Zooming in

The GIST: Yesterday, Parity shared data from a survey of 2.4K U.S. Gen Z adults that ascertained their perspectives and purchasing behaviors. Compounding on previous data reflecting positive Gen Z attitudes toward women’s sports, this new report clarifies how Zoomers feel about women’s sports, women athletes, and sponsors in the space.

• We chatted with Parity’s director of research and insights Dr. Risa Isard yesterday about what we’re learning from Gen Z sports fans and how brands can genuinely reach this generation. We’re listening.

The data: Dr. Isard said Parity initially gathered the data in a more general survey, but the findings among Gen Z respondents revealed strong, widespread support of women’s sports and their sponsors, highlighting Gen Z as an economic force and “a women’s sports generation”: Its members were born between the founding of the WNBA (1997) and the NWSL (2013).

• Gen Z consumers are paying attention to women’s sports sponsors: They notched the highest awareness rates for six of 10 brand categories surveyed. They’re also 25% more likely than older generations to trust brands based on their sponsorship of women’s sports, and they’re twice as likely to say this brand support makes them proud to buy from them.

• Women athlete co-signs matter: Half of Gen Z respondents trust that athletes believe in products they promote, and 35% say sponsorships make them more likely to purchase, with both percentages outperforming all other generations. Dr. Isard calls Gen Z’s awareness, trust, and conversion a “deeply emotional cycle that brands are able to tap into.”

The why: Parity included some key economic stats that illustrate why brands should target Gen Z consumers. Currently, Gen Zers comprise 20% of the U.S. population, and despite their young age, their economic impact is already being felt. They’re on pace to be the richest generation in history, and their spending already outpaces other generations at similar ages.

• Dr. Isard noted the “synergy” between Zoomers and women’s sports as both are values-aligned, which bodes well considering their sports spending habits.

• Though millennials spend the most on sports, Gen Z isn’t far behind. Many in the generation say sports spending makes them feel connected, and they’re the most likely to blow their budget on sports. Interesting…

The takeaway: Parity recommends brands co-design products with women athletes, as it’s the strategy they found to be most likely to engage Gen Z — something New Balance learned partnering with Coco Gauff and Cameron Brink. Parity also suggests social media contests or giveaways: The first-ever digital native gen is 56% more likely than other generations to prefer this marketing.

• Overall, Parity’s findings affirm what we’ve seen over and over: Gen Z wants authentic, accessible content, and partnering directly with engaging women athletes is the most effective way to reach them. As Dr. Isard said, “the athlete is where it’s at,” and there’s opportunity at all levels of play, especially in the NCAA. Taking notes.

The GIST: There’s been a dip in YoY NWSL attendance, but that stat doesn’t exactly tell the whole story. Last week, the league shared insightful data on attendance, viewership, and social media records that women’s soccer fans smashed this year, all of which point to who’s winning the most with NWSL growth: Young women fans. Let’s kick it.

The dip: While fluctuations are normal for sports leagues, the NWSL’s drop is surprising considering most women’s sports leagues have only seen things go up. Overall NWSL attendance, however, has exploded by more than 400% since the league launched in 2013 (375K) to nearly 1.94M this year. And 2025’s season was still the second-highest attended in league history.

The attendance: It was a banner year for the NWSL — for the third consecutive season, average attendance per match topped 10K, marking the longest such streak in league history. And things were especially good for certain clubs, such as Bay FC, which set the league’s attendance record and was one of a record six clubs that sold out or surpassed 10K fans for every home game.

• NWSL stadiums have also been dotting the record books: Forty-eight of the 50 most attended matches in U.S. women’s professional sports league history were NWSL games. Fielding plenty of interest.

The viewership: The league saw its fourth consecutive year of viewership growth thanks to its landmark media rights deal. Viewership was up 22% YoY, with games reaching 214K average viewers across national broadcasts. This was especially fueled by women aged 18 to 34, where viewership increased 30% YoY as the NWSL remains one of the top sports properties for this demo.

• The digital reach helps, especially for the league’s younger fans: Total live streams went up by 30% as fans viewed a record 2.62B minutes across all platforms with a sharp 24% YoY increase on Ion’s FAST platform.

The following: As with its viewership growth, women aged 18 to 34 largely propelled the league’s growth across social media. The NWSL’s total followers went up 27% across platforms as TikTok followers doubled and engagement went up by 68%.

Zooming out: As always, it’s critical to go beyond the headlines and put data into context: The NWSL is clearly on the up-and-up, and soccer is becoming more popular than ever. That growth shows no signs of slowing — and the fact that the NWSL speaks to young women is more reason than ever to invest in the league. The pitch sells itself.

✅ Some surprises are the absolute best, like tuning in to find out which SC will reign supreme in tomorrow’s 9 p.m. ET women’s college basketball showdown.

❌ Others are straight-up day ruiners, like learning your health insurance wasn’t designed to cover everything. Oof.

• Thankfully, there’s Aflac. They pay cash to help you bounce back from expenses health insurance doesn’t cover. No airballs here.