Pandemic landscape reveals importance of investing in women’s sports
Today, more than ever before, it’s critical for brands to align their sponsorship portfolio with the values they so proudly promote, especially when it comes to supporting and empowering women.
We’re encouraged by the spectacular growth in attention and fandom that women’s sports have experienced over the past few years. Since 2017, men’s professional sports leagues in the U.S. saw an average fan growth of 22%. During the same period, the fan bases of women’s professional sports in this country have grown 145% on average. Last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup audience doubled in size compared to the 2015 edition — what other major sport can claim those growth figures?
What’s more, the way consumers describe women’s sports aligns with how brands want to be perceived from a values standpoint. Women’s sports are more likely to be described as inspiring, progressive, and family-oriented compared to their male counterparts. From Megan Rapinoe to Maya Moore to Naomi Osaka, female athletes have earned this reputation by leading the way on many social issues and being vocal advocates for change. And recent history shows us that when a female athlete takes a stand, the world listens.
So, why is it that, as LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan points out, fewer than 7% of corporate sponsorships worldwide focus on women’s sports?
Yes, we have seen some progress on this front but considering the imbalance, it’s hardly a cause for celebration. For example, UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, created a dedicated commercial program for all women’s competitions. This quickly bore fruit, as forward-thinking brands such as Visa and Pepsi jumped on board to support the growth of women’s soccer, and to drive their female empowerment agendas forward. Here in the U.S., Google and Nike made national headlines by making substantial commitments to the NWSL.
However, these headlines are noteworthy because of their infrequency and they are unfortunate reminders of the lack of commercial support overall for women’s sports in this country. As an industry, we can and should strive to do better. The 7% share of sponsorship spend in women’s sports remains painfully inadequate and our hope is that we can look back in a few years and marvel at how far we’ve come.
Let’s also not forget that we are living through an unprecedented and challenging time with the COVID-19 pandemic. While so many people’s health, lives, and career prospects have been affected by the crisis, women are particularly vulnerable at this time. According to McKinsey, women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable to this crisis than men’s jobs. Women make up 39% of the global workforce but they account for 54% of the overall job losses due to the pandemic.
Failing to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women will dampen the progress on gender equality as well as the continued growth of our economy. And this is especially true for women’s sport, which is not exempt from the undue burden that the global pandemic has placed on women worldwide.
At CSM, we believe that the time is now for brands to start strategically investing in women’s sports. We are projecting continued growth of fandom for women’s sports to last in the foreseeable future, providing an unparalleled opportunity to engage and win over this hard-to-reach and influential segment of consumers.
For marketing executives seeking to align their brand with values that resonate with purpose driven consumers, women’s sport will continue to be a leader in social-oriented movements.
And finally, growing and supporting women’s sports, at all levels, during this difficult time will work to bolster the resiliency of the entire sports industry long after COVID-19 has passed.
Sources:
■ https://nielsensports.com/women-sport-report-download/
■ https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/06/15/In-Depth/Whan.aspx
Vanessa Taveras is a vice president in the Properties group of CSM Sport & Entertainment, leading sponsorship sales efforts for rights holder clients including New York Road Runners and the LPGA. She recently helped launch a new professional women’s sports league, Athletes Unlimited, with sponsors Geico and Carvana. Taveras is also a mentor, a mom and a 2020 SBJ Game Changer.
