Photo: Canva
Will the World Cup Further Elevate Women’s Sports Marketing?
FIFA’s Women’s World Cup recently sold out its sponsorship packages, with its partners for the event vaulting 150% from 12 in 2019 to 30 this year. The surge in sponsor interest comes amid projections that the games will be the most-watched in tournament history.
Nielsen’s “Women’s Sports Viewership on the Rise” study found that 41% of the global population is excited about the Women’s World Cup, up from 34% before the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Nielsen declared that the interest in women’s soccer is part of a “meteoric” increase in fandom across women’s sports, citing hikes in viewership for the 2023 NCAA tournament final, the recent WNBA draft, and the United Kingdom’s Women’s Super League (WSL).
“This massive shift hasn’t occurred in a vacuum,” wrote Nielsen in the study. “It’s the result of brands, sponsors and broadcasters investing in and prioritizing women’s sports.”
Speaking to WWD, Mary Jo Kane, professor emerita at the University of Minnesota and director emerita of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, said the 2023 Women’s World Cup is benefiting from significantly greater media coverage, the U.S. team’s potential to three-peat, and many countries, especially in Western Europe, recognizing the benefits of investing in women’s soccer.
She said, “The media doesn’t cover this out of the goodness of their hearts. They cover it because it’s a good business deal for them. There’s a growing audience that they have finally recognized and respected.”
One longstanding challenge with women’s sports marketing has been a tendency to “highlight the athletes’ femininity and sexuality rather than their athletic ability,” according to a study from researchers at Cleveland State University.
London-based Dark Horses Sports Marketing Ltd. also believes that achieving parity with men’s in sports marketing includes focusing on individual stories rather than women’s accomplishments as a group and shifting women’s athlete campaigns “away from overcoming inequality, and more towards the confidence and swagger of entertainers.”
A survey of 2,500 U.S. sports fans taken in October 2022 from the National Research Group still found that while 30% watch more women’s sporting events than five years ago, 79% do not actively follow women’s sports.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Is women’s sports sponsorships and marketing still an underserved opportunity for brands and retailers? What will it take for women’s sports to make the next breakthrough in viewership and sponsorships?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lucille DeHart
Principal, MKT Marketing Services/Columbus Consulting
Bob Amster
Principal, Retail Technology Group
As I write my morning RetailWire at my coffee place, the Women’s World Cup is on the TV. In fact, I am taking a break to watch the final minutes of China/Haiti.
The trajectory is steep. Viewership for the tournament has already surpassed 2019. Records were also broken in collegiate and pro basketball.
I don’t think there will be a next breakthrough. Growth will be constant and high. As more experience the women’s games and find they are every bit as exciting as the men’s games more will tune in. The demographics are also in the women’s favor. A younger demographic has been more associated with women’s sports. High schools and colleges have as many women’s teams as men.
Nike valiantly rode the U.S. women’s soccer team to great success for both and proved the value of supporting women’s sports.
Spot on, Gene.
I wish the success of women’s soccer would create a halo effect, but I don’t see other sports commanding the same interest. Special events still unify us but day-in-and-day-out women’s sports are still considered less desirable in business. Perhaps the new Barbie World will help shift that.
Three factors contribute to the fact that yes, women’s sports are still underserved and that there is a good opportunity for brands, retailers, women’s sports and other associated businesses. The factors are three and simple. First, women are gaining recognition in the sports world simply because it’s been overdue. Sponsors will pay to back successful teams and individual sports figures, and the USWNT has not disappointed there. ‘Soccer’, soon to be recognized as ‘football’ in the US to the chagrin of the NFL, is gaining popularity from the grass-roots level up and from the world stage down. Any questions?
More girls play youth soccer than boys play youth football.
I think with the U.S. Team it has already taken a pretty big step forward. I have been very impressed with the commercials that are very nicely tied into the team or members of the team. Google, for one, has done an excellent job as well, specifically their spot on equality, women’s rights, etc. If the U.S. team wins, watch out!
The visibility in women’s soccer is an example of what is needed to create equality in sports (referring to pay). Visibility, ratings, etc. are what should drive a more equitable way to compensate athletes.
There’s a lot of room and upside for sponsors to invest in women’s sports, especially given the elevated level of play and the groundswell of girls in sporting programs.
Special events, like the World Cup, put sponsors and players in the spotlight
From a European perspective Women’s sport is definitely on a strong upwards trajectory and this will snowball as more people watch the World Cup which is now receiving good TV coverage. It is not just football, Wimbledon this year saw the ladies matches attract just as much if not more attention than the men’s, Women’s Golf is getting more coverage, the recent Evian Championship was a major event on Sky TV. In the press last week there was a discussion about dropping the term Women’s football as it is just football, that is taking it mainstream. Sponsors are getting on board but there are some great value options still compared with many of the men’s events and retailers and brands should look to take advantage of this as the watching public is not predominantly female but across both genders.
What will it take? More #winning. I lived in Boston for a long time. Boston is a serious sports town, both for men and women. Make the teams and games competitive, put them on the air at good times, and it will fly.
Look at what Serena and Venus have done for tennis. And their OWN brands Winning players/teams and interesting clothes (not too girly) and you’ve got a winner.
Here is a well-hidden and little reported fact about the US women’s World Cup team: Unlike every other country’s team, the US women largely refuses to sing their country’s national anthem (only three players sang) and only five put their hand over their heart. Most just stood there like zombies. Their attitude is extremely disrespectful to the Flag of their country. Sponsor these athletes? I would toss them off the team.
Women’s sports marketing is a source of global growth.
More retail investments are pouring into sports, including sponsorships, merchandise and live content as companies seize opportunities to connect with diverse communities of sports lovers.
Investing in female sports franchises, youth leagues and media coverage will continue to grow the market.