data analysis

Snapshot: Commercial Development of Women’s Sport

Women’s sport properties beginning to secure partnerships independent of their male counterparts

Uefa’s $28 million partnership with credit card firm Visa demonstrative of the growing value of women’s sport within multi-gender sports properties
Previous partnerships with the European football federation covered inventory for both men’s and women’s competitions, including the Uefa Champions League and European Championships
A similar trend is seen with the Fifa Women’s World Cup, though women’s specific sponsorship is currently limited to less lucrative event partnerships in Fifa’s ‘National Supporter’ partner category

The WSL’s title sponsorship with British bank Barclays, worth a reported $4.42 million annually, highlights that properties that function solely for women’s sport are able to attract lucrative brand partnerships, without reliance on a male equivalent
Barclays is a current partner of the Premier League, and a former title sponsor, with its commitment to women’s soccer highlighting that brands with a history of sports sponsorship are seeing the value in women’s sport
The emergence of such partnerships may encourage further commitments into various sponsorship markets within women’s sport, with the rate of athlete endorsement deals growing

Increase in viewing figures and engagement across multiple women’s sport competitions and properties such as the WNBA and the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup is creating windows of opportunities for brands to access targeted audiences
Cricket Australia has seen long running partner Commonwealth Bank commit exclusively to its women’s team, suggesting that the women’s national side is capable of forging its own commercial direction
While differentiated partnerships between men's and women’s teams provide brands with less inventory, it can allow them to create a more distinguished and unique stand alone partnership with its product’s audience.

02/22/2021 14:05:03