Heroine Hit

Your monthly dose of women’s sport sponsorship & marketing inspiration and insight

An action-packed 6 weeks

It’s been a crazy beautiful month of women’s sports with getting to attend a number of industry and sport events but then I got struck down with a bad cold so you may have noticed that I didn’t manage to send a newsletter last month!

Highlights for me included:

👉 Attending Leaders in London
👉 Meeting Angel City FC co-founder, Julie Uhrman
👉 Visiting the Linkedin HQ office
👉 Watching Chelsea Vs Westham at Kingsmeadow
👉 Record-breaking audiences becoming the norm;
- Rugby World Cup opener
- WNBA finals
- NWSL
- Serena Williams’ ‘last’ game

So lets find out what has been catching my eye lately in women’s sport sponsorship and marketing.

Netball’s unwanted interest

Hancock Mining & virtue signaling:

Australia’s netball Diamonds voiced unease about wearing the logo of new $15m sponsor, Hancock Prospecting with concerns of historical comments around Indigenous people.

Why it mattered:
a) The first Indigenous player in 22 years, Donnell Wallam was making her debut
b) The last minute nature of the dispute raised process questions
c) Hancock Prospecting subsequently withdrew their sponsorship

What I have a issue with:
a) People who normally pay zero attention to women’s sport suddenly cared a lot about netball
b) A disturbing narrative that took aim at players
c) Hancock’s ironic claim of players ‘virtue signaling’ when ‘positive brand rub’ is a core reason companies sponsor sport (especially women’s sport)
d) Commentary that ‘Hancock’ was not a ‘Sponsor’ (didn’t want anything in return) but rather a ‘Donor’ (simply contributing for good) but then why didn’t they forgo their uniform logo which was at the heart of the issue

Visit Victoria a Heroine & a Villain

Visit Victoria then announced their sponsorship of the team at the same $15m amount which divided people further.

Why it mattered:
a) Visit Victoria is a government department funded by tax-payers
b) It was for the exact amount as Hancock’s withdrawn sponsorship fee

My take:
a) The debate shouldn’t be about whether government departments should sponsor sports but rather if the value exchange / price was right, and assurance that this was funded through Visit Victoria’s marketing budget
b) Visit Victoria’s mandate is to spend marketing budget to attract visitors and they need to ensure best use of that budget
c) It’s a good partnership alignment with tangible benefits and quantifiable ROI measures through;
👉 Guaranteed visitors (secured a number of key games in the state)
👉 Access to talent (use of netball talent in their ads)
👉 Instant PR value (current media attention)
d) Without knowing the exact benefits, value calculations and comparative media buys, it seems as though they paid a premium - I’d say of a few million

Listen to my radio interview with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB around this!

Gotta-know

⚽️ UEFA will launch a 2nd-tier European tournament, the Women’s Nation’s Cup to act as European qualifiers for Euros and World Cup

📺 FIFA have hit out at broadcasters worldwide for under-bidding on the FIFA Women’s World Cup broadcast rights

👀 24/7 women’s streaming platform, Women’s Sport Network launched and includes rights with WNBA, LPGA, World Super League, Athletes Unlimited

🏁 Motorsports, W Series was forced to cancel it’s final 3 races of this season due to financial struggles

⚽️ A damming report around widespread abuse within the NWSL was released and saw sponsors like Alaska Air redirect their team sponsorship funds to players

Morals Vs Money: A women’s sport sponsorship conundrum

‘Sportswashing’ is only going to become more complex, especially in women’s sport where fans place greater importance on social causes.

With many women’s sports desperate for sponsorship, they will increasingly face the conundrum of whether to ‘take the money’ or ‘stick to their values’.

No single person can categorically decide what ‘Sportswashing’ is, given everyone sits on different parts of the moral spectrum but sport organisations and sponsors can consider 7 points that I’ve collated in a blog HERE.

7 points to consider in ‘Sportswashing’:

👉 Not all price tags are created equal

👉 Past vs present actions

👉 Organisation & player circumstances

👉 Fans’ have a voice

👉 Player, organisation & sponsor consultation

👉 Differing degrees of the devil

👉 Due diligence

Rugby World Cup Yay & Nay

As we head towards the final of Women’s Rugby World Cup this weekend after spectacular semi-finals, I outline what I’ve been loving and what I’d love to see improved next time.

