Heroine Hit April

A monthly newsletter covering the most interesting women’s sport sponsorship, marketing & innovation

Barcelona men’s crowds ‘boring’ compared to women’s

My Heroine Hit is a bit late as I was fortunate enough to go to the record-breaking 91,648 Barcelona Vs Wolfsburg UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final.

While I hate women’s sport being compared to mens, multiple Catalan fans told me that men’s FC Barcelona crowds are ‘boring’ compared to women’s FC Barcelona crowds.

Here is my take on why this may be the perception based on my own experience of this unique game atmosphere:

1️⃣ A diverse and inclusive crowd - men, women, kids, grandparents, LGBT+, all cultures, teenage boys out with mates, future female football stars

2️⃣ Not one single dickhead and no angst - no doubt no alcohol sales in Camp Nou played a part

3️⃣ A welcoming & collective spirit - you could sit next to opposition fans who would enhance & share in your experience

4️⃣ United support - every single person there was rooting for the games success & ultimately women’s football success

5️⃣ Shared passion & celebration - every fan was there to have a good time and get behind & celebrate these amazing athletes

I believe these factors contributed to this ‘special women’s FC Barcelona atmosphere’ that may have left some fan’s feeling as though women’s FC Barcelona games are more ‘exciting’.

Gotta-know

🏀 UConn NCAA basketball finalist, Paige Bueckers topped Opendorse’s list of college marketing stars with earning potential of US$63,000 per post.

💪 Billie Jean King has become a co-founder of the 3-month Trail Blazer Incubator that will support start-ups focused on women in sports.

🦘 Matildas & Disney+ have teamed up for a 6-part docu-series as they prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil.

⚽️ Spainish women’s football will add sponsorship of 10m Euros from Gloria App to Muse Capital’s 40m Euros to professionalise the women’s spanish league.

🏏 Fairbreak International, a first-of-its-kind women's T20 cricket tournament just hit off in Dubai with 6 teams consisting of 90 players from over 35 countries.

Women’s sport has ‘crossed’ over

It wasn’t just FC Barcelona breaking records - it’s been a ceiling-smashing month for women’s football and women’s sport.

France had their biggest women’s club match of 43,255 when Lyon played PSG.

Wolfsburg saw their biggest home crowd with 22,057 in their Champions League semi-final.

Newcastle Women pulled in 22,134 fans in a 4th tier match-up playing at St James Park for the first time.

Angel City who are set to be one of the most powerful sport brands on the planet sold out their first NWSL game with 22,000 fans.

It’s not just women’s football either.

Women’s Six Nations Rugby saw record-breaking audiences of 14,689 for England vs Wales then 15,836 vs Ireland.

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano’s historic women’s boxing match at Madison Square Garden was the 2nd quickest boxing event to sell out in the iconic venue and was dubbed “The fight of the year, full stop”.

NCAA’s women’s basketball final garnered a peak audience of 5.91m (4.85m average) and the WNBA Draft attracted 403,000 viewers.

There’s no sign of it slowing either with UEFA Euros already selling out England games including 74,000 for their opening match against Austria at Old Trafford.

This has all happened since my last Heroine Hit!

Women’s sport has tipped over. Get on board or get left behind.

Introducing our Positive Vibes Tracker

I’m pumped to have teamed up with the brains at Areto Labs who use advanced language analysis, specifically designed to detect toxic speech and bias.

Together we’ve been tracking and evaluating public sentiment or as I call it, ‘Positive Vibes’ across players and teams during NWSL’s pre-season Challenge Cup.

We uncovered some interesting findings during the first 4 rounds:

👉 Why newcomer & celebrity-backed team, Angel City FC aren’t leading the pack in ‘Positive Vibes’

👉 What mistake cost Orlando Pride good vibes

👉 How costly a controversial post can be

👉 Which players are getting the most ‘Love’

👉 How both veteran, Megan Rapinoe & rookie, Trinity Rodman attract the same (negative) Vibes

Get the full breakdown HERE.

Offsiders Award

Google and their Search algorithm take out my latest Offsiders Award.

Australian’s were treated to a dramatic grand final when Sydney Roosters beat the St George Dragons in NRLW.

However, it wasn’t so grand for fans searching for the game.

When fans searched “NRWL Grand Final” (women’s) they were asked if they instead meant the “NRL Grand Final” (men’s).

Google Docs even autocorrects mentions of “NRLW” to “NRL”.

While I understand Google’s algorithm predominantly uses historic data, I wish future behaviours and ones that don’t further marginalise minority groups were taken into consideration to ensure women’s sport does not continue in a perpetual cycle that holds it back.

New Era, New Rules for Tour Des Femmes

The inaugural Tour Des Femmes Avec Zwift pedals off in just over 80 days and a New Era in women’s cycling requires New Rules.

Zwift launched their New Rules sponsorship campaign which tapped into the nuances that are unique to women’s sport and women’s sport fans:

👉 Competitive but friendly rivalry

👉 Collective success and celebration

👉 Forward looking - enabling the community (both fans + athletes) to thrive

👉 A pivotal moment happening in women’s sport right now #NewEra

👉 Centred on its own unique women’s cycling product - not a 2nd tier offering to the men’s Tour De France

I also love how Zwift took their support for women in sports off the race track and used a female-agency team on the creative campaign to help advance more women across all areas of sport.

Xero set to supercharge women’s football

Xero became a FIFA global Women’s Football partner which will include the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand plus more.

I was lucky enough to play a small part on the partnership team alongside sport business legends Karl Budge at The Live Experience and Richard Howarth at Honoco.

Why I’m so excited about this partnership for women’s football (& sport):

1️⃣ A truely collaborative and impressive team leading the charge who are set to bring the magic

2️⃣ A robust analysis and approach to ensure a great fit but also what will follow

3️⃣ Genuine supporters of women’s football, sport and women who are focused on helping the ecosystem thrive

I’m so pumped to see Xero’s partnership roll-out and the whole women’s sport community benefit from having such a progressive, smart and agile brand involved.

Keep your eyes on this one - it’s going to be a goodie!

Full throttle into Web3

It was a busy month as more women’s sport jumped into NFTs, the Metaverse or rather Web3.

I nabbed an Angel City FC Kickoff NFT - you can get yours free HERE by entering your email address.

UEFA made its Metaverse debut with it’s three Euro tournament mascots in Roblox.

WNBA legends will mint their favourite WNBA ‘moments’ as part of Top Shot’s W Wednesdays.

WNBA team, New York Liberty became the first WNBA team to offer NFTs to coincide with their season opener against Connecticut Suns.

Here to help

If you are an ad agency, sponsor, sport organisation or broadcaster that needs help with your women’s sport pitch, strategy or project then get in touch rebecca@teamheroine.com