Deloitte and Wasserman share sponsorship insights from brands backing women’s sports

The GIST: This week, Deloitte shared findings from the Athena Pledge, a research collaboration driven by key sponsors to evaluate the marketing potential in women’s sports. According to the data, sponsorships grew 22% YoY across women’s professional leagues, teams, and athletes in 2024.

• To better understand this increase, Deloitte teamed up with Wasserman’s The Collective to survey 84 U.S. brand decision-makers about why they’re doubling down on sponsoring the women’s game and what barriers to investment still exist. Let’s dive in.

🤝 Brands can score points with a prime demographic. The report theorizes women’s sports fans are more open to sponsors than men’s sports fans because these companies have helped make women’s sports more accessible. Ally has seen a rise in brand value and trust after initiating women’s sports sponsorships, including savvy moves like pushing for an NWSL primetime slot.

• Brands like Visa and Nike have seen immediate ROI thanks to their deals with key properties such as the USWNT. According to the report, both companies saw a massive YoY boost in engagement and spending from women’s sports fans after becoming sponsors, with Nike seeing a 1100% increase and Visa seeing a 2700% jump.

📱 Women athletes’ engagement rates are a big focus. They drive 2x more engagement than male athletes and were responsible for 53% of Paris 2024’s TikTok and Instagram engagement. Per the report, 90% of brand decision-makers consider social media and digital content to be important when evaluating a women’s sports sponsorship, while 88% expect strong growth among rising stars.

✅ Brands see sponsorship benefits when analyzed properly. Despite its growth, the women’s sports landscape still differs from the men’s and should be evaluated independently to adequately measure campaign efficacy. For example, comparing the WNBA’s audience size to the NBA’s isn’t apples to apples — the NBA has a 50-year head start and billions more in investments.

• Instead of comparing audience size, companies can look at rate of conversion, which reflects the loyalty of women’s sports fans noted in previous Wasserman research. When brands used customized metrics to evaluate ROI in women’s sports campaigns, they noticed a more positive impact compared to the generic metrics used for men’s sports. Everything custom.