With just four days to go until the start of the 2023/24 Women’s Super League (WSL) season, it’s clear to see that there has never been more excitement surrounding the women’s game.

Last year’s record-breaking campaign saw attendances up by 173 per cent on the 2021/22 season, whilst 16 million unique viewers watched the WSL in 2022.

This summer, more than 14 million people tuned in to watch the Lionesses narrowly miss out on glory, losing the FIFA Women’s World Cup final to Spain.

Interestingly, FanSpeed 2023, our proprietary study of sports fans in the UK, France and Germany found that 46 per cent still say the number one reason they don’t follow women’s sports as much as men’s is that there is not enough coverage.

With this demand, it’s clear to see why brands are queuing up to leverage an audience that is clearly growing – yet the sport still needs further investment to help power its growth.

The opportunity to get in at the right time is huge.

A UEFA report has predicted that there will be as many as 328 million women’s football fans in 2033, which would result in revenue generation rising from the current €116m to between €552m and €686m, with €295 million of this expected to be from sponsors alone.

It isn’t just the competitions that are engaging new audiences, but the players too. England’s Lauren James had 174.1k followers on Instagram in November 2021. By the end of the Women’s World Cup, she had exceeded 650k followers, demonstrating the growing desire of fans to be brought closer to their heroes.

While these figures speak for themselves to demonstrate the growing interest in women’s football, it’s important that brands that choose to enter this space are doing so to create partnerships that are mutually beneficial. Partnerships should be authentic and support key issues in order to avoid being perceived as opportunistic, especially at such a crucial time in the women’s game.

Brands tap into the power of purpose

The good news is, there are an increasing number of innovative ways that brands are helping to grow the women’s game, whilst creating world-class activations that enable them to leverage one of the fastest growing and most engaged audiences in the world.

Many of the world’s most forward-thinking brands have already been involved in women’s sport for a number of years. For example, Barclays became the title sponsor of the WSL in 2019, believing it was investing in potential. Four years later they are reaping the rewards of sponsoring one of the fastest growing women’s leagues in the world, with a positive shift in brand consideration and Barclays’ CEO receiving around 400 emails from proud employees once the WSL deal was signed. Barclays have also continued to show their long-term commitment to the future of women’s football by investing in grassroots development, which aims to have 20,000 schools offering football to girls by 2024.

During the World Cup, Orange also provided a great example of a brand that put purpose at the forefront of their campaign messaging, after research found that over two-thirds of male football fans hold a negative attitude towards women’s sport. Their innovative approach saw footage of what appeared to be the France men’s team performing expert pieces of skill and scoring some incredible goals, before revealing that it was actually gameplay from the France women’s team, using deepfake technology to create this twist and showcase just some of the thrilling moments in the women’s game.

Orange’s support of les Blues was viewed over 15 million times and gained significant mainstream media exposure as one of the best sports ads ever, showing that brands now have the opportunity to become advocates for the women’s game through creative campaigns that entertain the growing fanbase and tap into their passion.

Another brand that tapped into the power of purpose was Gillette-owned Venus, through their #MoveYourSkin campaign featuring England and Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy. The campaign was born from the insight that over a third of women in the UK say they don’t want to participate in sports because of anxieties around the way their skin looks, and almost half of UK women say they would feel more confident in their own skin if they were exposed to more relatable images of women playing sport. Venus looks to break down this barrier, with Wubben-Moy unveiling the ‘Move Your Skin’ mobile exhibit at the football cage where she first started playing in Bow. The exhibit features powerful unedited images of women playing sport and embracing their natural beauty. Venus has also partnered with youth education charity Football Beyond Borders, by creating a self-awareness curriculum-based lesson, available to schools in London and Manchester.

Despite the significant growth of the women’s game, there are still a number of challenges as brands navigate this relatively unfamiliar territory. However, with these challenges come unique opportunities for brands to leverage this untapped potential across leagues, clubs and athletes.