YAY Rugby World Cup

1. Maori Poi
👉 Swirled by fans; a beautiful sight and a story unique to Aotearoa’s rugby Wahine

2. Record-breaking support
👉 Kiwis support including a NZ women’s sport and world women’s rugby attendance record of 34,000 fans

3. Incredible on-field action
👉 Powerful, entertaining and flowing rugby showcasing the stars

4. Women at the helm
👉 Fabulous women like CEO, Michelle Hooper as the event-lead and Dame Julie Christie as Chairwoman

5. Stuff’s media coverage
👉 Local publisher, Stuff’s bespoke editorial graphics, coverage and prominent placements

NAY Rugby World Cup

1. NZ Rugby’s scheduling fail
👉 Organising All Blacks Vs Japan at the same time as the Black Ferns quarter-final

2. Grotesque & disrespectful streaker
👉 A man trying to steal the limelight from the players in front of a family packed quarter-final

3. Weetbix rugby promotion
👉 Weetbix cereal activating a rugby promotion during Women’s Rugby World Cup and not featuring one single female rugby player

4. “Entertainment spectacle to celebrate wāhine toa in music & sport”
👉 “Entertainment celebrating women in both sport & music” but an artist line-up for the semi-finals that was headlined by 6 men and no women

5. Lack of All Black player Instagram posts
👉 Not one individual All Black posted about the Black Fern’s semi on Instagram in the 24 hours before or after the match

Women’s sport intersects with fashion & culture

We’re seeing women’s sport take a more prominent place in culture.

Along with more women’s football features, iconic computer game, EA Sports FIFA23 featured the first women’s player on their cover via Sam Kerr.

There have been more sponsor and team photo-shoots centred on player’s fashion and in edgy sets with more sportswomen being sponsored by fashion brands.

The ‘uncool’ turned ‘cool’ brand, Crocs have made a big play into women’s sport backing US college stars, Sedona Prince, Allijah Boston and Paige Bueckers.

It’s opening up a whole new raft of opportunities like cross-pollinating audiences, pulling in new fans and opening up new markets and revenue streams with The Fan Project research identifying opportunities for fashion brands when it looked at women’s sport fan spending habits.

Smart women’s sport organisations like the WNBA and NWSL are already leveraging this with fashion-focused content around pre-game outfits.

Klarna’s activation around Euro’s featured football stars, Lucy Bronze, Fran Kirby, Shanice Van De and Kosavere in fashion-themed shoots below.

FIFA are their own worst enemy

FIFA released tickets for July’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Australia & New Zealand and admitted they were ‘caught off guard’ by the unprecedented demand.

A FIFA Spokesman said the organisation did not anticipate the high demand for tickets, despite regularly claiming 2023 will be the ‘biggest’ Women’s World Cup yet and complaining about broadcast bids being too low.

Fans took to social media to express their frustration over ticket sales windows opening at unfriendly hours, with little communication from FIFA.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to have seen the potential demand for this event given:

👉 The meteoric growth of women’s football since the 2019 World Cup (even with a pandemic)

👉 Similar events like Euros filling stadiums and breaking attendance and viewership records

👉 Hosts, The Matildas and captain Sam Kerr regularly featuring as Australia’s most loved sporting personalities each year

👉 Australia are a sporting mad country with a strong football and women’s sport following

Imagine where the game could go if global sporting bodies like FIFA believed in the women’s game as much as we did!

Motorsport

W Series was forced to cancel it’s final 3 races of this season due to financial struggles which drew the wrath of Lewis Hamilton.

When asked whether F1 should be doing more for women in motorsport, Hamilton said “100% I do, particularly with the W Series….There’s not been enough focus on women in the whole of F1’s life….there’s not enough (female) representation across the board within the industry…

Then just weeks later F1 unexpectedly announced plans for an all-female competition as early as next year.

Talk about a missed opportunity to join forces with W Series:

👉 The W Series is a well established brand that provided a brilliant platform for the F1 to build on

👉 F1 and W Series already had an established relationship with double-headers already a key feature on the circuit

👉 F1 says it will have a junior focus with drivers likely 16-22 years but half of the W Series drivers this season were already in this age bracket

Unofficial profile

If you want to know what my favourite all-time campaign, book & sport’s event are and who my dream dinner party would be with, check out the Unofficial Partner’s profile feature on me HERE.

Hey DE&I Leaders

Looking for a keynote speaker on topics like ‘Inclusive Leadership’ using the power of sport to connect with your team? Drop me a note on rebecca@teamheroine.com