You don’t have to look hard in 2023 to see a new ‘popularity’ record in women’s sport.

There’s record attendances, like those 92,003 volleyball fans in Nebraska or the almost 2 million football fans who went to a FIFA Women’s World Cup match in Australia or New Zealand mid-year.

There’s record ratings, like the 9.9 million average audience for the final of college basketball’s March Madness tournament between Louisiana State and Iowa (which made it the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history).

And there are record broadcast deals, too, like the National Women’s Soccer League’s recently agreed four-year deal, worth a reported US$60m annually. The NWSL’s commissioner Jessica Berman referred to it as the "largest media investment in women's sports history."

 

 

What’s driven the change?

Decades of efforts have combined to create the huge change we’re seeing in a relatively short space of time now. But a key element in things ‘tipping’ is that women’s sport is no longer being played in the shadows.

This year’s NWSL club championship match, for example, aired in prime time on broadcast television and featured a two-hour pre-game show.

When the Matildas (the Australian women’s soccer team) played their FIFA World Cup semi-final against England, it was covered in Australia at prime time by Seven (a free-to-air TV broadcaster). The result was an average audience of 7.2 million. That’s more than a quarter of all Aussies and it meant that a women’s soccer game became the most-watched TV show in Australia - sport or otherwise - in more than two decades. (Take that Masterchef and The Block!).

It’s fair to say that such a share of the spotlight hasn’t been the norm for women’s sport. And those big shifts aren’t just being seen in team sports.

 

Bring on the Olympics

Next year’s Paris 2024 summer Olympics will be the first in history to see ‘numerical gender parity’ on the field of play, with the same number of female and male athletes participating in the largest sporting event in the world. Of the 10,500 athletes competing, 5,250 will be women.

For some context, at Tokyo in 1964 only 13% of the athletes were female.

It’s a time for feeling proud of progress (if not a little frustrated by the time it’s taken society to get here). But - not to rain on anyone’s parade - 85% of media coverage still goes to men’s sport. So, let’s step into ways women’s sport can build on the coverage momentum, starting with understanding a couple of the key elements that have traditionally held women’s sport back.

 

Reasons for not engaging with women’s sport as much as men's

According to research published by Statista, the two most common reasons for not engaging with women's sports as much as men's sports (at June 2021) were:

• Less media coverage (40%)
• Less knowledge about the teams and/or athletes (35%)

In many competitions around the world men reap the benefits of a 100-year plus head start over women. And that rings especially true when it comes to the stories of sport.

In the established men’s leagues…

We know the teams.

We know our team’s main rivals.

We know the key points of the season.

And, critically, we know many of the key characters in the league.

For example, being from New Zealand, my knowledge of Premier League football (soccer) isn’t great. Us Kiwis were raised on a sporting diet that was very rugby-heavy. But I know that Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scores lots of goals and that he might enjoy scoring them even more against Manchester United, given the way Roy Keane (from Man United) attacked his dad’s leg in a Manchester derby over 20 years ago.

From a similar point in time, I know Thierry Henry had Roger Federer-like grace on the field and that his Arsenal team had one especially magical season. I know Man United dominated under Alex Ferguson (who chewed gum too aggressively for my dad’s liking) and with stars like Roy Keane and David Beckham. I know Roy and David were quite different characters. And I know that Chelsea then rose to the top under the guidance of ‘the special one’ José Mourinho and fuelled by the money of Roman Abramovich.

My point is that my Premier League knowledge is minimal compared to the average Premier League club supporter, but all sorts of things have soaked into my mind. And those stories make the experience of engaging with sport a far richer one for the casual fan (like me, in this instance).

Due to only really getting to the start line with media coverage recently, women’s sport is just beginning to be able to engage with casual fans in that type of way.

That’s super exciting, but there’s critical work to be done.

 

Introducing your 'characters'

The social media age has proven that we follow people as much as, or even more than, teams. For sport, that means that letting your athletes reveal their character really matters.

There would be thousands of people to thank for the current record-breaking NWSL deal but high among them are powerful characters of US Women’s Soccer like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd.

They’re very different human beings. And very different athletes. But they each appeal greatly to different slices of the market.

Going back further, the superstars of the US Women’s 1999 team - such as Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers - made immeasurably contributions. Now it’s the turn of youngsters like Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Alyssa Thompson to step into the space.

Letting the diverse characters of your team shine enables fans to find their favourite. The more your characters are revealed, the more those deep connections with fans are given a chance to blossom.

TV sitcom writers - from Friends to The Simpsons - know this territory backwards. Pop bands like The Spice Girls and One Direction have cashed in on the same phenomenon. Women’s sport is now able to start doing the same.

Across the globe, female sporting superstar characters are emerging everywhere. From Mary Earps making goalkeeping (and dodgy language?) cool with England and Man United. To Sam Kerr scoring the type of goals, for the Matildas and Chelsea, that make people stop in pubs. To Ruby Tui winning World Cups and making every interview an absolute delight for New Zealand Rugby.

 

 

One-on-one interviews reveal characters

All over the world, women’s sport is looking at ways to raise the profile of both its individual athletes and the teams they represent. But that’s within a storytelling landscape that sees:

a). men’s sport with a 100-year head start
b). significantly less media coverage given to women (85% vs 15%)
c). the media traveling less to meet face-to-face with women
d). communications teams in women’s sport operating with less resources than men’s sport

It’s a tough gig.

One great scenario for introducing characters is media interviews done face-to-face and one-on-one. That lets your characters reveal their personalities through conversation. It encourages good journalism. And the stories published from those conversations invite the, highly important, ‘casual fan’ to find their potential new favourite athlete.

But face-to-face interviews happen far less in women’s sport. The media simply aren’t there as often. So, women’s teams need to do an even better job than men of providing remote media access to their athletes. That means that they need slick systems, with both remote phone call and video interview capabilities, to introduce their characters to local and international audiences.

 

In summary

It’s a great time for women’s sport and new leagues - like REAL Pro Volleyball in the US, with investors such as the entertainer Jason Derulo - will contribute to an even brighter future. To fuel more coverage, women’s sport needs more competitions.

But there are historical hurdles that women’s sport will need to continue to overcome.

Men’s sports benefit from a huge head start when it comes to storytelling and that means that their teams, their rivalries, their competitions, and their characters, are naturally all far better known.

One benefit women’s sport has is that it’s in a terrific place for innovation. There are less conventions to have to change. And there are fresh eyes, bringing fresh perspectives, to modern challenges.

Those eyes are laser focused on leveling up the playing field.

Bring on the future.