 

WSL Fantasy Football: A missed opportunity?

Engagement tools and gamification are trends that rights holders are leveraging all the time to build fandom, better the experience for existing fans and unlock new entry points into following the competition.

Take for example, the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), which on July 3rd, began to announce the price of each player, giving people five weeks to select their team as anticipation for the new season skyrocketed. However, with just four days until the start of the WSL season, there is still no official Fantasy WSL Football league in sight.

With currently over 9.8 million players, FPL has become so popular that it is now gaining coverage from players themselves as well as managers and broadcasters, with the Premier League producing a weekly show and Sky Sports News frequently highlighting the players with the most points.

FPL, for many, represents their first touchpoint as they learn more about players and start to pay closer attention to unfamiliar teams.

An equivalent ‘Fantasy Women’s Super League’ seems like such an open goal to create new fans and enable existing fans to engage with the league, compete with friends and stay up to date with players’ performances.

Of course, setting up a Fantasy Football league requires significant resource and infrastructure, but this is the kind of proactive investment that the WSL should be making now to capitalise in the heightened interest in the women’s game.

Last summer, it was great to see sponsor Starling Bank dedicate resource to create the first-ever fantasy football league for UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. Starling Bank said they launched the game after research found that 63 per cent of people in the UK believe women’s football should have the same exposure as the men’s game and one in five would play women’s fantasy if it was available.

With over 355,000 women with FPL teams in 2020/21, growth of female managers far exceeding that of the men and the Premier League stating that FPL is a great way to bring more women into football, there is a key opportunity for a brand to follow the demand from fans and own this space.

Overcoming the cost of sponsorship

Another challenge for brands is the high cost associated with sponsorships of a league or team. However, there are many ways to invest in the women’s game and align your brand with the values it connects with. Partnering with players or legends offers a different, and often more cost-effective, kind of opportunity.

Earlier this year, we helped our client Cadbury grow their award-winning ambassador programme by identifying and negotiating partnerships with Leah Williamson, Katie McCabe, Kadeisha Buchanan and Pernille Harder. For Cadbury it was essential that the ambassadors selected, matched their generosity ethos with Hayleigh Curtis, Cadbury Football and Partnerships Sales lead, adding "It's really important that it's the right ambassador that's got the right approach and that it's a true collaboration. Otherwise, you run the risk of having a partnership that comes across as inauthentic."

The players then featured in Cadbury’s first ever all-female ambassador line up for the World-Class Wins campaign, where consumers had the chance to be brought closer to their heroes by winning a once in a lifetime experience with their favourite player.

Brands may also look to capitalise on the significant and rapid growth of player’s social followings. Just this month, PRIME energy drink announced Alisha Lehmann as their first female ambassador after she overtook Alex Morgan as the female football player with the most followers on Instagram with 15.2 million. Not only did Lehmann’s follower numbers increase by 75% in the last year, but she also topped the Women’s World Cup social engagement rankings and overtook Roger Federer as the most popular Swiss sportsperson on Instagram.

Whilst social following is a key factor when considering brand ambassadors, purpose-driven storytelling is becoming an increasingly important tool when engaging with an athlete’s fanbase. Lego’s ‘Play Unstoppable’ campaign featuring Megan Rapinoe, Yuki Nagasato, Asisat Oshoala and Sam Kerr aimed to challenge gender bias, whilst Visa’s ambassadors are supported through their ‘Second Half’ career development programme, which supports players as they transition to careers beyond the game.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup also saw the emergence of a host of new brands enter the space in the last 12 months from the likes of Rexona and Google partnering with Lauren James to lifestyle brand Calvin Klein partnering with Chloe Kelly and Alex Morgan, showing that athlete partnerships are continuing to grow as an effective and innovative sponsorship opportunity in women’s football.

