How Female Athletes Will Change the Brand Sponsorships Playbook in 2025
The past two years have been a tipping point for women's sports. They've been defined by record-breaking events like the 2023 and 2024 Women's NCAA Tournament and the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Fueled further by expanded media coverage tripling in 2023, forecasts show the industry is set to experience a whopping 300% increase on its 2021 evaluation.
While the number of women's professional sports sponsorships has increased more than 22% YoY, brands not in the game have an opportunity to support a historically undervalued group while also driving conversion.
The winning formula for 2025 is in some ways as unconventional as Flava Flav's passion for women’s water polo. A successful women's sports sponsorship today can bring major success to brands that maybe never thought of sponsoring the WNBA or the UEFA Women's EURO, but the approach is as different as the way games are played.
Curation: Quality Over Quantity
By "ushering in a new era in women's sport," the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) exemplifies the transformative progress in women's sports, shattering viewership records and elevating the game's status. Despite this success, PWHL's brand partnership strategy focused on quality over quantity. Demonstrating a nimble, efficient approach to secure sponsorships without shying away from larger collaborations, the PWHL has curated a unique blend of emerging and established brand partnerships.
The league's Molson Coors collaboration harnessed the nuances of women's sports by celebrating what is unique in an authentic way. "See My Name" transformed the hockey jersey. Traditionally, the players' names are placed on the upper back of the jersey, but womens' longer hair often covers their names. This makes it even harder for them to make a name for themselves in sports when their moniker is quite literally hidden. Molson Coors chose to sponsor the space above the players' numbers resulting in a jersey redesign that moved the name bar below. Brand recognition was sacrificed for player recognition. The campaign became the most shared campaign in brand history, generating 2.9 billion earned impressions and leading to a 5.8% sales increase.
Unlocking Unexpectedly Authentic Partnerships
There is an influx of interest from brands that have never ventured into the professional sports space before. Some brands are able to seamlessly shift into women's sports, even those with a distinctly feminine focus that previously weren’t considered "appropriate for men's sports" and its fanbase. This transformation is paving the way for brands like Sequel, which was founded by two female Stanford-educated engineers and former high-performance athletes. Sequel introduced "the first engineering redesign of the tampon in 80 years" to underscore their commitment to women in sport. Their partnership with Athleta for the 2024 Paris Olympics and as the official tampon provider of the USL Super League showed a commitment to supporting female athletes. This normalized conversations around menstrual health in the sports world.
Turbo-Charging Social Influence
The stark wage disparity between men and women in professional sports has driven female athletes to cultivate a strong social media presence and leverage it for financial gain. Earning 21 times less on the field of play, female athletes are twice as reliant on endorsements and dominate the social media landscape. They boast a 14% larger following and generate double the engagement compared to male athletes. This trend demonstrates a shift in brand strategy, moving away from male-centric marketing and embracing the power and influence of female athletes in the social media space where they thrive.
Women's sports fans are more active and engaging on social and use their phones more while watching sports compared to other fans, according to marketing agency SportFive. They are also more interested in an athlete's lifestyle, fashion and interests beyond the sport (72% versus 45% for men's sports fans). This affinity for social media and lifestyle interest has paved the way for unique partnership opportunities, as seen with basketball star Angel Reese and Mercedes-Benz Baton Rouge. Reese experienced the most significant social media growth of any female professional and collegiate across all platforms. She was featured in a highly successful partnership due in part to her position of influence that ranked third overall — in social campaigns with women in sport in audience engagement.
The recent surge in women's sports interest and viewership is a cultural shift that presents a compelling opportunity for brands and agencies alike. Those who lean in and challenge the traditional sports sponsorship norms stand to win consumer hearts and wallets in 2025.
About the Author: Emily Habeck is a commerce strategist at VML, working mainly on CPG brands over her two years with the company.