Will Olympic glory translate to more brand investment for women's sport?

While there were many golden sporting moments at the Paris Olympics this year, it's fair to say the Games belonged to the incredible female athletes who in many cases outshone and outperformed their male counterparts both in their events and overall sportsmanship.

Who can forget the touching moment when world champion Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, and fellow teammate Jordan Chiles, bowed to Rebeca Andrade, gold winner in the vault event, which transcended into culture, as they comprised the first all-Black podium in Olympic gymnastics.

Elsewhere, there was the triumphant win of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who fought off all manner of prejudice, bigotry and hate speech to be crowned champion in the women's boxing event. And not forgetting the American rugby player, Ilona Maher, who became the bonafide breakout social media star of the Games amassing more than two million new followers during the Olympics period alone.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Games undoubtedly raised the profile of women's sport and some of its star athletes to previously unseen levels, but will all the coverage and Olympic glory translate into long-term improvement? And could this translate to increased brand sponsorships and endorsements?

"What the global event proved, once again, was that women athletes are superstars in their own right—in their abilities and in marketing," says Thayer Lavielle, EVP at The Collective, Wasserman. "If marketing leaders can see elements of their brands in these athletes’ stories of personal and team triumph, now is the time to spark partnership discussions that will bring their values to life in future games."

A continuing disparity

While there is hope the many feed-good tales of female athletes at the Paris Olympics will finally shift the dial in terms of investment and support of women's sport, a 2023 report by global sports entertainment agency The Collective confirms the continuing disparity. Because women make 21 times less than men on the field of play—they are required to make 82% of their income off that field. 

"That is a whole other job," says Lavielle. "Decades of inequality have forced women athletes to be more creative in solving for this deficit, which has motivated them by necessity in driving massive engagement in social media; this, in turn, leads to more brand dollars."

In fact, women athletes drive twice the engagement on social media. Female athletes are often savvier in fan engagement and content creation because they have had to be due to the lack of coverage in the past. In addition, fans of women’s sports are 54% more aware of sponsors, and 45% more willing to consider or purchase from sponsor brands compared to fans of men’s sports.

"The return on investment is awaiting those ready to align their brand values with these inspiring, thrilling stories of women athletes," says Lavielle. "What’s essential at this point is that leaders take a fresh look at their decision-making and investment approach, to ask where they can create the space to explore what is frankly a very apparent, untapped opportunity for plentiful growth.” 

In terms of income, there is still a massive disparity between male and female athletes. Not one single female athlete appeared in the world's highest paid athletes according to Forbes earlier this year. The highest-earning female athlete, tennis player Iga Swiatek, still fell short by over $20m to make the cut of the top 50.

 

"While this includes income earned both in and out of the sport's arena it still shows how far we have to go," says Rebecca Sowden, founder of Team Heroine. "I see the key reason for this is not due to a lack of sporting skill or marketability, but marketers' over-focus on 'reach' largely evaluated off live sport's coverage rather than more meaningful business KPIs and return on investment. Marketers often fail to measure or take into consideration metrics like engagement on social media, community loyalty, and brand values and alignment."

Sowden adds that the sponsorship gap also comes from a lack of marketers' familiarity with female athletes and knowledge about women's sports.

"Not knowing female athletes names, on and off-field personalities, influence, or their huge impact on culture, combined with their own lack of personal interest, can influence where they spend their marketing budgets,” she added.

Lack of consistent visibility

While we always see an increase in attention and investment in women athletes around marquee sports events like the Olympics or the World Cup, therein lies the problem, says Jas Dhami, US VP of sports & streaming at We Are Social Sport.

"Female athletes show up and compete day in and day out, every season, the same way male athletes do, yet their opportunities for brand endorsements and sponsorship are severely lacking," says Dhami. "This is in large part due to broadcast exposure and lopsided coverage of men’s sports when it comes to regular league events. Without consistent visibility and viewership opportunities for women’s sports, sponsorships around women athletes will always fall short."

However, there’s no doubt that the popularity of women’s sports has exploded in the past two years, so we may start to see this necessary shift happen sooner rather than later. The Paris 2024 Olympics was a particularly good example.

This was largely a result of key changes the IOC made, allowing female athletes to be given more participation opportunities, a bigger global platform and therefore allowed their stories to dominate.

Firstly, the IOC distributed quota places equally to male and female athletes, and for the first time in Olympic history, there was full gender parity in the field. Secondly, the IOC has been changing the profile of the Olympics with a growth in the breadth and depth of female events which mirrors the general interest and trends in women’s sport—a more gender-balanced sports programme with 28 out of 32 sports fully gender-equal in Paris and a more gender-balanced number of medal events. Finally, the IOC has taken several important actions to increase the visibility of women at the Olympic Games. 

"Since Tokyo 2020, each team has been encouraged to have one female and one male athlete jointly carry their flag at the Opening Ceremony," says Eleri Guy, director of global athletes and women’s sports lead at Sportfive. "Nearly 40% of commentators were female—representing an 80% uplift compared to Tokyo 2020 and a more than 200% increase from Rio 2016. Finally, changes to the schedule ensured there was more gender balance and improved the equity of visibility."

Paris 2024 has led by example. Yet, fears persist that the recent Olympics will likely be an exception rather than the rule.

"It will probably take more than a women-dominated Olympics or record viewership for the Women’s NCAA Basketball tournament to move the needle in a meaningful way," adds Dhami.

The soaring popularity of women's sport fuels optimism 

There is hope for the future of women's sport in gaining more exposure and achieving parity. Media rights holders are beginning to catch up to fan interest. In women's soccer in the US, both the NWSL and WNBA have signed record-breaking deals in the past year, after which sponsorship dollars should follow. 

The Olympics exposure has also proved fruitful in gaining more investment and sponsorship. After USA Rugby won a bronze medal and maintained a captivating social-media presence throughout the Games—largely thanks to breakout stars like Maher—Michele Kang, owner of three women's soccer clubs, gifted US$4 million over the course of four years to the USA Women's Rugby Sevens team.

More broadly, we're also beginning to see greater parity across certain sports like tennis as new categories like lifestyle and fashion enter the women's sport market. 

"We are starting to see a rise in female-focus brands partnering with female athletes, creating new opportunities which male athletes cannot offer," says Guy. "Two examples of Olympic athlete partnerships include L’Oreal owned NYX Professional Makeup who are now sponsoring USA Gymnast Shilese Jones, and similarly Simone Biles has become the face of hair-care line K18."

 

The soaring popularity of women's sports fuels optimism for increased brand endorsements for the LA 2028 Olympics. However, achieving true parity will require a collective and sustained effort. 

 

"Sporting institutions and policymakers must invest in cultural and societal progress," says Laura Garriga, women’s sport and culture lead and associate creative director at Prism Sport + Entertainment. "Brands must keep pushing to move beyond traditional ROI measures and recognise that championing female athletes creates cultural impact alongside commercial results, ultimately shaping a more equitable and inspiring future for sports.”