Today’s guest columnist is Amy Clarke, manager in the Deloitte Sports Business Group.
Following a remarkable year for women’s professional sports in 2022, this summer’s Women’s World Cup proved to be another landmark moment in the growth of the women’s game, with a record number of fans walking through the turnstiles and watching live—no matter the time zone.
In the UK, the final drew 12 million viewers on BBC One, making it the most-watched women’s football match in the country’s history. FIFA reports that almost 2 million fans attended a match during the tournament—breaking the previous record by more than 600,000.
As audiences for the women’s game continue to grow, new commercial opportunities in women’s football are opening up. And we’re likely to see a new ripple of investment following a World Cup that put the drama, skill and professionalisation of women’s football in the spotlight for a global audience of brands and investors.
There has already been a real uptick in investment in England in recent years, most recently with Barclays’ record-breaking sponsorship of the Women’s Super League (WSL) and Women’s Championship until 2025.
The high proportion of WSL players selected for national squads at the World Cup demonstrated the impact increased investment in the league has already had on player performance.
On a commercial level this investment is also supporting the league’s growth. Following a rise in audience numbers and subsequent growth in broadcast and commercial deals, Women’s Super League clubs generated £32 million ($40 million) in aggregate revenue in the 2021-22 season, up from £20 million ($27.5 million) in the previous financial year, according to Deloitte analysis.
And on a global level, the next phase of evolution in the women’s game will likely now be supported by new investment, whether that comes from new partnerships—including technical kit deals, front of shirt or league sponsorships—or private investment. While the current financial return likely doesn’t satisfy all stakeholders, the direction of travel is a positive sign.
Brands are also now tapping into new target audiences, diversifying their portfolios, and realizing the value of investing into both men’s and women’s teams. At the World Cup, we saw new brands enter into the fray to sponsor individual players, from high-end fashion houses to media publishers.
And beyond football, these brands are capitalizing on the engaged audiences of athletes, and the leagues and tournaments they compete in. Women’s sport stars are growing their own personal profiles, building online followings where they are seen as positive role models for young fans, and valuable assets for sponsors, investors and brands. These athletes’ accounts are becoming some of the most engaged-with sports accounts across online platforms, proving their value as new-age digital influencers.
With the curtain falling on the World Cup, the priority now should be around securing new investment in clubs, leagues and players and galvanize strategies for the next phase of growth. Both of these tasks will require one non-negotiable tool: data.
Every business plan and investment strategy must be underpinned by rigorous data, but a lack of available numbers and inconsistent reporting has so far limited investment in women’s sport. Data will allow organisations to demonstrate viability, growth and the true business case to investors, commercial partners, and stakeholders across the game.
Within these conversations, the topic of unbundled or commercial deals will inevitably arise. While commercial deals have historically been bundled between women’s teams and their respective men’s sides, as the women’s game carves its own path, there are now growing opportunities for rights to be unbundled.
In some cases, the unbundling of commercial rights is one way that women’s teams are looking to improve their commercial performance, albeit this remains in its early stages across the WSL, with 10 out of 12 teams having bundled shirt-front sponsorship deals. The critical question for clubs is whether these deals attribute appropriate value to the women’s teams, and continue to do so as these teams experience such unparalleled growth.
The allure of European competition is getting much stronger. Previously, the United States was viewed at the go-to destination for many women’s sport stars, especially those looking to play on the U.S. National Team or to earn sponsorship from the largest women’s sports market. However, there has been a recent shift, with players able to play across Europe and gain the same attention and commercial attraction as playing in the States. Europe is also home to elite club tournaments, allowing them to play against other top-level talent, whereas the NWSL does not have a comparable tournament. There is also a lot that the European game can learn from the NWSL, such as the commercial drive and differentiated women’s football offering.
What’s clear is that there will be no one-size-fits-all solution. The nature of competitive professional sport means every club and league will need to tread its own path in terms of the deals that will bring the right opportunities to their players, the best experiences to their fans, as well as a sufficient level of investment to underpin their next phase of growth.
With an increasing focus on player welfare, training and equipment, the competition among investors and commercial partners for world-leading leagues, clubs and athletes in women’s football is heating up. The opportunities for investors and commercial partners to buy-in to the growth of women’s football are becoming hard to miss, but the data to quantify that growth is critical to ensure that those opportunities are realized.
Clarke leads the Deloitte Sports Business Group’s strategy for women’s sport and is a key industry contributor on a variety of women’s sport topics including financial sustainability, commercial growth and investment. She is currently involved in discussions on the future of women’s football in the U.K., working closely with senior stakeholders across the industry.
Source: https://www.sportico.com/leagues/soccer/2023/womens-soccer-business-rapid-growth-1234739754/
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