• by John Gaffney , November 21, 2002

Do media planners need to revisit sports programming strategies? A recent report from Scarborough Sports Marketing estimates that 50 million women now avidly follow professional sports. The percentage of adult women 18+ who are loyal (very/somewhat avid) sports fans has doubled in the last four years, surging from 29% in 1998 to 58% in 2002.

“If I was a media planner I would take a look at the sports that have seen a tremendous amount of growth and take a new look at my client’s products accordingly,” says Scarborough SVP Howard Goldberg. “I would think some female-oriented products might do better than you think on TV properties you might not expect to work.”

The study revealed that Major League Baseball was the biggest hit among women 18+ over the last four years, with the number of loyal female MLB fans jumping from12% in 1998 to 28% in 2002. Women also tackled football in record numbers, with 31 % reporting they are loyal NFL fans in 2002, compared with only 17% in 1998. Other professional sports organizations that demonstrated measurable growth among loyal female fans over the last four years included NASCAR (increasing from 5 to 13%); the PGA (from 5 to 12%); the NBA (from 11 to 19%) and the NHL (from 5 to 10%).

Behind the report numbers, Goldberg says some products tested well on the NFL telecasts, such as retailing and wine. A solid 100% percent of all female avid sports fans shopped a department store within seven days of the research. More than 90% had shopped at a bookstore, 59 percent had shopped for audio/video products, 54% bought office supplies and 53% purchased soft drinks.

The study took a detailed look at the WNBA fan demographics. Scoring points in more recent years is the WNBA. The loyal female WNBA fans' median age is 42; they are 27% more likely to see a movie within the first two weeks of the opening; and 16% more likely to have children in the household. They also like to stay active when they're not following the WNBA. Loyal fans are 26% more likely than average to go bowling; 46% more likely to stay in shape by jogging/running.

Goldberg expects the rapid fan growth to continue. “I see the biggest increases coming in women’s sports,” he says. “Women’s golf, basketball and tennis are all poised for huge fan growth.”