Women’s sports investments have become a winning strategy for brands, but companies that aren’t diving in are in danger of missing out.

At ADWEEK’s Brandweek in Atlanta on Tuesday, the team from female-sports-focused talent firm Always Alpha—Olympian and ADWEEK Brand Genius Allyson Felix, her brother and fellow sprinter Wes Felix, and CEO Cosette Chaput—took to the stage to illustrate the opportunity in women’s sports.

Among the stats, the group shared that women’s sports attract less than 1% of sponsorship dollars, but women athletes drive 2.8 times more purchase intent than lifestyle influencers. Chaput noted that, though influencers have vanity metrics, athletes have true engagement among their followers.

“With female athletes and broadcasters and coaches, the relationship to their fandom is so much more evolved, and the audience is undeniable,” Chaput said.

The group acknowledged that it’s easier for companies to stick with the same tactics and big names they’ve used in the past; however, taking a risk on women athletes and showing up in new ways can pay off in a big way. For instance, Allyson Felix and her team helped make Pampers part of the Paris 2024 Olympics by introducing the first nursery to the Olympic Village. This brand promotion went viral, making the company, which is not typically associated with sports, a talked-about part of the Games.

“We are just at the very tip of the iceberg of where we can go and where the potential is, but we have to make a long-term investment,” Allyson Felix said about the opportunity in women’s sports. “This is not something that is going to happen overnight.”

The group identified the upcoming LA28 Olympics as an opportunity for smaller brands to also jump in and help elevate the next generation of female athletes, growing alongside them in a Games taking place in the United States. For brands that get in early, the opportunity can provide exponential ROI, and there’s plenty of room to grow.

“When you look at the size of what’s possible in this category, we still have a long way to go,” Wes Felix said.