher price points, more inventory and (me speaking, not Stephanie) structural advantages of having decades of head start.

“What we would really love to see is a closing of the gap of that spending,” Marciano said.

Fan behavior gives ways to tailor approaches. The report offers great insight into generational and gender differences in fandom, which can be a huge asset to properties and brands. The research showed men lean toward experiential fandom while women favor social fandom. And Gen Z fans, in particular, said supporting women’s sports is part of supporting equality and empowerment.

“At the league, the team level and at the brand level, it’s going to really help you build activation strategies that serve fans from a generation standpoint and from a male-female standpoint,” Marciano said.

While there aren’t many women’s sports-specific playing venues (yet!), playoff season can bring a windfall of dollars to companies that work with host arenas. With the WNBA Finals just concluded, we reached out to SBJ Research Director David Broughton to break down how concessionaires fared these past few weeks:

Levy was the behind-the-scenes winner in the WNBA Playoffs, according to SBJ’s analysis of official game-day box scores, as 32% of the 297,778 fans that attended the league’s 24 postseason games did so in an arena where the company handled the food and beverage operations. That number would have been even higher if the Golden State Valkyries’ sole home date had not been relocated from its Chase Center home to SAP Center 45 minutes away in San Jose. Levy and Bon Appétit -- both Compass-owned companies -- operate the F&B at Chase Center.

(The temporary move was necessary because The Laver Cup, an international pro tennis tournament, was booked at Chase Center before the WNBA club had been awarded to the Bay Area.)

As I hope you’ve seen from our magazine last week, we spent the past few months digging in on women’s sports sponsorship. (If you haven’t yet, we promise it’s well worth your time.)

It covers a lot of ground, but I want to spend some time here on things we didn’t get to, those that still stand out and what I am thinking about for future stories.

Still in early days

The more I digested the data and talked to folks, it became so clear we are in the early days of a trend. The newer and emerging categories make up a small share of the overall data, around 5%, but an outsized share of attention. But … it’s very much a situation of sponsors dipping their toes in, especially with challenger brands who see an opportunity to get in early.

There’s a lot of runway there -- and still some work to do on convincing other brands to get in. As the space has shifted from first movers to brands clearly seeing the business value, it should become competitive in some of these categories. For crying out loud, there are more state lotteries in this database than there are tampon sponsors.

“What I feel like the next wave that we’re tracking is, what are the more mainstream brands? What are the ones that are like, ‘All right, I know I kind of missed that early wave ... but it’s a super smart business decision.’ And if I look at my portfolio of investments across sports, I no longer look at it as, ‘This is my women’s sports play,’” GMR VP Peter Aiello told me. “It’s like, ‘No, this is my audience play.’”

As Raj Sports’ VP/corporate sponsorships Chris Orechia told me, a lot of brands know they should be in but don’t know how yet. So it’s the early days, and I’m eager to keep watching new brands coming in and keeping an eye on the ones that are not.

Women athletes are the differentiator

One thing I asked several of the brands was basically, why women’s sports? From just a sheer volume perspective, many men’s sports bring more women fans than many women’s sports.

Two things stand out as differentiators:

The athletes. Growing evidence shows that consumers trust female athletes more than male athletes and any other influencer. And I lost count of how many people noted that generally speaking, those athletes are better at the social engagement and content creation than most male athletes.

“The athletes have different stories to tell, and so you’re seeing all kinds of brands that maybe didn’t quite know what their place was in sports before suddenly find a path forward,” said Parity CEO Leela Srinivasan (a 2024 SBJ Game Changer). “We find that women athletes are very eager to partner. They’re eager to over-deliver. They want that one-off deal or that short-term deal to become longer term.”

Unlocking new fanbases. It’s not just that women’s sports unlocks a different fan than those who watch men’s sports (indeed, many women’s sports fans watch both). It’s that they are making new sports fans.

Take the Golden State Valkyries, who sold out every game in their inaugural WNBA season. To President Jess Smith, they rebuffed the notion that women’s sports bring “a small but hyper-energized audience.”

“They’re just not in anyone’s database yet. When you put the product out there in the right form, they’re the first ones in line to buy in the most esteemed season ticket packages and club experiences. They’re first in line with all the merchandise. They’re watching every single game start to finish. They’re following every player and every partner,” Smith said. “And they have been waiting for this moment, whether it’s three years or 30 years, to happen and for them to go all in on. And that audience is much bigger than anyone has anticipated.”

A focus on the next generation

Multiple people highlighted a sponsorship in particular that has me thinking about future stories -- Dove’s deal with Gotham FC, which includes a “Keep Her in the Game” initiative. The program is aimed at building confidence at an age when many girls drop out of sport and reached nearly 1,800 adolescent girls in its first year.

“The sponsorship is in itself a message,” said Anaïs Guillemané Mootoosamy, strategy director at Conran Design Group. “They have been endorsing this kind of new definition of what being a woman is about and turning and endorsing sport in a way that is all about empowering women and building legitimacy around it.”

I know Gotham isn’t the only women’s team looking to address the high dropout rate for young girls, and I’m still thinking through a story around this. So if that’s something you’re working on, please send me a note.

The Wings promoted VP/Communications and Broadcasting PAMELA FLENKE to SVP and chief communications officer.

USL W Minnesota Aurora FC elevated Chief of Staff SAARA HASSOUN to president. Prior to joining Aurora, Hassoun served as chief of staff with the NWSL club Gotham FC.

• The Jets started an Under-14 version of their high-school level Jets Flag Elite girls team and signed a sponsor (Fathead), SBJ’s Ben Fischer reports.
• The Aces-Mercury matchup delivered the most-watched WNBA Finals through two games since 2000, SBJ media reporter Austin Karp notes.
• Versant will be bringing on longtime play-by-play voice Kate Scott to lead its coverage of the WNBA when USA Network begins its package of games next season, Karp also reports.
• NWSL expansion club Denver Summit FC, which will debut in 2026, selected Jump as its exclusive fan experience and ticketing partner, SBJ’s Ethan Joyce reports. Summit FC also retained Legends Global to handle sponsorship sales, SBJ’s Alex Silverman reports.
• The NWSL’s Reign FC signed Seattle-based pet insurance company Trupanion to a multiyear deal to be their front-of-kit sponsor, Silverman reports.
• The Big Ten and Allstate agreed to a multiyear deal designed to highlight women’s sports, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy writes. The partnership includes the creation of the Allstate Big Ten Women’s Championship series, a yearlong competition that will award points based on regular-season and postseason performance.