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Going it alone can be daunting at the best of times, especially in women’s sport, where deciding to embrace a more independent commercial model too soon could make or break its future.
However, a handful of sports organisations have proven in recent years that unbundling the sponsorship rights to their women’s properties can help drive new revenues and attract brands that haven’t invested in sports partnerships before.
Those in favour of selling to women’s sponsorship rights separately from the men’s could point to several recent studies to support their case. For example, Sports Innovation Lab (SIL) found that 83 per cent of brands plan to increase their media investment in women’s sports in 2024, and SponsorUnited is predicting ‘unprecedented growth’ in sponsorship revenue for US women’s sport properties. What’s more is that the number of sponsorship deals in women’s professional sports globally has increased more than 22 per cent year-over-year.
That’s being driven by a number of factors. Women’s sports properties around the world are enjoying record viewership and attendances, giving their sponsors additional visibility and the chance to reach new audiences. Some teams, such as Angel City FC, who donate ten per cent of their sponsorship revenue to local causes, have been able to lure brands through the creation of innovative partnership models. Plus, several companies see women’s sport as an opportunity to be more targeted with their advertising.
Against that backdrop, the level of sponsorship activity in women’s sport only looks set to increase. However, to truly capitalise on the opportunity, it’s crucial that rights holders evaluate whether unbundling is the best approach for their sport, and brands recognise how to engage with the audience.
Uefa, Fifa and World Rugby are some of the biggest organisations that have gone down the unbundling route.
Nearly seven years on from becoming a first mover in the space, Uefa now counts Adidas, Amazon and Electronic Arts (EA) among its 11 women’s soccer partners. Global governing body Fifa, which followed suit by unbundling its sponsorship rights in 2021, sold out all of its packages for its first-ever dedicated Women’s World Cup partnership programme for the 2023 tournament, netting more than US$307 million. World Rugby, meanwhile, has onboarded Mastercard, Gallagher and Capgemini as sponsors of its Women in Rugby programme.
That evidence alone might seem like enough of a proof of concept, but experts working in the space believe that some brands still carry misconceptions around both audience and product.
“People within brands have this perception that [women’s sport] is a bit of a happy clappy, welcoming space for everyone that translates to the crowd not being passionate and the product on the pitch not being strong,” says Jenny Mitton, managing partner and women’s sport lead at M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment. “It’s completely the opposite. The product on the pitch is top class. Yes, the atmosphere may be different, but the passion is still there.
“The audiences, whilst there is some crossover, are fundamentally quite different. We see that in their behaviour, not only in how they turn up to stadiums [and] how they consume the sport, but also where they’re spending their money.”
Brands that have invested early in women’s sport – and activated their partnerships in a unique way – have reaped the rewards.
Already a partner of the men’s Premier League, Barclays was banking on potential when it became title sponsor of the Women’s Super League (WSL) in 2019. It is now synonymous with the ongoing growth of the women’s game in England and is reportedly set to extend its tie-up with the league in a record UK£9 million (US$11.3 million) deal. As well as its association with the top flight, the company has focused a significant portion of its investment in developing women’s soccer at the grassroots, which helps drive further goodwill.
Elsewhere, Ally Financial has made a ‘50/50’ pledge to equalise its media spend across men’s and women’s sports by 2027 to help give the latter a bigger platform. The audience for the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) 2022 championship game leapt 71 per cent to 915,000 after increased media spend from the financial services company prompted CBS to broadcast the fixture during primetime.
While Barclays and Ally are two standout examples right now, Tammy Parlour, cofounder and chief executive of the Women’s Sport Trust (WST), believes brands “are only beginning” to understand the opportunity.
“[Brands] want to have the conversation about women’s sport, but sometimes aren’t sure what they’re looking for,” she says. “I would say that it’s not about misconception. It’s about growing understanding.”

Arsenal teamed up with Stella McCartney to create a new bespoke away kit for their women’s team 
Women’s sport is still in the nascent stages of its commercial journey. Comparisons with men’s sport are inevitable and there will be a temptation for both rights holders and brands involved in women’s sport to adopt the same strategies that have been successful for their male counterparts.
However, a different approach is required. Sponsorships in the women’s space need to be centred around business growth and working towards commercial maturity, while the KPIs used on the men’s side should not necessarily apply.
“In men’s sport, people know how much it costs and what they get,” notes Parlour. “It’s a lot clearer. The sponsorship focus [in women’s sport] is often not motivated by reach but about demonstrating the marketing story and access to a really engaged, passionate audience.”
Sports organisations can also be more creative in how they sell partnerships for their women’s properties. In some ways, men’s sport is hamstrung by decades of set structures for sponsorship, potentially making it difficult for brands to cut through if they don’t have access to top-tier inventory such as visibility on a team’s playing shirts.
In contrast, the women’s space, flush with emerging properties, carving out bespoke packages and allowing companies to enter an uncrowded space.
“Brands have a really exciting opportunity to go into the space rather than having to buy off-the-shelf rights and designations,” says Mitton. “They can actually say ‘what do I need as a brand, what could that look like?’

