A winning playbook

The GIST: This holiday season, the Buffalo Bills aren’t just playing NFL games — they’re the latest team featured in a holiday-themed Hallmark movie thanks to the channel’s NFL partnership.

• Both Hallmark and Lifetime, whose romantic TV movies serve similar audiences, are quickly developing films to capitalize on popular sports trends. These movies seem largely geared to romantics who aren’t already sports fans, as the NFL hopes to convert new fans, especially as Hallmark’s audience is 70% women. Here for the cheer.

The why: It’s no coincidence Hallmark entered its NFL partnership last year after Taylor Swift helped the league make inroads with many new women fans. In 2024, teenage girls’ viewership of the NFL jumped 53% after Swift’s early-season appearances, while it increased 24% for women aged 18 to 24 and 34% for women 35 and older.

• Hallmark’s first movie focused on the Chiefs, while this year’s film focuses on the Bills, another popular team that boasts famous WAGs in its fanbase like Hailee Steinfeld and Cardi B.

• According to Skydance, over 75% of Hallmark’s audience also watched the NFL during the channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” campaign last year. And romance seems to be a hook across sports, with the NHL noting that the steamy hockey series Heated Rivalry “might be the most unique driver for creating new fans.”

The landscape: Sports leagues and brands are paying more attention to women audiences — and entertainment is beginning to appreciate the power of the crossover. Similar to Hallmark, Ion has a majority female audience that has converted to women’s sports fandom because it’s on the network. Being present on such entertainment channels can help sports and brands win over new audiences.

The women’s sports angle: Lots of men’s sports leagues are taking advantage of these crossover opportunities, but per Wasserman, women’s leagues have a long way to go to fully win over women fans. And compared to men’s sports, women’s sports have a casual fan problem: McKinsey reported women’s sports have fewer self-described “avid” fans and casual fans are less engaged.

• When it comes to fan trends, the NFL is typically an early adopter — women’s leagues and invested brands should consider how they too can get in the game. The Hallmark partnerships also represent an opportunity in scripted TV — the WNBA is releasing a scripted series, while cult movies and shows have developed fervent fandoms. Stay tuned.

Every major men’s league had decades to find footing — to build rivalries, legends, and global mythology. Women’s rugby? That story is being written in real time.

That’s the energy behind She’s Not Next, She’s Now, The GIST of It’s eight-part series spotlighting the game-changers shaping emerging women’s sports today.

In episode five, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Lauren Tuiskula go deep on rugby, a sport where international competition has long been the pinnacle, and where domestic infrastructure is finally catching up.

• From World Cups, Olympics, and global pathways to the rapid rise of Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) in the U.S., we’re breaking down how the sport’s growth is accelerating.

Expect first-hand perspective from executives, athletes, and insiders, including Canadian women’s rugby icon and World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year Sophie de Goede, WER Executive Chair and lead investor Deb Henretta, Ilona Maher’s agent Rheann Engelke, and The GIST Plus member Chanelle S.

The GIST: On Monday, Wasserman’s The Collective published the third part of its extensive research on the economy of women’s sports and the influence of women fans. In this edition, The Collective focused on the growth of the women’s sports ecosystem, studying macrotrends exemplified by increased private equity (PE) investment and infrastructure investment.

• Last Friday, we spoke with The Collective’s SVP of strategy & growth Alyson Walker about her insights and what investors and brands should be paying attention to, specifically the opportunity for smaller PE firms and the benefits to investing in closed leagues. Moolah la la.

The report: There are several trends that illustrate how private capital and institutional investment is transforming leagues, such as women’s sports expansion fees increasing over 5,000% since 2008. Plus, practice facilities are a lucrative investment for teams and brands, with franchises investing over $500M across eight new training complexes.

• High-growth women’s leagues — think LOVB, Unrivaled, and AUSL — are scaling faster than traditional models thanks to extensive partnership portfolios, top-tier media deals, and successful capital raises. And media and fan ecosystems (like The GIST) are also scaling up quickly as they nab white space in the media market.

The takeaways: Walker said the insights from this report demonstrate not only the rising interest from large-scale PE firms, but the opportunity for niche and mid-market ones. She mentioned the success of The Monarch Collective, which is dedicated to women’s sports ventures, and Mercury 13, which is focused on investing in European women’s soccer.

• Walker notes the traditional model, like the WNBA’s, can be successful, but closed models work well thanks to their cohesive, centralized structure, equal team investment, and ease in facilitating partnerships across clubs — a theme our She’s Not Next, She’s Now podcast series has explored. A winning playbook.

GISTer, it’s time to find your beach, and we know just the place: Cancun, Mexico. We’re giving away a beachside winter escape that includes:

🏨✈️ Three nights at the all-inclusive Royalton CHIC Cancun, an Autograph Collection resort and a $500 AMEX gift card for travel,

👙💆 $100 credit for cabana poolside snacks and beverages, plus a $100 credit for the resort spa,

🍸 And a tequila tasting experience for two. Cheers.

Impressed? Don’t wait — enter now and shoot your shot at sun-soaked bliss.