Sports Marketing Summit: ‘We are lagging’ – Australian media and marketers hesitant to invest in women’s sport
Is Australia making genuine progress in women’s sport, or is it all just talk?
In a “slightly unhinged, very conversational” session at Mumbrella’s Sports Marketing Summit last week, FIFA Women’s World Cup’s former head of marketing, Kim Anderson, and EssenceMediacom’s APAC strategy lead for sport and culture, Dan Collier-Hill, weighed in.
“The boys club control a lot of what’s happening in women’s sport, and it has to change,” Collier-Hill said.
“We are lagging behind,” Anderson said.
“We’re not making it easy for fans to engage or to buy into women’s sport, whether that’s merchandise or broadcasts. We’re continuing to lose out on opportunities that positively impact young boys and girls, which often is the remit of a lot of our brands.
“We allow female athletes to live below the minimum wage when the male athletes are often earning five times that amount,” she added.
Kim Anderson
From a winning World Cup bidding campaign to propelling the FIFA Women’s World Cup beyond greatness, Anderson has been a creative and strategic force behind some of Australasia’s most iconic recent sporting and cultural memories.
Reflecting on the success of the campaign, she said: “I’m here today because I can see the transformational power of the Women’s World Cup and what happens when you actually give women the right conditions to succeed.”
Earlier this year, Parity revealed that women’s sports is gaining momentum among fans.
In Australia, 34% of women’s sports fans are watching more women’s sports this year compared to last.
Female athletes are also the most effective influencers. People are 2.3 times more likely to purchase a product endorsed by a female athlete than a male.
“That means we’re actually leading the way globally,” Anderson said.
“But before you get too excited about that, when it comes to how we invest in women’s sport, it’s a little bit of a different story around that gender disparity.”
Deloitte predicts that women’s elite sports will generate global revenues of US$1.28 billion in 2024 (AU $1.87 billion).
“But that still means we’re less than 1% of the pie for revenue globally,” Anderson said.
“Given that sponsorship and media rights are the biggest contributors to men’s sport, media and brands have a long way to go to uplift women’s sport to where it needs to be.”
Collier-Hill continued: “Women’s sport in Australia is largely unseen and underrepresented. To be very clear, we’re talking about the lack of accessibility and minimal share of voice in media – they’re actually becoming direct blockers.
“More than two out of three pieces of content written on women’s sport focuses on the outcome. It doesn’t get the deeper coverage or analysis as men’s sport does.”
He said marketers are also turning down opportunities to invest and contribute despite record crowd attendances, TV ratings and social engagement.
“All strategic decisions around women’s sports – whether [related to] funding, sponsorship, or broadcasting – often face pushback from men, particularly when data suggests progress. [This] is really uncomfortable and harrowing.
“Despite all of the eyeballs, attendance and product purchases, brands continue to deprioritise partnership opportunities. The media continues to lowball broadcast rights, and suppliers continue to under-deliver on stock levels.“
Dan Collier-Hill
Anderson said there is a seven-to-one ROI in women’s sport.
“They’re outperforming men, so it’s a much smarter investment,” she explained.
“We’ve also seen that female athletes are 69% more effective in influencing human behaviour. So, these are large discrepancies, yet we continue to fund that $125 million gap to men’s sport.”
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Dan Collier-Hill
EssenceMediacom
FIFA
Kim Anderson
Mumbrella Sports Marketing Summit 2024
Sports marketing summit
women's sport
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