Both women and men are nearly equally interested in watching women’s sports (49% vs. 51%), according to Nielsen’s “The Rise of Women’s Sports” report. And it’s not just a niche crowd. Women’s sports interest 84% of sports fans as a whole.

Nielsen also found that sports fans around the world feel that women’s sports and athletes are more inspiring (36% women’s vs. 26% men’s), progressive (32% vs. 17%), family-​oriented (25% vs. 13%) and clean (26% vs. 8%) than those of men’s. These aspects can potentially open up TV viewership to more audiences, such as families and children.

The most popular women’s sports are:

• Track & Field: 89% interest
• Tennis: 86%
• Triathlon: 81%
• Mixed Martial Arts: 79%
• Extreme/​Action Sports: 69%

Other popular women’s sporting events include golf, cricket, cycling, basketball, soccer and rugby. 

TV Sports Watchers make up nearly 31% of U.S. adults, according to AudienceSCAN from AdMall by SalesFuel. They enjoy watching NBA basketball (43.4%), Olympic Games and/​or sports (39.7%), college or NCAA basketball (38.3%), golf (25.6%), tennis (17.8%) and boxing (16.9%) on TV.

Numerous events for both female and mixed sex sports have already gained a massive awareness from sports fans around the world. According to Nielsen, the Olympic Winter and Olympic Summer games have 90% and 88% awareness, respectively, the FIFA Women’s World Cup has a 63% awareness and 49% of sports fans are aware of the Women’s Tennis Association’s Tour.

As the popularity of women’s sports has grown, so has its sponsorship. According to Nielsen, from 2013 to 2017, women’s sports saw a 37% increase in annual sponsorship deals and a 49% increase in average monetary deal size.

Sports fans of all kinds are increasingly interested in women’s sports. That presents an opportunity for TV advertisers targeting sports fans. For more information on all kinds of sports fans and the advertising that influences them, head to AdMall’s AudienceSCAN. Then, pitch some TV ad ideas to your clients to take place during the increasingly popular women’s sports broadcasts!