According to a Forbes report last April, both the viewership and dollars behind womenâs sports at a collegiate and professional level are growing.
In 2022, the first 32 games of the NCAA tournament had record attendance levels, breaking records set back in 2004, and largely driven by the new and rapidly growing womenâs NCAA tournament. WNBA openers this year saw a 21% spike in attendance, with some teams including the LA Sparks reporting triple-digit ticket sales growth, about 121% over 2022âs total. In 2023, the average size of an LA Sparks crowd swelled to 10,396 people, up from 4,701 people.
Women make up half the population, but âalso 50% of the folks that are walking into the stadium at Dodger Stadium, or your NFL fans are just about 50% women,â noted Erin Storck, a panelist and senior analyst at Los Angeles-based Elysian Park Ventures.
Storck added that in heterosexual households, women generally manage most of the familyâs money, giving them huge purchasing power, a potential advantage for female-run leagues. âThere's an untapped revenue opportunity,â she noted.
In the soccer world, Los Angeles-based womenâs soccer team Angel City FC has put in the work to become a household name, not just in LA County but across the nation. At an LA Tech Week panel hosted by Athlete Strategies about investing in sports, Angel City head of strategy and chief of staff Kari Fleischauer said that years before launching the womenâs National Womenâs Soccer League team, Angel City FC was pounding the pavement letting people know about the excitement ladies soccer can bring. She noted community is key, and that fostering a sense of engagement and safety at the teamâs home venue, BMO stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium), is one reason fans keep coming back.
Adding free metro rides to BMO stadium and private rooms for nursing fans to breastfeed or fans on the spectrum to avoid sensory overload, were just some of the ways ACFC tried to include its community in the concept of its stadium, Fleischauer said. She noted, though, that roughly 46% of Angel City fans are âstraight white dudes hanging out with their bros.â
âParticularly [on] the woman's side, I'd like to think we do a better job of making sure that there's spaces for everyone,â Fleischauer told the audience. âOne thing we realize is accessibility is a huge thing.â
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