BY Kathy Crosett
The women’s sports category has become a serious contender for consumer attention. And that means advertisers are noticing. How should your accounts go about targeting women’s sports fans? Here’s what you need to know.
Women’s Sports Programs Are Expanding
The professional women’s sports leagues cover basketball, soccer, hockey volleyball, rugby and lacrosse. Fans are also excited about college level players. At that level, more female players are negotiating their own deals through the NIL (name, image and likeness) programs. With a strong social media platform, they’re generating content and connecting with fans. This trend is attracting marketing funds from local and regional businesses. Both the school and the athletes benefit from targeting women’s sports fans.
Understanding the Woman’s Sports Fans Audience
Interest in women’s sports has surged in the past few years as specific players like Caitlin Clark have demonstrated their skill and star power. Around 57% of women’s sports followers fall into the new fan category. AudienceSCAN data shows that around 6.5% of U.S. adults call themselves women’s sports fans.
McKinsey analysts believe that further fan development will be needed to “deepen engagement” and build “authentic fan communities.” At this point, many sports fans can name multiple star male players, but they may not have that same familiarity with female players.
Our research shows that women’s sports fans are nearly evenly divided by gender. These fans are largely in the 25-to-44-year-old age group. They are more likely than other to have a household income of over $150,000, and they often live in urban areas.
Marketing Strategies for Women’s Sports
McKinsey analysts report that women’s sports benefits from multiple revenue streams. These streams include brand sponsorships and broadcast media rights. The current industry value of $1B is poised to increase to $2.5B in the next five years. While this may sound large, women’s sports only captures 2% of the total U.S. sports market.
Around 20% of total revenue will likely go to the broadcast media rights, which McKinsey analysts say is undervalued. As more women’s sports matches are broadcast, your accounts should be targeting women’s sports fans through creative ad campaigns.
Broadcast TV ads are an effective way to reach this audience, according to AudienceSCAN. Around 50% have responded to a TV ad in the past 30 days. In addition, around 22% of these consumers watch between three and five hours of TV every day.
Favorite sports, either on TV or in person, include tennis (24%), hockey (22.3%) and golf (21.6%). Keep in mind that female players have been very visible in professional tennis and golf.
The Value of Sponsorship
Remind your accounts that women’s sports fans are nearly 100% more likely than other U.S. adults to support companies that sponsor a favorite team or athlete. This is an opportunity to generate benefit from sponsorship of a specific athlete.
High Interest in Events
We all know that consumers pay big prices for tickets to see their favorite musicians or bands. It turns out that women’s sports fans will open their wallets for events too. Around 20% of the audience will take a trip to see a professional or college sports event that is out of town. And 15% will pay for season tickets to a pro or college sports team. These data points prove that your accounts have plenty to gain by targeting women’s sports fans.
Connecting with Purchase Intent
Women’s sports fans may have fitness aspirations of their own. They over-index for purchase intent of active wear. And they’re more likely than other consumers to call themselves physically fit. Around 20% are in the market for a new gym or fitness center. To ensure their continued fitness, about 30% shop for vitamins and nutritional supplements.
There’s no denying that targeting women’s sports fans pays off. Remind your accounts to connect with this audience in new and unique ways to grow their revenue.
Image by Luis Andrés Villalón Vega on Pexels.
