Key takeaways:
– Women represent one of sports’ most powerful consumer segments, yet many rights holders still fail to reflect their motivations, identities, and expectations.
– Female fans are driven by storytelling that highlights athletes’ personalities, journeys, and leadership, not just results, stats, or standings.
– Rights holders that tailor content experiences to women’s lived realities can unlock deeper engagement, stronger loyalty, and significant commercial upside.
Women’s sports is having a moment, and deep-pocketed investors were among the first to recognize it. Over the past few years, key figures like Alexis Ohanian (the co-founder of Reddit), Bob Iger (Disney CEO) and his wife, TV journalist Willow Bay, Joe Lacob (the owner of the Golden State Warriors), and Vivek Ranadivé (owner of the Sacramento Kings) have all invested record sums in women’s teams and leagues, accelerating their growth.
But none of them has matched the impact of Michele Kang's investment.
The billionaire, who owns three women’s football teams in the US, UK, and France, recently launched the Kang Women’s Institute. Partnering with US Soccer, Kang has committed to investing $25 million in the institute, which aims to assess the current and emerging needs of female players at every level through scientific research. Currently, only 6% of published research in sports is focused on women.
“For too long, women have trained, played, and recovered using models built for men. That ends now,” said Kang. “This Institute will put female athletes at the center and build the evidence, systems, and standards that will allow women and girls to reach their full potential. This is not just about closing a research gap; it’s about creating a future where every player has the knowledge, care, and opportunity to thrive.”
Why women’s fandom deserves center stage
According to a new study by The Collective, Wasserman’s women-focused advisory business, female athletes are not the only ones who need to be put front and center in sports. Drawing on the insights of over 7,100 women across 10 countries, the study offers a new perspective on women’s experiences as sports fans, encouraging leagues, teams, and organizations to rethink women’s fandom in a way that unlocks the full power of their loyalty and spending power.
Women's spending power and fandom, The Collective's report underscores, is on an upward trajectory:
– Women will control 75% of global discretionary spending by 2030 and lead the majority (85%) of household purchasing decisions.
– 72% of women worldwide consider themselves avid sports fans.
– Nearly half (48%) of women fans are the primary decision-makers for sports-related purchases.
Any yet, note the authors, “despite the immense economic influence women hold as both consumers and sports fans, many still feel unseen and misunderstood by leagues, teams, and brands. The industry, as it stands today, will never unlock the full economic value of women unless it sees – and serves – 'her'.”
Why legacy fan models no longer work
At the heart of the issue is the industry's reliance on outdated fan frameworks that were historically built for men, namely stats and stadium-first strategies. As a result:
– 66% of female fans say professional women’s sports leagues do not understand or appeal to them, and 72% say the same about men’s sports leagues.
– Less than 30% of Boomer and Gen X women sports fans say sports organizations understand them.
– 53% of Gen Z women say the lack of attention to women fans has made them less likely to engage.
Rather than expecting women to adapt to frameworks that don't always fit them, rights holders should create an ecosystem that allows female fans to engage on their terms. That means creating narratives that present athletes as multi-faceted individuals: leaders, parents, entrepreneurs, and creators.
“Women are story-driven consumers: athletes’ journeys, on-field or court resilience, and off-field leadership resonate as much as performance,” the authors contend. “Across studies, women rank talent, personality, and leadership as the top reasons they follow athletes. That means storytelling isn’t secondary. It is the product.”
Smarter content platforms serve women fans better
Women today represent one of the most powerful consumer forces in sports, yet the disconnect is clear: their economic stake is surging while emotional relevance still lags. When leagues and teams default to legacy fan models, they miss the opportunity to reflect how women experience sport. Organizations that invest in storytelling rooted in identity, personality, and lived reality don’t just gain women's attention; they earn trust, loyalty, and measurable commercial return.
This is where AI-powered content creation tech becomes a competitive advantage. By instantly transforming moments that showcase athletes’ character, creativity, and journeys, rights holders can deliver platform-native stories at the speed and scale women expect. When content consistently reflects what resonates, discovery turns into devotion. With investors already placing big bets on women’s sports, the next frontier is meeting female fans where they engage.
Actionable insights:
– Audit your content mix to ensure athlete storytelling (personal journeys, off-field lives, values) is as prominent as highlights and statistics.
– Build platform-specific short-form formats that surface personality and emotion, not just performance, especially for social and creator-led channels.
– Use content data and audience signals to actively segment and personalize experiences for women fans, instead of relying on legacy, one-size-fits-all fan models.
