MORE AVID FANS NEEDED
In a recent report, consulting firm McKinsey said women’s sports could generate at least US$2.5 billion in value for rights holders by 2030.
It also found that between 2022 and 2024, revenue from women’s sports grew 4.5 times faster than that of men’s.
But several obstacles remain, such as less favourable broadcast slots for women’s sports, the report noted.
Another is what McKinsey partner Ben Vonwiller described as fragmented fan attention, where women’s teams are fighting for attention in a crowded market.
“There are many more sports properties available for a fan to consume. And what we are seeing with women’s sports fans is that when they pick up women’s sports, they’re not dropping another sport,” Vonwiller said.
“They’re simply adding it rather than substituting. And that means there’s much more competition for their attention.”
But the biggest challenge is turning casual fans into highly engaged avid ones who tend to generate much more revenue, he added.
McKinsey’s report found that 39 per cent of women’s sports fans consider themselves avid, compared with 69 per cent of men’s sports fans.
“They need to create more avid fans to look more like men’s sports, where the spend is highest, and they need their casual fans to become less casual. That means watching more games and attending more games,” Vonwiller added.
“That will be a meaningful driver to closing the revenue gap.”
