Heroine Hit - September

A monthly newsletter covering women’s sport sponsorship, marketing, creativity & innovation

FIFA’s World Cup Sacrificial Lamb

My biggest question around a biennial men’s World Cup is not whether the Women’s World Cup will also be every two years but whether it will become the sacrificial lamb for a two-yearly men’s world cup.

It’s a given that the Men’s World Cup will take place over the lucrative northern hemisphere summer with key tournaments like Euros in alternate cycles. This means the Women’s World Cup will go head-to-head with these powerhouse competitions which will fragment audiences or alternatively get moved out of the June/July competition window which will hurt audiences even more.
 

FIFA Women’s World Cup is the single event with the biggest impact not only for women’s football but women’s sport as a whole so a halt in audience growth, interest or influence will have wide-reaching consequences.  

If FIFA are dedicated to the growth of the women’s game as per their PR releases and ‘strategy’ documents, will the Women’s World Cup be at the forefront of any decision around the Men’s World Cup or will it just be an after-thought that is shaped around the men’s? Let’s see.

Gotta-know

1) England will host an annual women’s football tournament starting in February 2022 with Germany & Spain confirmed.

2) NWSL secured Deloitte as a sponsor and set a record attendance with 27,248 fans for OL Reign vs Portland Thorns.

3) Australia’s W-league has expanded by 4 teams and will include the Wellington Phoenix which will be NZ’s first women’s pro soccer team.

4) UEFA have doubled the prize money for Women’s Euro to 16m Euros.

5) Dick’s Sporting Goods made a further push into women’s sport by becoming a sponsor of WNBA.

Man United prioritise beards over women’s team

Manchester United are the winners of my newly created monthly ‘Offside Award’ by prioritising ‘World Beard Day’ over their women’s team.

On the opening weekend of the Women’s Super League and with huge interest on their social channels thanks to Ronaldo’s transfer to the club, it was a prime opportunity for the men’s team to support their female counterparts and tweet about their women’s team. 

Instead they tweeted about anything but to their 27m followers with tweets about World Beard Day, a charity golf event, their U23’s, a score predictor competition and pretty much anything but their women’s team.

Hugely disappointing from one of the could-be powerhouses of women’s football. 

It’s a good reminder to right’s holders to cross-pollinate audiences and have clear signposting between men’s and women’s content.

‘Howzat’ Weber BBQ

Weber BBQ’s partnership with the Australian Women’s Big Bash cricket league (WBBL) has to be one of the best match-ups in women’s sport sponsorship.

As a stand-alone women’s sponsor, they are looking to own a place in Aussie’s summers, harnessing an iconic element of Aussie culture.

It’s a smart move given women’s sport fans are driven by their family's passion for sport and are big co-watcher’s - what better way to tap into this behaviour via a consumption moment like BBQing with family and friends while watching the cricket.

I cannot wait to see the fun executions and integrations that will surface as part of this sponsorship.

Simone Biles joins NFT game

The most decorated Gymnast in the world, Simone Biles has joined the likes of Naomi Osaka with the release of her first NFT collection.

She dropped 10,000 NFT’s starting at $12 each on quarterback, Tom Brady’s NFT platform, Autograph just as she was preparing to go on her own 35-city Gold Over America Tour. They sold out within minutes.

It is not just about a $120,000 cash injection, but part of a bigger play by female athletes to better connect with fans and ‘own’ their brand and commercial opportunities. Tellingly she has also joined Autograph’s Advisory Board alongside Naomi Osaka, Tony Hawk and Tiger Woods so expect to see more NFT action by Biles.

More than eyeballs for WSL

The Women’s Super League (WSL) coverage has impressed not just because of the staggering viewership numbers like 800,000 people watching Man City’s 4-0 win over Everton but because of the quality and breadth of coverage. 

The tone was set before the season even kicked off with this entertaining and high production league promo (must watch).

