Women’s sports have been growing in popularity for decades.1 Recent sporting events, including the March Madness finale,2 the US Open Championship,3 and the Women’s World Cup,4 have put a spotlight on women’s sports, gaining widespread attention and breaking television and live viewing records.
But what about sports fans who are women? Many female sports fans are indeed interested in women’s sports, but their fandom isn’t limited to that domain. In fact, findings from our 2023 Sports Fan Insights study suggest there’s much more to the story of women fans:
1. Women attribute the origin of their fandom to familial influence
Every sports fan has an origin story. A plurality of sports fans who are women (36%) say they first became fans because of the influence of their siblings or parents. A slightly smaller share (27%) say they became fans because of their participation in youth sports. For male sports fans, however, nearly 40% attribute their fandom to playing youth sports, with 23% citing parents and siblings. This difference may be accounted for in the percentage of men and women who say they played, or currently play, sports. Across generations, men are more likely to say they play or played sports at any level when compared with women (75% vs. 62%, respectively).
2. Women engage with sports in different ways—and women who played sports have higher levels of engagement than their nonathlete counterparts Women who love sports are just as engaged with fandom—and sometimes more engaged—than their male counterparts. For example, women surveyed are more likely than men to say they have watched a sporting event on TV or online or attended a live sporting event in person in the last 12 months. They are also more likely to say they’ve purchased sports merchandise or memorabilia in that time frame.
Participation in sports (past or present) is a major indicator of engagement with sports for women. Our data suggests that women who played or play sports rate themselves higher on the sports fan scale than nonplaying female fans, which seems to translate into more engagement with sports. This distinction between athlete and nonathlete fans is especially distinct for women: The gap between women respondents who are athletes versus nonathletes and how highly they rate themselves on the fan scale is nearly double the gap between male fans who are athletes versus nonathletes.
Women who played sports are far more likely than nonparticipating women to say they’ve watched a live sporting event on TV or online. Women in our survey who have played sports are also far more likely than women who didn’t play to say they bet on professional sporting events, participate in fantasy sports leagues, and maintain season tickets or a ticket package (figure).
3. Women sports fans have more interest in niche sports
Most fans in our survey—both men and women—say they follow major sports like football, basketball, and baseball, with smaller shares in both groups also following ice hockey and soccer. But differences emerge when looking at less popular sports. For example, women are more likely than men to say they follow volleyball, gymnastics, and winter sports (like skiing and ice skating) and water sports (like swimming, diving, and water polo). These sports align with some of the most popular events at the Olympic games5—which draw large female audiences6 and generally host near-equal numbers of male and female athletes.7 There are notable generational differences within the women who responded to our fan survey, too. Interest in gymnastics, winter sports, and water sports is largely driven by women who are Gen Xers and boomers, whereas interest in volleyball spikes among Gen Z and millennial women.
4. Sports content consumption looks different for women—and they lean into behind-the-scenes content
When it comes to how they prefer to consume sports content, fans across genders ranked live events, highlights, and clips at the top. However, women respondents are especially interested in viewing more behind-the-scenes content, like athlete interviews and social media videos from teams, when compared with men. In general, women are more likely to use social media to consume sports content, and on these platforms, they are especially interested in posts from the athletes themselves and videos of teams and athletes participating in viral trends.
Takeaways for media and entertainment (M&E) companies
Sports leagues and teams that already attract strong female audiences should spend some time analyzing their engagement data—and working with other proprietary, first-party data sources—to better understand fan attributes, tailor and personalize promotions, and enhance loyalty.
Broadcast networks and streamers (predicted to spend US$6 billion on live sports in 2023)8 looking to host live sports might consider buying media rights for less mainstream sports in the hope of attracting new audiences. Offering supplemental content like behind-the-scenes looks and athlete interviews could appeal to women sports fans’ preferences.
M&E companies of all types—especially professional sports leagues—should consider opportunities to sponsor girls’ youth sports leagues in their local or national markets. This could not only bolster youth sports participation, but it can also help drive brand awareness, promote brand values, and support corporate purpose initiatives.
Sports leagues, teams, streamers, and broadcast providers should collaborate with athletes and their strategic partners to create viral advertising campaigns on social media as well as other emerging platforms. This is likely to help expand their reach and influence across a broader audience.