The Catalysts for the Growth of Women’s Sports
The Catalysts for the Growth of Women’s Sports
how it becomes mainstream
Happy Friday!
I collaborated with Ekta Sharma for today’s piece on the growth of women’s sports.
Ekta is a Sports Business Analyst at Futures Sports & Entertainment. As part of her mission to promote women's sports, Ekta also writes Sportsaboveall — a blog about sports tech and women's sports.
If you have any feedback, ideas, or suggestions for future editions, send me an email or drop me a message on Twitter @Ronenain!
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The Catalysts for the Growth of Women’s Sports
Women’s sports are on the verge of hitting escape velocity and exponential growth — recent developments suggest women’s sports are becoming more relevant in the industry, especially from women’s basketball:
For this past NCAA Women's March Madness edition, ESPN sold out advertising inventory for its second consecutive year, closing ~100 advertisers — up from only 22 advertisers in 2022.
On average, around 9.9 million viewers tuned in to the 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game (up 103% YoY) — a record for a women’s game.
Student athlete compensation (NIL) for women’s basketball players grew by 186% in 2022, per SponsorUnited.
The rise in demand for commercial opportunities and the increased interest in the content demonstrates something fundamental is changing in women’s sports — but why?
A Visible Inequality
In March 2021, college basketball player Sedona Prince posted a video on TikTok showing the unequal facilities provided for male and female college basketball players.
The video went viral, and brands such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Orangetheory, Tonal, and professional athletes like basketball superstars Stephen Curry and A’ja Wilson, joined the conversation to express empathy towards the apparent inequality and to show their support for women athletes.
And it worked – the gym issue was addressed thanks to the buzz created on social media.
However, some evidence indicates mainstream sports media has consistently undercovered the women’s side of the industry:
According to Zoomph, during the second half of March 2021, the top 14 sports media companies posted over 5,100 social media posts — but only 98 (about 1.9%) were about the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
In 2018, UNESCO reported that women’s sports receive only 4% of total sports-related media coverage.
Social media spotlighted the inequality of women’s sports and helped spark positive conversations for change.
Still, limited exposure impacts its commercial potential. Hence, more substantial changes were needed for women’s sports to grow.
More Eyes, More Likes
New niche media companies supporting women’s involvement in sports — e.g., Just Women's Sports (JWS), The GiST, and Togethxr — emerged in the last few years to provide extensive coverage of women's sports.
These organizations strive to provide the coverage they believe is lacking from traditional media — e.g., player news, match details, analysis, women’s leadership, etc. — to meet the growing demand for inclusive coverage of women’s sports.
And the movement is gaining momentum — companies like The Gist and TogethXR have received backing from Trailblazer Venture Studio, and JWS even raised $6 million in funding.
“We saw a massive opportunity to tap into an audience that was extremely underserved by traditional media,” said Haley Rosen, Founder and CEO of JWS. “The on-field product was great; women’s sports needed better coverage and smarter marketing to break into the mainstream.”
An Inflection Point
Women's sports have historically struggled to attract viewers, land sponsorships, and get enough exposure.
However, social and niche media might finally turn women’s sports around.
While women’s sports might eventually need traditional media as a force multiplier to become mainstream — this less conventional exposure may bring the deals, viewership numbers, and demand for media rights required to accelerate growth.
What comes next in the chapter on women’s sports? An exciting time for new business and technology opportunities — and we’re here for it.