A diverse audience 

Another unique opportunity for brands looking to enter the Women’s football space is that the audience is far broader than men’s, meaning a significantly different fanbase. Research by Fifty.io suggests that those who identify as ‘sporty professionals’ are found to be the driving force behind women’s football growth (27.5%) compared to men’s at 5.4%. Data also suggests that 80% of the men’s audience are described as ‘hardcore football fans’ with 20% described as ‘fans of football with broader interests’ which is the opposite in the women’s audience.

But what does this more diverse audience mean? For brands which haven’t traditionally sponsored football because of its audience, it’s great news as there is a big opportunity to tap into a more family-focused demographic especially when women’s sport fans are 25% more likely to buy sponsor products than followers of men’s sport.

A UEFA report also claims that one in three new fans of women’s football are also new to football as a sport, which presents brands with the chance to engage with a more receptive audience at the very beginning of their footballing journey. In fact, our own Decoding 2021 survey, found that UK sports fans that are interested in the Women's World Cup are much more receptive (31%) than those that follow the Men's World Cup (21%), and more recently, that those interested in Women's Sports are 1.4x more receptive than the general sports fans (FanSpeed 2023).

The space is also significantly less saturated when you take, for example, the Premier League, which lists 10 partners and licensees, whereas the WSL has just five - and three of these are also Premier League partners (Barclays, Nike and EA Sports).

Set for future growth

So as the most anticipated WSL season yet prepares to kick off, the future looks bright for women’s football, but that doesn’t mean that there are not still huge challenges to address on and off the pitch.

Following their relegation to the Women’s Championship, it was revealed that Reading Women will go from a fully professional club, to operating at a semi-professional level, highlighting the precarious financial reality faced by many clubs.

In July, Karen Carney chaired a domestic review of women’s football, which led to the publishing of a 128-page report titled ‘Raising The Bar: Reframing the opportunity in women’s football’. The report produced 10 recommendations focused around ensuring minimum standards are met but also acknowledged that in order to access higher revenue in the women’s elite game, it needs to build audiences across broadcast, social media, and matchday attendance, particularly to unlock increased investment from broadcasters and sponsors.

What is clear, is that it’s imperative that brands and rights holders work together to help shape the future of the women’s game. As we have seen, investing at a time when the trajectory of the women’s game continues to grow sharply, can lead to huge benefits down the line. As sponsorship values increase and other brands enter the game, a growing number of receptive fans will potentially reward brands through their loyalty, via their purchasing and advocating.

There is a huge amount of opportunity and potential within women’s football for brands ready to engage in the game in the right way.

We spoke with Jo Tongue MBE, CEO of Tongue Tied Management, who spoke passionately about the need for brands to collaborate with female athletes to authentically engage with fans. She told MKTG:

“By working with female athletes, a brand can create an authentic bond with the biggest growth area of sport - and thus a new consumer. The fan base is ever-increasing and fans are desperate to feel part of something. Recent research by the Women’s Sport Trust showed that 29 per cent think more favourably of companies or brands that support women's sport through their sponsorship, compared to 17 per cent that support men's sport.

“As we’ve seen, especially in the last year, female athletes are using their platforms to be exceptional voices on social and racial justice, gender equality and legacy. If brands want to stand for something or be true to their values, there are no better partnerships to be had. Investing in women's sports now is essential while female sports continue their upward trajectory. However, investment is just the first step, it’s the activation which is crucial, and where we are seeing so many brands miss the mark. You can’t activate women’s sport in a cut and paste version of men’s sport. It takes thought, expertise and an understanding of a female sport fanbase. Female athletes know and love their fans, so I urge brands to listen to their ambassadors as part of partnerships and rip up traditional contractual models.”

Now is the time for forward-thinking, passionate brands to enter this space and capture the attention of fans to build on the momentum of the World Cup.

To discuss opportunities in women’s football and how your organisation can best identify and leverage them, feel free to send me an email Dan.Turbutt@MKTG.com