That ever-changing stack of figures includes Sports Innovation Lab’s Fan Project, which found that women’s sports fans are not only acquired and retained at a 40% higher rate than average sports fans, but they also spent more with Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and luxury and travel brands as a result of being so heavily engaged.
The data encompasses the latest numbers from Deloitte, which predicts that revenue generated by women’s sports will exceed $1 billion (to a projected $1.28 billion) for the first time in 2024—with every dollar spent generating more than seven in “customer value for that organization.”
According to Barnes, women’s sports are making sports marketing more profitable, more equitable and more inclusive by following the data, which has brands including Starbucks, Brooks Running, Siete Foods and apparel maker Oiselle seeking a place in Rough & Tumble alongside the Reign, Storm and community groups like Common Goal, Charlie’s Queer Books and the Seattle International Film Festival.
Joining the team
With more brands looking to get in the game, their motivations matter.
When Auburn freshman Kharyssa Richardson suffered a head injury at the Las Vegas Invitational in November 2022, lying on the floor for 45 minutes waiting for paramedics, Aflac decided it had seen enough. It shifted its spending from the men’s Final Four to the women’s Final Four and teamed with South Carolina coach and Aflac pitchwoman Dawn Staley and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to address Dawn’s List of inequities in women’s sports.
After spending nothing on women’s sports in 2022, Aflac has teamed with Togethxr this year and increased its overall investment by 400%. CMO Garth Knutson noted that Aflac’s products don’t directly support women’s sports—they cover gaps in health insurance expenses—but the majority of his intended audience of health care decision makers (and Aflac’s management) are women.
By teaming with Togethxr to reach that audience with the right message, and with The Sports Bra to share that message with the right communities, Knutson and Aflac are finding a place in women’s sports spaces by putting their brand second to the game—which earned Knutson and his women’s sports-touting Aflac shirt a fist bump from Taurasi during the Sweet 16.
“There are people out there who are starting to see Aflac show up. and it’s not so much that they expect it, but they accept it,” Knutson said. “We’re not trying to buy our way into a community that is as tight-knit as women’s sports. … I’d like to say that we’re earning our way into it with our actions.”
As Knutson noted, whether it’s Aflac teaming up with The Sports Bra or any one of the brands looking to score points with patrons at Rough & Tumble, the follow-through is as important as the initial shot.