Heroine Hit January

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

Happy New Year

1 year ago I sent out my first newsletter and since then hundreds of you from across the globe have subscribed and read each month so thank you!

2022 is set to be a massive year for women’s sport with action that includes Winter Olympics, Euros, Tour Des Femmes, Commonwealth Games and Cricket/Hockey/Rugby/Rugby 7’s/Rugby League World Cups.

Out of the arena, I expect it to be just as big with new sponsor announcements, broken records, ground-breaking innovation, creative marketing and new sport heroines.   

Here’s to another year of awesome women’s sport marketing, sponsorship and innovation.

Let’s go!
Bex

Most pumped about in 2022

Angel City kick off
It’s hard to believe Angel City hasn't even played a game yet given the community, brand and partnerships they have already established. They are one of the most interesting clubs on the planet and I can’t wait to see their fandom explode come March when they play their first game in the NWSL. 

Female athletes use of Instragram Subscriptions
Instagram Subscriptions launched last week in the USA and is set to transform female athletes’ ability to connect and monetise their fans. College basketballer Sedona Prince of NCAA weightroom fame is one of only a handful of stars selected to trial it.

UEFA Euro’s
Euros will take place in the UK in June and has the power to become the benchmark and case study for all women’s sport moving forward (just like we saw with FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019).

Gotta-know

1. Crypto.com signs on as a sponsor of the AFLW in a 5-year deal

2. ProMedica becomes presenting partner of the US Golf Open, doubling prize money to over $10m

3. FIFA finally unbundle their women’s sponsorship rights with Visa becoming the first FIFA Women’s Football Partner

4. Serena Williams joins Sorare’s board (NFT digital collectibles meets fantasy gaming) in the same week that her physical 1999 Rookie trading card sold for $117,000, becoming women’s sport most expensive card

5. FC Barcelona sells out 85,000 tickets for their UEFA Champions League quarter final against Real Madrid at Camp Nou

Andy Murray is women’s sport MVP

Andy Murray solidified his position as women’s sports favourite male ally with his tweet highlighting Osaka’s tennis prowess;

“Anyone hit the ball cleaner from the baseline than Naomi Osaka?”.

While it may just be seen simply as a tweet, it not only draws attention to women’s tennis but helps change the old-school narrative that women’s sport is second-tier.

More of this please!

5 Trends set to supercharge women’s sport in 2022

Here’s 5 trends that I think you need to be across in women’s sport this year. They all cross over and have a common theme centred around ‘community’.

1. Web 3.0 will put women’s sport in the driver’s seat

Web3 will have a disproportionate impact on women’s sport given it’s history of gatekeepers and being underserved.

Web3 will allow women’s sport communities to better:
a) Take ownership and influence over their direction
b) Create new revenue streams

c) Deliver richer experiences and a more connected community

2. Creator Economy will re-distribute power to female athletes

Female athletes will be able to better connect with their fans but also better monetise them thanks to an explosion of Creator tools.

2022 will see sportswomen turn their social media ‘audiences’ into thriving communities via creator-focused platforms like Mighty Networks, and now Instragram Subscriptions.

3. Further Unbundling will inject new energy into women’s sports

More un-bundling of rights will result in new sponsor entrants to women’s sport.

The most-forward thinking right’s holders will also look to unbundle their broadcast media rights. 

4. Boisterous streaming moves

We’ll see streaming platforms that have already taken an early position in women’s sport double-down on their women’s sport offering in 2022.

This will not just include competition rights but shoulder content and innovative ways to consume.

5. Gamification Booster

We’ll see content and fan experiences get a gamification shot in the arm thanks to the most progressive right’s holders and brands.

Read more HERE on why and how these 5 trends specifically relate to women’s sport.

