USC Annenberg report illustrates how athlete media economy has ample room for women

The GIST: Yesterday, USC Annenberg published a first-of-its-kind report on the athlete-owned media economy. It identifies movers and shakers in the space, but also notes the gap between men and women athletes — women were featured in only 22% of the athlete-owned podcasts analyzed. Let’s dive in.

The landscape: Researchers identified 33 athlete-owned production companies working on more than 370 properties, with legacy athletes like LeBron James and Peyton Manning leveraging their star power to generate millions. Only a few women athletes like Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Sue Bird, and Megan Rapinoe have production companies on a similar scale.

• While production companies are a massive undertaking, podcasts are relatively easy to lead and launch thanks to social media platforms like YouTube. The report tracked the 45 most-watched athlete-owned podcasts that have collectively garnered 7B YouTube views, 725M TikTok likes, and 37M Instagram followers.

• The most successful bootstrap productions are often picked up by major media companies: The popularity of New Heights led to a $100M Amazon Wondery deal, while Pat McAfee leveraged his dedicated YouTube following in an $85M ESPN agreement. Such blockbuster deals are rare for women’s sports pods, although Audacy did acquire Re—Cap in July.

The gender gap: The athlete-owned media space provides women athletes opportunities they don’t get in traditional media, but there’s still a gender gap. This makes a difference in what fans are exposed to: Even having a woman guest on a predominantly male podcast, like when Brandi Chastain joined Games With Names, can drastically alter the conversation.

• USC found when an episode of a sports pod featured at least one woman, they covered women’s issues 30% more than the average New York Times sports article and 4.5x more than episodes with men only. The financial gap between women and men athletes is also evident in these conversations: Men discussed money twice as often as women.

The opportunity: Male athlete–owned media is still taking up a lot of airtime, but it’s important to note how women’s sports fans are eagerly tuned in: USC said over half of women’s sports fans have listened to audio sports content within the last year.

• The report also emphasized how athlete-owned media can offer a unique glimpse into their lives, something women sports fans (and younger audiences) are interested in — and something women athletes have used to build engaged fan bases. Born to use mics.