Why women’s sports are the next frontier for brand growth
After years of fits and starts, women’s professional sports are surging in popularity, viewership, financial backing and cultural significance. While not at parity with men’s sports, the gap is closing. The aptly named platform Parity helps connect brands with female athletes in major leagues like WNBA basketball and niche sports like softball and lacrosse. When Parity’s Alana Casner thinks about the future, she imagines a growing ecosystem of fans, media coverage and beneficial brand relations, all of which elevate the fandoms.
Matt Carmichael: Are we finally there with women’s sports? Like, can we stop having the conversation about if this is a thing yet?
Alana Casner: The audiences are there. Sellouts are happening everywhere. Fandom exists. It's unfortunate that it took until 2025 for people in charge of the dollars and cents to get it. The LA 2028 Olympic games will be huge for some of the more niche sports and athletes.
In 10 years, I think people will finally see that this is not just momentum. It’s what the standard should be for women's sports from a viewership, fandom and earning perspective. And it won't just be the mainstream sports that are having this growth.
Carmichael: How can women’s sports and athletes broaden audiences for sports in general and vice versa?
Casner: Women athletes, their fans and those that are on the periphery paying attention are already helping move the needle. I go to a ton of WNBA Liberty games. That arena is filled with men, women, kids, families and bros who hang out at the local bar who now have season tickets because it's way more fun to go to a Liberty game than a Knicks game. Sorry, Knicks.
Carmichael: How can we break the chicken-and-egg cycle of not having enough coverage to build an audience and not having an audience to merit more coverage?
Casner: Over the last 24 months we’ve seen the beginnings of that. NCAA women’s basketball is finally now getting its March Madness to be a separate entity sold for media rights. It was always bundled with the men’s. The viewership numbers speak for themselves. The media channels and the networks are starting to see that the women’s sporting events are outperforming other events that have been in those time slots. There’s nothing new happening in men’s sports.
Carmichael: Can brands help develop this fandom?
Casner: We need more champions at different brands to invest in commercial slots. Women's sports fans are almost three times more likely to purchase a product recommended by a woman athlete than any other type of influencer.
Look at what Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball did with their TNT and Turner Sports deal. They’re airing Friday nights, Saturday afternoons and Monday nights on all the Turner channels. Turner saw the value, and they have so much sponsorship they were able to raise so quickly.
There’s nothing new happening in men’s sports. ... We need more champions at different brands to invest in commercial slots [for women’s sports].”
Carmichael: How does fandom differ between men’s sports and women’s sports?
Casner: For women athletes, you enjoy them as a person, and you care about what they’re into and you might trust what they say. They’re so much more relatable. They care about their fans and like to engage and make the kids happy. That is a huge difference between men’s and women's sports. I’ve worked with a ton of pro women athletes over my career and a ton of pro male athletes over my career. I’m not saying there are not good eggs on the men’s side, but the amount of time, effort and intention that the women put into everything they’re doing — you see that as a fan of the sport, and you want to engage more with them.
Carmichael: Are brands catching on?
Casner: Parity has existed for four-plus years. The first two were spent convincing brands that they should work with these women. Talk about a frustrating conversation to have. But a lot of people did get it and bought in, and it was awesome. Now the conversations have shifted to brands that are coming to us, saying, “I want to invest in women's sports. I want our core brand audience to know that this is intentional and not that we're trying to check a box.”
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