Sports and Events Management Focus
Hannah EdmondsonSenior Associate,Corporate Commercial
Sport continues to attract more viewers than any other genre of programme. The popularity of women’s sport is ever growing, resulting in greater attendance, increased viewer figures, more sponsors and wider media coverage. Whilst women’s sport does not (yet) reach the same level of exposure as men’s, it offers new and untapped commercial opportunities for rights holders, brands and media, due to its huge potential for rapid growth.
The Women’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal between Barcelona-Real Madrid was the most attended women’s game to date with over 91,000 spectators. The 2021 U.S. Open final between Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez averaged 2.4 million viewers. By comparison, the men’s final between Daniel Medvedev and Novak Djokovic averaged 2.1 million viewers.
The Women's Sport Trust recently published a report which found that TV audiences for women’s sports have doubled from 2021 to 2022, with 36.1m viewers tuning in between January-July this year, compared to 17.5m in the equivalent period in 2021.Tammy Parlour, chief executive and co-founder of the Women's Sport Trust said of the report: "Women's sport needs to translate this increased interest and attention into generating enhanced commercial revenue streams, such as merchandise, ticketing and media rights, and unlock innovative ways to monetise the passionate women's sports community, many of whom were new to sport during the Women's Euros.”
Brands invest in sports for numerous reasons; to amplify brand identity on a global scale, synergy of the demographic of the brand and the demographic of supporters, passion around sport resulting in a highly engaged audience, breadth of inventory across numerous platforms and the ability to scope such inventory to the brand’s specific objectives.
With Deloitte reporting that women's sport is “on track” to be worth over a billion dollars, this article explores whether women’s sport now offers brands a better return on investment (“ROI”) than investment in men’s sport would.
According to the recent Nielsen Women’s Sport Report, women's sports are considered more progressive, less money-driven, more family-oriented and cleaner than men’s sports. Nielsen Sports’ research also shows that 84% of sports fans, more than half of whom are men, are very keen to watch and engage with women’s sports.
Whilst a key driver of sponsorship for most companies is ensuring exposure of their brand and associated products and services, a move to women’s sports shows that brands are considering different metrics for the way in which they measure the success of their sponsorship. There is a clear shift from the traditional ideals behind sponsorship, with brands now investing in properties which resonate with their core values, usually with messaging around the relationship highlighting the social and sustainable aspects of the sport. Women’s sport presents an opportunity for brands to help fund equality and an equal playing field, which shows commitment to something meaningful and allows a positive public message around the ethos of the brand. Emphasised in the words of Sarina Weigman, the England women’s football coach, following England’s historic win at UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, “I think we really made a change. I think this tournament has done so much for the game but also for society and women in society in England, but I also think in Europe and across the world and I hope that will make a (bigger) change too.”
The sponsorship of men’s sports is fairly saturated whereas women’s sport allows for clear brand identity and association, making the ROI much more attractive, particularly as the initial investment is a lot lower for women’s sport than it is for men’s. As interest in women’s sport grows, standalone sponsorship is becoming a more attractive proposition, rather than such deals being bundled with a deal for the men’s equivalent. Brands that have made exclusive deals with women’s sport are becoming synonymous with that sport as it grows in popularity, offering such brands a unique opportunity to get involved with the sport early on and continue on a journey with the sport as it potentially explodes.
There is also often a misconception that women’s sport is for women, however according to Nielsen Sports, 51% of the television audience for women’s sports is male, so there is as much opportunity for male-focussed brands in respect of women’s sport as there is for female and neutral- focussed brands.
There is also often a misconception that women’s sport is for women, however according to Nielsen Sports, 51% of the television audience for women’s sports is male, so there is as much opportunity for male-focussed brands in respect of women’s sport as there is for female and neutral- focussed brands. Thus, due to the perception that women’s sport is “more family-oriented and cleaner than men’s sports”, it is likely that the available audience a brand can tap into is much more diverse than it would be for the equivalent men’s sport.
As mentioned above, whilst sport is still the most popular genre on television, the way in which sport is consumed is ever changing and digital campaigns can be much more impactful than more traditional inventory, such as brand logos on perimeter boards and backdrops being shown on the television match feed. Thus, if a brand is inventive and innovative with its assets, a well-thought out and provocative digital campaign will create much more traction around the relationship between the brand and the sport.
Brands involved in women’s sport are pushing boundaries and coming up with new concepts and content that men’s sport probably would not allow. One great example is the Nike - Dream Crazier campaign which had the tagline “It’s only crazy until you do it. Just do it” and focusses on the difficulties and stereotypes female athletes have fought against to bring women’s sport to where it is today, creating content which is emotive and empowers its audience.
Nike - Dream Crazier | #JustDoIt
Men’s sports usually have long-term, historic agreements in place with their sponsors with rights scoped during the infancy of the relationship, often resulting in strict parameters around how rights can be exercised. In addition, male athletes in the most renowned sports are often huge stars in their own right and do not want obligations to their team sponsors to put their own personal endorsement deals at risk and as a result, may try and limit their usage in a “club context”. All in all, potentially an extremely frustrating process for the brand’s marketing team.
As an emerging market, women’s sport offers brands the opportunity to acquire a sponsorship that delivers a huge return on investment for a fraction of the price when compared to men’s. Investing in women’s sport now, before it potentially explodes, gives brands the opportunity to create lasting and meaningful partnerships, which will likely appeal to a wider audience as a signal of the brands commitment to progression in society.
For our clients who are considering entering into a sponsorship arrangement, we advise during the initial commercial discussion, contract drafting and negotiation and throughout the duration of the contract (e.g., if issues or disputes arise). Some examples of how we can assist are set out below.
Pre-contract – depending on who we are acting for, we advise and help clients to identify a sport or brand that is aligned with their respective ethos and ensure that the agreed rights package is scoped to maximise the brand’s exposure or that the sport can actually deliver the relevant rights.
Contract negotiation – as well as ensuring our clients are legally protected (such as simple and efficient approval processes, intellectual property protections and the ability to terminate if the association turns sour), we also review the commercial terms of the deal to ensure that what was agreed pre-contract is fully reflected.
Post-signature – for example, if a client who is a brand thinks there has been an under-delivery of their rights or for a sport, there is an abuse of the intellectual property licence, we can advise on both the legal recourse or if the client wishes to continue the relationship, the best way to commercially re-set the balance.
For further information,please contact Neil Morgan.
Published in October 2022
