Women Are Taking a Keen Interest in Sports as Industry Evolves
As inevitable as things like death and taxes are, so is men’s interest in sport. However, there’s a clear shift happening with many women taking a keen interest in watching sports, and the viewership numbers illustrate this.
Almost 33 million people watched domestic women’s sport in 2021 with The Hundred cricket league and Women’s Super League driving growth; Chelsea FC Women’s Instagram interactions were higher than 12 of the men’s Premier League teams during the 2021-22 season, meaning that there is a change happening around the interest in the media coverage of the events.
The research, which was conducted by the Women’s Sport Trust, highlighted that 5.9 million viewers of the WSL were new to women’s sport before the start of the season. Of the 4.9 million new viewers to league, 3.5 million had gone on to watch other women’s sport.
The Vitality Netball Superleague, which streams on Sky Sports YouTube channel attracted, an audience that was 74 per cent female and 26 per cent male and a demographic aged 25 to 34-years-old.
Major mixed events attracted the highest percentage of female viewers, with Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympic Games also driving digital interest from females.
“We know how important these major events are in growing viewership figures, but we want this growth to be sustainable, driving greater habit amongst audiences, to ensure women’s sport continues to be visible, viable and unstoppable,” said Tammy Parlour, CEO and Co-Founder of the Women’s Sport Trust.
As a result, the online betting scene with sports has seen a huge influx of female users too, with many engaging with platforms in order to follow predictions, fixtures, and results more keenly. By some accounts, women are signing up for sports betting apps at a faster rate than men.
“This report also highlights the need to consider how decision makers can help facilitate the growth of women’s sport by considering its strategy of how to use digital channels to reach new audiences, as Sky Sports have done with their netball coverage on YouTube, and use social media to build fandom around both athletes and teams,” added Parlour.