2025 will be a massive year for women’s sport.
UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the Women’s Cricket World Cup share space in the calendar with fast-growing elite club and franchise competitions.
And while, as this day one panel told the ISC 2025 audience, it is important to keep making the case for women’s sport, it is also past time for partners to understand the commercial dynamics that have created a powerful opportunity.
“The reason it’s so compelling is because it’s different,” said Unilever’s Emily Heath. Women’s sport creates different stories from and for different fans and communities – and that demands a different approach for brands and media companies.
For Michael Inpong of Valeo Foods UK, partnerships in women’s sport can still tell stories about progress, bring communities together and encouraging participation. He cited, for example, the value that can be added by brands who provide resources to increase the number of women coaches – so that young girls can be led and inspired by female role models, perhaps showing them a future in sport that lasts through adolescence.
Sarah Lewis believes that a concerted effort from women’s sports bodies and its brand and media partners has helped refocus the discourse on “the achievements of the women competing”, giving audiences the space to engage with athletes and events on their own terms. Nevertheless, recalling her time at the International Ski Federation (FIS), she argued that parts of women’s sport have offered unique marketing possibilities for some time.
Luxury watchmaker Longines, she said, became the official timekeeper of the FIS after identifying equestrian sports and skiing as two sports where women competed on equal terms to men. “In some countries,” she added, pointing to American superstars Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, “the women actually had a better status.”
This was significant as Longines had also discovered that 80% of luxury watch purchasing decisions were influenced by women. And Heath agreed on the importance of brands properly considering who is actually buying their products – noting that in many households, some products are bought by women for men.
Original programming and branded entertainment also have a key role to play in keeping the women’s sports audience growing. According to Laura Lopez, Rakuten’s Originals division is finding that women’s sports series – like the football-focused Champions – are often the most culturally current and relevant. This is allowing producers and brand partners to explore refreshing narratives and themes that take sports coverage into new areas.
That approach to content, Heath said, helps brands to look beyond the big moments and events and maintain a conversation with fans over the long term. She cited the networked effect of Rexona/Sure’s TikTok-based campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup as an example of content that reached and was taken up by a broader community.
This could also be a moment for real creativity. Michael Inpong argued that women’s sport has a chance to break away from staler-established tropes in sports marketing. He also contrasted the “joyous” nature of the women’s football experience, as opposed to the “angry” atmosphere at men’s games. It is crucial, that brands nourish and tap into that emotional resonance.
