女子体育事业

The business of women’s sports Key takeaways Women's sports are evolving into a high growth segment of the broader sports economy. BofA Global Research expects morethan a 250% revenue growth in US women's sports by 2030 - a trend reinforced by major sports like soccer attracting •Women's sports viewership in the US has nearly tripled since 2020. Younger, affluent and highly digital consumers are drivinggreater live attendance, merchandise sales, and social‑media fandom, according to BofA Global Research. Women's leagues in According to BofA Global Research, as viewership and engagement increase, women's sports are being met with increasedsponsorship to cater to growing fanbases. And with women's discretionary spending growth outpacing men's in Bank of America Women’s sports revenues sprinting ahead Women’s sports revenues in the US could grow 250% (to $2.5 billion) between 2024 and 2030, according to a McKinseyanalysis. However, as US sports add additional women’s teams, as well as fans, BofA Global Research believes that a 250%increase could prove conservative. And despite this fast-paced growth, women’s sports still only earn a fraction of the revenues, Why now? More money, more choices Between 2018 and 2023, wealth controlled by women increased by 51%, according to a McKinsey analysis. Across the EuropeanUnion and US, women currently control about one-third of retail financial assets, with this share projected to reach 40-45% by 2030.1Further underscoring women’s financial strength, women’s median deposit account balances were up 35% from the 2019average in January 2026, per Bank of America account data. (Exhibit 1). Exhibit2:Women’s discretionaryspending growth was up 1.2%year-over-year (YoY) in January Exhibit1:Women’s deposit accountbalanceswere up35% from the2019 average in January Median discretionary spending by gender (monthly, 3-month movingaverage, YoY%) Women’s median deposit account balance (monthly, indexed, 2019average = 100) Additionally, women make 70-80% of household purchases and are almost half of the women’s sports fanbase, according toBofA Global Research. According to a Boston Consulting Group study, women are projected to control $32 trillion in discretionaryspending globally by 2028, making them a powerful consumer segment that can transform existing sectors (read more on this inMarch 2025’s Growing the pie). We see evidence of this in Bank of America data, as women’s discretionary spending continued At the same time, the women’s sports industry is going mainstream, with pay, sponsorships and media attention following. Thisis driven in part by two factors: 1) rising live-event attendance and 2) increased willingness to pay for tickets and in-person Sponsors are building out their benchWhile both women’s and men’s professional sports make money the same way–from ticket sales, media rights and sponsorships–right now, women’s sports rely most heavily on sponsorship and commercial deals.2 In response, brand partners are leaning into women’s sports, including stakeholders from non-traditional sectors like beauty,health care, wellness and travel. One reason for this is community/social responsibility, followed closely by reinforcing brandimage (Exhibit 3). Additionally, brands are partnering with college athletes and innovating with collaborations across fitness, health and fashion.According to a recent Merrill study,The Financial Reality of Today’s Young Athletes, 74% of respondents were expecting had already earned $10,000+ from NIL deals in 2024 – a substantial income for many young athletes (Exhibit 4).Further sweetening the pot, a study by Change Our Game asserts that every $1 spent by a corporate sponsor generates $7 incustomer value. And this adds up: the number of sponsorship deals in professional women’s sports (over 5,500) rose 22% in 2024 and 12% in 2025.4And a 2025 report by Sports Innovation Lab states that 82% of brands who already sponsored femaleathletes planned to increase their spending on women’s sports in the coming year. Diversified global fan bases support growing market Women’s sports’popularity extends beyond just female viewers. For example, in their 2025 Global Sports Report, Nielsen notedthat 53% of women’s sports fans are actually men. Looking at the US, overall women’s sports viewership nearly tripled from2020 to 2025. And zooming back even further, interest in women’s sports climbed to 50% of the global population in 2024, up In general, women’s sports fans tend to skew younger, more educated and more affluent compared to fans for many men’ssports.6These viewers also tend to be tech savvy, engaging via social media and/or streaming services to watch sporting events at home (read more on streaming trends inStreaming: From trickle to torrent). According to BofA Global Research, just 22% of female sports fans attend live events, but those who do are more engaged. Theyare more likely to visit fan zones, try interactive experiences, or p