Heroine Hit - June

Get ahead of the game with my monthly must & want-to-know women’s sport sponsorship & marketing hit

Fashion show-down engages fans

I am loving the social content being distributed by WNBA and NWSL teams that turns pre-game arrivals into a fashion runway.

Players are busting out various outfits and being captured in fun-style content as they arrive for match day.

It’s a clever way to tap into other fan interests and showcase athlete’s personalities to build existing fan relationships as well as pull in new fans. It makes particular sense for the WNBA given basketball’s natural crossover with culture and streetwear.

Women’s sport media companies like Future Million Heirs have helped extend reach with quirky montages and voting activations like above.

Gotta-know

1) MasterCard has become global founding partner of Women in Rugby in a 5-year partnership with World Rugby which saw the launch of a slick marketing campaign (below).

2) Tour De Femmes will take place in July 2022 in the week following Tour De France and has attracted online fitness platform, Zwift as it’s presenting sponsor.

3) Meal ready kit provider, Hello Fresh has entered their first ever sport sponsorship via a partnership with WNBA’s New York Liberty and LA Sparks.

4) Simone Biles is taking her commercial opportunities into her own hands, headlining her own post-Olympic tour instead of the usual USA Gymnastics showcase.

5) A 27 year old Mia Haam trading card has sold for $34,440 becoming the most expensive female athlete card ever.

Johnnie Walker becomes Jane

Whiskey brand, Johnnie Walker has become founding partner of Angel City FC and in a slick twist are activating their Jane Walker brand in what will be their first sport sponsorship.

Jane Walker is a symbol of Johnnie Walker’s commitment to gender equality and the Angel City FC sponsorship certainly delivers this. They will produce a content series celebrating and enabling ‘Firsts’ by women as well as putting 10% of sponsorship funds into social enterprises like IFundWomen.

I would love to see more women’s sport take a braver approach like this and while a name change may be a step too far for some, tweaks to products and packaging offer another avenue to explore.

‘Founding Partner’ is the new black

It’s interesting to see both MasterCard and Jane Walker claiming ‘Founding Partner’ sponsorship status.

While they have every right to use the word ‘founding’ given they are ‘supposedly’ the first supporters of these properties, I see this being more about sending a message that they are not just short-term transactional sponsors but rather genuine, long-term partners who want to move women’s sport forward.

It’s a smart move to further communicate their brand values (and support of women’s sport and women in society) and also perhaps a sneaky attempt to claim early ownership of a wider women’s sport sponsorship movement.

15 Ways to boost club & league revenue

FIFA released a first-of-a-kind Benchmark Report this month and while it only examined women’s football, I plucked out 15 revenue insights that I believe other women’s sports can use.

15 No-brainers to boost club and league revenue:

1. Offer season tickets
2. Write a women’s strategy
3. Negotiate broadcast rights separately from men’s
4. Get strong on social media as it correlates to sponsorship revenue
5. Find ways to ensure 1000 fans attend as it’s your magic number
6. Ensure direct access to your CEO
7. Implement financial controls and a licensing system
8. Focus your revenue efforts on sponsorship
9. Negotiate sponsorship deals for women’s teams only
10. Ensure you secure a title sponsor
11. Cozy up with the finance sector as they are key to title sponsorship deals
12. Don’t be concerned with diluting your sponsorships
13. Invest in marketing for greater commercial return
14. Create a dedicated women’s department
15. Give women’s clubs independence from men’s teams or at least control

Check out my blog post for full details, proof points and context.

Victoria’s Secret Athlete Angels

US Soccer star, Megan Rapinoe publicly said that Victoria’s Secret was patriarchal and sexist, but even they understood the brand value that female athletes like Rapinoe could bring to help save their sinking business.

Rapinoe along with fellow athlete, Eileen Gu, a 17-year old Chinese American freestyle skier have replaced the infamous Victoria’s Secret Angels as part of the Victoria’s Secret Collective. The VSC includes 5 other female power players and is an attempt to redefine sexy in what has to be one of the biggest brand flips ever.

This is the perfect example that shows the brand power of female athletes and the increasing role social justice plays around women’s sport. Brand’s and right’s holders should embrace these unique attributes that women’s sport holds to drive interest and commercial opportunities.

The real reason people aren’t interested in women’s sport

Women’s sport is not as physical. The skill level is not high enough. Games are slower.

No, none of these are the main reasons why people aren’t engaging with women’s sport.

A YouGov Report just released cited the 5 main reasons why people say they don’t engage with women’s sport as:

1. Less media coverage
2. Lack of knowledge about the teams and/or athletes
3. Limited marketing
4. Cannot easily find games to watch on TV, online or other channels
5. Fewer people around me are interested in it

This is great news for women’s sport as it shows women’s sport has a supply-side issue rather a demand problem!

So right’s holders, media and sponsors, focus on making women’s sport accessible, lift the profile of athletes, share their stories and invest in them as fans are there already waiting for you!

Women’s sport fans are market leaders

The results from ‘The Fan Project’ which analyzed 10m social data points donated by women’s sport fans are in and have laid down a new commercial model for women’s sport.

5 unique women’s sport fan (WSF) behaviours and opportunities:

1.WSF should be seen as ‘Early Adopters’ by the wider sport market - they’ve had to rely on digital and technology thanks to lack of traditional media coverage.
- Opportunity = Test innovations and new ideas on WSF and learn from them.

2. WSF are driven by communal behaviour i.e. co-watching and sharing.
- Opportunity = Provide activations like companion chat, viewing parties, social gaming and community platforms for them to engage with each other.

3. WSF want to own a piece of the action and want to demonstrate their fandom through what they wear and buy.
- Opportunity = Activate licensing and other commercial deals like merchandise or NFT’s.

4. WSF have become ‘creators’ adding to the stories, reach and community of women’s sport
- Loosen digital rights to fuel organic conversations and don’t be scared to let fans drive things.

5. WSF want to put their social values on display and engage and buy from brands that align.
- Opportunity = Don’t be afraid to take a stance on or post about social issues and be sure to only align with brands that match your values.

Most excited about

🎾 Wimbledon: 28 June - 11 July

🏉 Buildcorp Super W Rugby finals: 3 July

🏏 England VS India T20I Cricket: 10/11/15 July

🏀 WNBA All-star game:14 July

🏉 Farah Palmer Cup Rugby kicks off: 17 July

🏏 The Hundred Cricket starts: 21 July

🥍 Inaugural Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse starts: 23 July

🏅 Tokyo Olympics: 23 July - 8 August

⛳️ Amundi Evian Golf Championship: 22-25 July

🏆 ANZ Netball Premiership final round: 24-26 July

Spread the love

Please forward this on to anyone who may benefit so they can sign up. Thanks !