The LPGA is among the women’s sports properties that have delivered major media value for sponsors
With greater access to athletes and an inclusive feel, women’s sport offers a strong platform for businesses to improve their brand perception. Research from the WST found that 29 per cent of consumers think more favourably of companies or brands that support women’s sport through their sponsorship, 12 per cent higher than for campaigns supporting men’s sport.
“Storytelling is so much bigger in women’s sport,” says Parlour. “Ultimately, eyeballs are cheap. What brands want is to get people to give a damn. And that’s what women’s sport enables.”
Brands operating in women’s sport can be more hands on. While that may mean more work and could bring extra risk, the upside is being part of a journey, building affinity with fans, and potentially driving revenue down the line by tapping into the immense spending power of women.
Indeed, in January, the Financial Times (FT) noted that the average fan going to watch a men’s soccer game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would spend about UK£16 (US$20) on a typical match day. Mitton, who notes that around 80 per cent of household purchase decisions are made by women, states that it is “five to ten times that much” for women’s sport.
“We’re seeing people turning up at the stadiums earlier, going into the shop and buying merchandise,” she says. “These fans are turning up and they’re wanting something which is the reminder of their experience. They want to support the game, they want to feel part of something.
“They obviously seem very open to be marketed to, whereas the men’s fans just want to turn up. They paid the season ticket, they paid their Sky subscription. They’re not really willing to pay much more.”
The economics in women’s sport are also different. Of the US$1.28 billion in total revenues that Deloitte forecasts will be generated in women’s elite sports in 2024, commercial is the biggest contributor at 55 per cent. For the men’s, it is the broadcast segment.
Deloitte’s research also noted that for every dollar spent by a corporate sponsor in women’s sports, more than US$7 is generated in customer value for that organisation. A standout in the study is the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), whose sponsors reported up to 400 per cent return in media value on their investment.
While a handful of governing bodies have so far unbundled their women’s rights, Deloitte anticipates growth in standalone sponsorship deals for women’s teams, especially in soccer, which it says will likely galvanise investment and brand activation.
Standout partnerships in women’s soccer in England so far include Manchester City inking a stadium naming rights pact with baby gear brand Joie, the first for a WSL club, and Arsenal collaborating with Stella McCartney on their 2023/24 women’s away kit. A number of Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchises also have different jersey patch sponsors to their affiliate men’s sides.
Still, unbundling needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
“The main thing is that sponsors need to activate the rights that they have,” says Parlour. “If you are sponsoring both properties, the men’s and the women’s, you need to make sure that the right percentage is going to the women’s side.
“Activation budget is really needed in women’s sport to help things like discoverability. We need sponsors that will see the scale and buy into that story. Investment needs to be targeted to grow the sport. That’s going to differ by the property because they’re all at different stages of development.
“Women’s sport needs to embrace and drive its differentiated position in the market.”

Several WNBA teams, including the Chicago Sky, have different jersey patch partners to their affiliate men’s franchises
Not all clubs in the WSL are sold on unbundling. Speaking at SportsPro APAC in 2023, Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan said he favoured a “one-club mentality”.
“If you think about it, purely based upon just the Standard Chartered [Liverpool’s front-of-shirt sponsor] relationship, if you had another brand on the front of the women’s shirt then that potentially creates complications as it relates to execution from a marketing standpoint,” explained Hogan.
A possible risk for clubs not unbundling is alienating brands solely going after audiences in their women’s teams, as those potential partners would effectively have to pay more for something they only want half of. There would also be no guarantee that the property they spend money on would channel a fair allocation of those funds to the women’s side.
“I think it is a bit of a mess, not unbundling,” says Mitton. “For rights holders where you have a brand on board who has a heritage in the sport, and they are willing to invest money into marketing and really look to grow the game, stick with them and grow with them.
“However, if you’re with a brand who’s front-of-shirt of both your teams, but not spending any money on the women, I would absolutely reconsider. You can still garner the revenue in terms of the shirt sponsorship, but also you can help get a brand on side who will invest money in marketing, which will only uplift your women’s brands and your whole women’s sponsorship portfolio.”
Progress is undoubtedly being made, and some deals have had some eye-catching figures attached to them. But a lot of those sponsorships are still exclusive to some of the most high-profile leagues and teams in the most popular sports.
Perhaps the true sign of maturity in the women’s sport sponsorship sector will be when rights holders have to respond to increased competition.
“The exciting point will come when there’s such a demand in the market that it’s more of a commercial bunfight,” says Mitton. “We are in that position now where there’s lots of opportunities. It’s great that we’re all supporting each other.
“But, actually, the marker for commercial success will be when it does get a bit more daggers are out and we’re all fighting for that essential deal.”
This feature forms part of SportsPro’s Women’s Sport Week. Click here to access more exclusive content and sign up to the SportsPro Daily newsletter here to receive daily insights direct to your inbox. 

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