• by Kerry Bradley , Op-Ed Contributor, December 19, 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, let’s reflect on some of this year’s biggest sports headlines.

Caitlin Clark captivated the nation in her final collegiate season, leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA National Championship. 

The WNBA's hype soared with its rookie class, and the season culminated with a thrilling Game 5 Finals where the NY Liberty triumphed. The Paris Olympics brought global excitement, with Coco Gauff and LeBron James carrying the flags, and the USWNT winning gold. Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky solidified their GOAT statuses.

Messi flexed his reputation as the best in the world by leading Inter Miami to the best regular season in MLS history and drawing huge crowds along the way, both at home and on the road. 

We saw the retirements of Diana Taurasi and Alex Morgan after historic careers. LeBron and Bronny shared the court together. Mahomes and Kelce led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl title, supported by the biggest pop star on the planet cheering in the stands between sold out shows of her own. WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier announced a new 3-on-3 league where players are set to earn the highest average salaries in women’s professional sports history. 

Angel City FC was sold to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, for a record $250 million. We watched a Yankees-Dodgers World Series matchup that resulted in a storybook ending for league MVP Shohei Ohtani. Geno Auriemma is now the winningest coach in NCAA history.

It’s been a great year in sports for a lot of reasons. One being the fact that women’s sports aren’t just an honorable mention in the list above – they help carry it. 

2024 will undoubtedly be remembered as the year women’s sports broke through consistently, and in big ways. 

Which means investment will continue to pour in. Right? 

In theory. 

In reality, a lot of brands still need help contemplating the opportunity from a marketing perspective. Currently, only 6% of Fortune 500 companies invest in women’s sports, despite the fact that 71% of fans think more companies should be doing so more.

On one hand, it’s understandable. Men’s sports – and entertainment more broadly – have long provided the reach and scale required to justify sponsorship and advertising spend. And while women’s sports viewership and attendance figures are on the rise, they aren’t at the same level as the NFL or NBA, for example. 

But women’s sports investments excel in other ways that could be hugely impactful for brand marketing KPIs. Offering a more engaged and loyal fanbase, and more white space for brands to stand out and engage meaningfully with those fans, women’s sports are poised to unlock huge value for investors and brands who understand how to evaluate them.

Take Shark Beauty, for example. As a consumer product company that competes across a number of categories, Shark Ninja was looking for ways for their beauty brand to stand out from their competition and engage authentically with consumers.

Women’s sports offered them exactly that.

As the inaugural title sponsor of a new women’s college basketball showcase, the Women’s Champions Classic – featuring UConn, Tennessee, Iowa, and Louisville in a primetime Fox doubleheader – Shark Beauty turned heads. First, and quite simply because, well, have you ever heard of a beauty brand title sponsoring a sporting event?! This announcement in and of itself provided lift for the brand. We’re so accustomed to seeing financial or insurance category title sponsors, that this move stood out and drove awareness, because many were curious to find out – who is Shark Beauty?

That question was clearly answered for those who attended or tuned in to the Women’s Champions Classic on Dec. 7. Beyond just having their logo displayed on the court like a traditional sponsor, Shark Beauty engaged thousands of enthusiastic fans on the concourse of the Barclays Center with a first-of-its-kind-at-a-sporting-event beauty activation. 

In a crowded marketing landscape, Shark Beauty did more than just buy a few media assets. They showed up, created a memorable experience for their target consumers, leveraged high profile athletes to tell authentic stories about their brand and products, and differentiated themselves from competitors ahead of the holiday shopping season.

So as brand marketers plan for 2025 and consider what it will take to achieve their KPIs, they should think about adding women’s sports to their portfolios. With expansion of the established leagues on the horizon, as well as a number of new properties emerging across the landscape, the white space opportunities to stand out and show up in bold, authentic ways are there. At least for now. As more companies catch on, that gap will close. Don’t look back a year from now and wish you had “rolled the dice” on one of the safest bets in marketing – nearly 70% of fans of women’s sports say they make a point of supporting brands who sponsor their favorite female athletes, teams, or leagues.