The Growing Market and Opportunities in Women’s Sports

Photo by Chris Leipelt on Unsplash

It’s no secret that the market for women’s sports is growing at a fast rate. Just look at youth sports and young girls’ favorite athletes. According to youth basketball coaches, if you were to ask them who their favorite basketball players were just a couple of years ago you would hear the likes of Lebron James, Steph Curry, and many famous NBA players. Now, young girls mention names like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as role models. While the stats and data show women’s sports earning more revenue and interest each year, there is also a secondary effect that women’s sports are becoming more important to American Culture.  

Shifting Trends at Youth and Collegiate Level

When thinking about the most popular sports in America, football is the largest commercial and viewed sport. Despite its immense popularity, in recent years we have seen football participation specifically amongst youth and high schoolers start to decline. It may be that the injuries of the sport are seen as too great of a risk for parents, yet it may also represent a shift in interest among youth. Similarly, baseball in America is labeled our national pastime, yet it seems stuck in the past and the future is worrisome to MLB owners and coaches alike. When thinking holistically about these sports, they seem to be male-dominated with no football for women, and no major organized softball in the US past the collegiate level. Yet the Nebraska women’s volleyball home games have been sold out since 2001. They also held the second largest women’s event in world history–a women’s volleyball event at the football stadium with an attendance of 92,003.  

Over the past decade or so, I have loosely followed the US men's and women's national soccer teams. When thinking about each team broadly there are only a few common sentiments shared in sports media surrounding each team. For the US men's team, sports media is always disappointed in the often-times young and rebuilding team that seems lucky to qualify for the World Cup. For the women’s team, winning the World Cup, and most recently the Summer Olympics gold medal is the standard. Anything less than a trophy is seen as disappointing. When watching the past Olympic games I couldn’t help but notice the passion and enthusiasm that fans have for the women's team. Sure, Americans and many of these same fans will root for the men's team when they play, but there is a noticeable difference in the level of excitement and attitude for each. 

The 2024 Olympics 

Whether it be the dominance of the women’s team or the broader interest in women's sports, the growing market and interest in women's sports is here to stay. If you were to quickly think of the greatest American Olympic athletes in the past ten years a few common names would quickly come to mind. Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles. In the past Olympics, one of the biggest narratives was how an older Simone Biles was able to not only perform at a high level individually but also lead her team of younger gymnasts to several gold medals. These moments and the coverage for sports like gymnastics seem to only grow in excitement year after year. After watching these sports, it's almost impossible to not feel the excitement and opportunity for the future of women's sports in the US. 

How to Make an Impact

Despite this acceleration of both success and interest in women's sports, several issues remain including Title IX issues, networking opportunities for women, and biases in the sports industry. To discuss some of these issues and potential opportunities to overcome them, we met with Lydia Davies at Osprey, a membership community for women in sports and entertainment. When creating Osprey, Davies specifically wanted to address the lack of support and networking opportunities for women in the sports and entertainment industries. The goal for her company is to connect athletes, artists, and executives, and provide them with a platform for them to collaborate and learn from each other. As the sports market continues to grow, Davies wants Osprey to become a global network, connecting women from all over the world. 

Besides joining Osprey, we discussed the ways that individuals can make a positive impact on women's sports, and how you may even benefit from doing so. Lydia Davies believes that persevering and continued efforts at the individual level will help women’s sports gain recognition and momentum. At the corporate level, individual and event-based sponsorships are a great way to not only support women's sports but also gain awareness and potentially even consideration from customers who may not have known about your brand. With the recent development of NIL opportunities for collegiate athletes, your company could play a role in funding women’s sports while brand interest from an emerging market. As of 2025, there are rumors that Title IX could expand to NIL opportunities, ensuring NIL funding is even between Male and Female programs at each university. If this happens, it could bring much more awareness to women’s sports while allowing companies sponsoring athletes more opportunities for engagement. As new and exciting figures emerge in women’s sports, creating and tailoring your brand in a way that specifically helps women is a great way to differentiate your customers and build loyal brand followers while creating a more equitable future.

If you are interested in learning more about the business of women’s sports and joining a network of like-minded individuals with similar goals, Osprey and Lydia Davies are a great resource. For businesses looking to grow and become more profitable in changing markets, Sugar Land ActionCOACH is here to help!