This post was created in partnership with Scripps Sports
Where does fandom begin now? Rarely at tipoff.
During an ADWEEK House Sports Summit fireside chat co-hosted with Scripps Sports, Sherry Pitkofsky, SVP of marketing at Scripps Sports, sat down with Alexis Ohanian, tech entrepreneur and founder of Seven Seven Six, and Dawn Harper-Nelson, Olympic gold and silver medalist and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, to discuss how belonging shapes the next phase of sports fandom.
Fandom starts with access
Scripps Sports built its portfolio for fans who follow athletes well past game day. And Scripps’ ION network takes that commitment to women’s sports. The network includes dedicated WNBA and NWSL nights, ATHLOS track and field, professional women’s hockey, Major League Volleyball, and regional teams across the country. The 24/7 network gives fans live sports, original storytelling, and, importantly, connection, she said.
“It’s more than what’s just on the field or on the court or on the pitch,” Pitkofsky noted. Fans want the athletes, teams, social conversation, and stories behind the score.
Emerging leagues can’t wait for legacy media economics to catch up to the needs of modern fans, Ohanian argued. Women’s sports are busy proving there’s a faster way.
“If we think about the way fandom is built now, the way any of these emerging leagues, men’s or women’s, but especially women’s, have to build their fan base, it’s brick by brick,” he explained. “It’s community-driven. It’s bottom up. It’s mostly online to offline.”
Ohanian credited partners like Scripps Sports for getting access right. A new league can fight for an exclusive rights deal, he cautioned, but the early money is too small to satisfy anyone. It’s smarter to maximize reach, win fans online daily, and make watching effortless once people fall in love with the athletes. For marketers, the payoff is fans who behave like insiders instead of spectators.
Fans want the full athlete
The industry spent years packaging women’s sports as inspiration. Harper-Nelson wants that framing retired. Female athletes are complete competitors, edge included.
“I know that yes, I am a female athlete, but when I step on that line, I’m trying to kill anything in sight,” Harper-Nelson said. “My dream will live, and yours will die. I’m an athlete. I am here to handle this mission. I have sacrificed my life for this. Stop holding me to your standard.”
