The growing influence of women in sports: Greater coverage, increased investment

Who are women’s sports fans?

This past year saw a definite shift in the popularity of women’s sports. Attendance records were shattered at sporting events and viewership numbers continued to soar.

In May 2023, PwC surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 2,000 sports fans 18+ on topics including how they watch, bet on, and interact with women’s sports.

Why are women’s sports fans so important?

Fans are ready to keep supporting the women’s sports movement as long as there’s continued investment and opportunity. Increased overall access to games has stoked a growing interest, and this audience expansion can potentially elevate the value of broadcast deals and, consequently, the value of women’s sports overall.

The key challenge for the industry now is to capitalize on the current momentum to create real and enduring change that helps women’s sports develop into an economically sustainable sector.

One way to do this is to ensure that women’s sports forges a unique path and doesn’t simply become the “female” version of the men’s game, as this would represent a missed opportunity to create lasting value.

As it crafts an identity of its own, leveraging positive brand associations and access to a hard-to-reach female audience will allow women’s sports to capitalize on further commercial growth opportunities for years to come.

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