As the world watches the exceptional athletes in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia, a new report highlights the value of investing in women’s elite sport for corporate partners.
Findings from The Value of You Can Be What You Can See report, released by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, show that for every $1 a corporate sponsor invests into the visibility of women’s elite sport, the organisation gains, on average, $7.29 in customer value.
Over the past decade, women’s elite sport all over Australia has seen incredible growth.
However, industry benchmarks show that the value of women’s elite sport properties is currently only 12 per cent the level of men’s elite sport properties. This is despite the research finding that early corporate supporters of women’s elite sport are benefitting from more than $650 million in customer value annually.
“We’ve seen fantastic growth in opportunities for women to be professional athletes in Australia, particularly across the professional sporting leagues now in place– but a significant gap remains in how our women athletes are being supported by corporate Australia,” said Sarah Styles, Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation.
“We are calling on corporate sponsors to invest now and realise the benefits of partnering with women’s elite sport– benefits that will be maximised through longer-term partnerships and by leveraging the partnership well.”
Sarah Styles, Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation
A key difference between sponsorship of men’s and women’s elite sports is that when corporate sponsors invest in women, they benefit from improved brand attributes and increased employee satisfaction as well.
The report with these findings was commissioned by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation through the Change Our Game Research and Insights Initiative and delivered by Melbourne-based global sports insights firm, Gemba.
The study explored eight key sports in Australia, covering elite professional competitions, national teams and individual athletes, through consultations, public financial disclosures, consumer survey results and market insights.
In order to equalise participation and fan bases between men’s and women’s sports, the research shows that sporting organisations need to increase their investment into the visibility of women’s elite sport to 3-4 times the current levels.
If sponsorship parity is reached by 2038 (15 years), high-level forecasting based on the results of the study indicate $49 billion in customer value will go to corporate sponsors. This number increases to $72 billion over 15 years if the milestone is reached by 2028 (5 years).
“While sponsorship of men’s elite sport is a mature category, women’s elite sport sponsorship remains undervalued delivering existing and new sponsors with a range of attractive brand benefits, both short and long term,” the report reads.
“Corporate sponsorship of women’s elite sport has the power to help change the course of history.”