With broadcast rights split between BBC and Sky Sports, it’s been about more than just Reach. It’s been about building profiles and enabling a stronger connection between fans and the players & teams.

Dedicated studio teams have led build-ups to games to help tell back-stories (as opposed to the usual cross-over just as the whistle blows). Sky Sport’s 30-min midweek show; Inside the WSL provides not just a summary of action on the field but insight into the player’s personalities with exclusive interviews and behind the scenes content.
 

We know from The Fan Project that women’s sport fans want to learn more about players and teams and that female athletes are at the heart of strengthening relationships with fans. This type of content combined with Sky Sport’s sophisticated game-day graphics and in-depth analysis will help build familiarity and fandom which will supercharge the league’s growth.

Sam Kerr kicks into kid’s books

Matilda’s goal-scoring sensation, Sam Kerr has become an athlete-author with her children’s book, Kicking Goals, The Flip Out. 

She’s the second Matilda to launch a book series, with goalie Lydia Williams previously doing so. One of the advantages female athletes have by creating their own products rather than just partnering with brands to endorse a product is their existing fanbase are likely to become customers (or at least supporters). They also have more control with the ability to play a part in product development and distribution and take a share in the profit as opposed to being paid a mediocre brand ambassador or ‘Influencer’ fee. 

Children’s books are a no-brainer for female athletes to monetise given the historical lack of visibility and their natural fit as role models.  

Book 2 is already in the works, coming out 1st December in time for Christmas.

C4 and Amazon Prime ace it

Emma Raducanu’s US open win was an entertainment extravaganza but the play of the day went to UK’s C4 and Amazon Prime.

They did a late deal which saw Amazon Prime (who owned the exclusive rights) partner with C4 to show the match on free-to-air TV with it being broadcast to over 7.4m Brits. 

So why on earth would Amazon Prime give up exclusive coverage which no doubt would have delivered huge interest and new customers for their streaming platform?

1) Revenue -  a reported 7-figure sum was paid by C4 to Amazon

2) Visibility - more eyeballs for women’s tennis but also for themselves. Their Amazon Prime feed was directly broadcast on mass-reaching C4 which meant the Amazon Prime logo gained exposure with over 7m households.

3) Heroes of women’s tennis - the move gained huge and positive PR for C4 and Amazon Prime, showing them as supporters of women’s sport. Women’s sport fans support brands that support women’s sport at twice the rate as non-fans so no doubt Amazon Prime grew brand consideration with these people in the process.

Female athletes take over Cadbury

Cadbury Australia has featured 4 female athletes from AFLW, NRLW, cricket and football on it’s Cadbury Dairy Milk packaging in hopes of increasing the visibility of women in sport.

I love the cross-code nature of this, tapping into four different sport fan bases. I also love that it not only is in front of people in Australian households but across supermarkets, dairies and other outlets increasing the channel Reach of female athletes. The value of an FMCG in-store activation like this is immense and right’s holders should consider this as part of any value-exchange in women’s sport sponsorship deals.

This type of sponsorship activation is such a sitter for other FMCG brands like Kellogs, Anchor, Sanitarium or Countdown who can leverage relatively accessible and cost-efficient faces to stand for something bigger. It is such a shame that this hasn’t crossed the ditch to NZ ahead of them hosting three Women’s World Cups. Imagine leveraging the Black Ferns after their Rugby Sevens Olympic gold and in the lead up to their Rugby World Cup - come on FMCG brands, get in the women’s sport game already!!

Most excited about

🏀 WNBA playoffs: Across Oct

🏀 Asia Basketball Cup final: 2 Oct

🎾 BNP Paribas Open: 6-17 Oct

⛳️ Cognizant Founders Cup: 7-10 Oct

🏏 Australia vs India T20: 7,9,11 Oct

🏉 NZ Farah Palmer Cup final: 10 Oct

🏏 WBBL starts: 14 Oct

🏎 W Series round 7 & 8: 23, 24 Oct

⚽️ NWSL final round: 29-31 Oct

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