Heroine Hit - February

Get ahead of the game with my monthly must-know & want-to-know women’s sport sponsorship & marketing hit

New ownership era swells

Last year, it was Hollywood and women’s sport stars investing in Angel City FC.

Last month, it was Naomi Osaka who became an owner of North Carolina Courage.

Last week, it was former president’s daughters, Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush Hager buying a stake in Washington Spirit.

This new ownership era is already paying dividends. Osaka and Williams donned their respective team shirts at the Aussie Open which created buzz across social media and drove exposure and value for their teams and subsequent sponsors.

I love how each team is tapping into their unique story be it location, background or social cause which aligns with investors and will further fuel their voice and growth.

Megan Rapinoe swaps secrets for subscriptions

FIFA Player of the year, Megan Rapinoe has joined tennis star, Maria Sharapova and volleyballer, Kerri Walsh Jennings on the Masterclass for Sports; The Skills. From $10 USD per month, fans can learn the on-field and off-field secrets to success from the striker via 21 videos in an online course.

Expect to see more female athletes join this platform and others like it as they seek new revenue streams and fans seek more access to top athletes.

5 Gotta-know

1. 💰Naomi Osaka nabbed USD $2.13m in her Aussie Open win and this year alone has added Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer and Workday to her sponsor roster to total $34m in endorsements.

2.💥World tennis number 1, Ash Barty claimed 2nd place (behind Roger Federer) in Australia’s Marketing Power Rankings which score ‘likeability’ and awareness.

3. ☕️ Starbucks became a sponsor of Seattle’s OL Reign citing shared cultural values like championing equality.

4. 📺 Amazon Prime launched ‘The Record’, a two-part docu-series around the record-breaking final of the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

5. 📱 Tik Tok has moved further into sport with it’s sponsorship of Portland women’s soccer team, Thorns FC.

Donate your data for success

WNBA, NWSL, WWE, UFC and more have joined forces with the Sports Innovation Lab for The Fan Project.

Fans can donate their Facebook and Twitter data anonymously to be used as proof of the interest in women’s sport so big wigs can provide more media coverage and investment in women’s sport.

I love the innovative thinking behind this project and the collective action to drive change.

Read my LockerRoom interview

I had the pleasure of talking with LockerRoom about how women’s sport can prosper post-pandemic. You can read the interview on Newsroom here.

Calling cricket champions

Cricket World Cup 2022 NZ launched their ‘Champion’ campaign. Local sport stars, celebs, journalists, grassroot leaders and more have been enlisted to garner event support. Kiwi fans can sign up to become 1 of 1000 Champions and access exclusive events and merch.

I’m excited to see some younger personalities come on board to get youth’s attention and ensure social presence. I’m hoping Champions (and fans) will have access to a toolkit of digital assets to help ‘Show Them How It’s Done’.

The question now is, when will we see Rugby World Cup activity in market which takes place in September this year, 6 months before the Cricket World Cup.

Most excited about

1. 🏐 Athletes Unlimited Volleyball league starts: 27 Feb

2. 🏆 Constellation Cup Netball - Aussie vs NZ: 2,3,6,7 March

3. 🏏 T20 Cricket NZ vs England 3,5,7 March, NZ vs Aussie: 28, 30 March, 1 April

4. 🏀 NCCA College Basketball Champs (March Madness): 21 March - 4 April

5. ⛳️ PGA Kia Classic: 25-28 March

A favour to ask

Could you please forward this on to anyone who may benefit so they can sign up. Thanks !