Sports Innovation Lab insights show companies plan to spend more in women’s sports in 2025

The GIST: In recent years, sponsors have talked a big game about increasing their investment in women’s sports, and in 2024, many stepped up. According to Sports Innovation Lab (SIL) survey results released yesterday, brands are boosting women’s sports budgets for 2025 and reallocating sponsorship dollars from men’s sports to women’s. Spreading the wealth.

The data: Per SIL’s report, the average brand earmarked 20% of its total sports media budget for women’s sports in 2024, up 9% YoY. Nearly a third of brands spent more than 20% on women’s sports, and while 82% of companies will boost their women’s sports budget in 2025, 34% plan to do so by over 10%.

• Ally’s 50/50 Pledge was a gamechanger when it went public in 2022, but the idea of more equal spending is slowly catching on. Although women’s sports sponsorship has long been an afterthought for many brands, the average company plans to reallocate 7% of its sports media budget from men’s to women’s sports in 2025. Starting somewhere.

The growth: It sometimes seems like only the same few players step up in women’s sports, but both the PWHL and LOVB stood out in 2024 as leagues that recruited newcomers. The PWHL signed close to 50 corporate partners by its second season, with many of them green to sports sponsorship — take Canadian intimates brand Bravado Designs or smart appliance brand Midea, for example.

• On the volleyball side, LOVB has won over sports sponsorship rookies like Revolve and Rebel Girls with its strong Gen Z and Gen Alpha audience and engagement, something these brands are looking to capitalize on.

Looking ahead: While 20% of Fortune 500 companies boast sport sponsorships in the NBA, MLS, or NHL, only 6% of them (33 companies) have equivalent WNBA, NWSL, or PWHL deals. To bolster this number, folks in the industry should leverage data on women’s sports fans and women athletes to make the business case for women’s sports in the boardroom.

• Early December data from UK–based charity Women’s Sports Trust found that 21% of brand decision-makers believed communicating sponsorship value in women’s sports was their second-biggest challenge when it came to closing a deal, even though most of these companies either met or exceeded ROI expectations. It just makes cents.