Aussie Open aces Metaverse

The Australian Open has activated the most creative and holistic Metaverse sport experience I’ve seen.

a) 6776 one-of-a-kind AO tennis ball NFTs designed from a collection of artists and Aussie Open IP

b) Each NFT ball gets assigned an individual section of the 'court’ which is determined using ‘in-game line-calling’ technology

c) A virtual world of Melbourne Park in ‘Decentraland’ to explore the AO Village and watch the live broadcast ‘courtside’

d) Curated metaverse highlights, daily updates & results for special ‘Metaverse Metakey holders’

e) Carbon offsets of all NFT sales

Explore the AO Metaverse experience here.

I’m excited to see more unique and creative Metaverse experiences for women’s sport come to fruition.

Highest earning female athletes

Forbes announced the highest earning sportswomen of the year and it’s all about what happens out of the stadium.

Across the top 10 just $16m out of $167m was from actually competing.

Over $150m of the top 10's total income was generated outside the arena via the likes of brand partnerships.

Naomi Osaka & Serena Williams took $100m between them.

I was surprised (disappointed) to see 4 out of the top 10 earn less than $300,000 in playing income

Here are the Top 10 earners:

1. Naomi Osaka (tennis) - $57.3m

2. Serena Williams (tennis) - $45.9m

3. Venus Williams (tennis) - $11.3m

4. Simone Biles (gymnastics) - $10.1m

5. Garbine Muguruza (tennis) - $8.8m

6. Jin Young Ko (golf) - $7.5m

7. P.V. Sindhu (badminton) - $7.2m

8. Ash Barty (tennis) - $6.9m

9. Nelly Korda (golf) - $5.9m

10. Candace Parker (basketball) - $5.7m

Gender equality isn’t all about equal pay

If you haven’t heard of Lewes FC, you need to follow (& get behind) them. 

They are the only football club in the world to pay their men and women’s teams the same, which has earned them the title Equality FC.

But Equality FC isn’t just about equal pay. 

They have a number of initiatives to enhance gender equality like:
a) Equal access to training pitches and scheduling
b) Equal footing in decisions (not secondary or as an after-thought)
c) Inclusive facilities like breastfeeding room access

I love the ‘Player of the Month Award’ which is a hand-tied bouquet of flowers to help challenge stereotypes and toxic masculinity.

This feels particularly powerful after reading the worrying report this week that most male football fans hold misogynistic views on women’s sport.

Usually we see a pint of beer awarded to players but check out this awesome photo of striker, Joe Taylor receiving his flowers.

Remember, gender equality in sport is about more than just pay!

5 Right’s Holder tips

1. Trade ‘Front-of-Jersey Sponsor’ for ‘Title Partner’
Brands are not primarily sponsoring women’s sport for logo exposure on a shirt. Most want to align with it’s positive values and use women’s sport as a platform to tell their own brand story so use language that supports this.

2. Bundle in ‘Talent’ or ‘Influencer’ components to sponsor proposals
Include your athletes on their behalf as a component within wider sponsorship deals and pass that additional revenue on to them. It will keep your athletes onside, receptive to sponsors, in a job and provide authentic sponsor activations.

3. Ensure women’s sport reporting lines
Have a reporting line from your commercial teams into the head of women’s sport to ensure development of the women’s game is considered and does not come at the expense of sales and media team targets.

4. Stop selling assets & start selling what’s possible
Don’t just sell existing assets. Create new assets and value that will help brands tell their story and creatively sell the vision of what is possible.

e) Bundle in value to create a meaningful package
Avoid selling low-level, one-dimensional sponsorships and bundle value in across media, content, talent and partnerships to create meaningful and more valuable through-the-line sponsor solutions.

NCAA Basketball buckles under pressure

After the NCAA basketball weight room furore last year, NCAA seems to be making the tournament more inclusive across it’s branding.

a) Adding ‘Men’s’ as a gender-qualifier to the Final Four logo (as opposed to just the Women’s logo containing a gender qualifier)

b) Using comparable social media handles and hashtags via Men’s Final Four and Women’s Final Four (instead of ‘Final Four’ that was exclusive to men)

c) Using the lucrative ‘March Madness’ branding across both Final Four tournaments

The Women’s Final Four Twitter account is yet to have any activity so we’ll soon see if this was a genuine change.

Here to help

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