Dawn Airey and the Rise of Women’s Sport: Odgers Berndtson's Sports, Gaming & Media - Chair and CEO Dinner 2023

Addressing a room of board members and CEOs from sports, betting, media and interactive gaming, Dawn covered the growth impact of women’s football on the wider sports landscape, media platforms and betting and gaming operators.

Predicting the Women's Super League and Championship (WSL&WC) to become a £1bn league within the next decade she offered the following insights:

• A global explosion of interest and engagement in all women's sports indicates the future of sport is the future of women's sport. There is enormous potential for women’s sport to create wealth across multiple sectors through its unique attributes and innovative investment.
• In the UK, women’s football is the fourth most watched sport behind men’s football, tennis and men’s cricket, yet globally women’s sport is valued at less than 1% of men’s sports.
• Sports output is moving from data-led scores and stats to more engaging storytelling and content that revolves around players and teams. Beyond the game, distribution of sport has shifted from linear content to always-on social media and OTT platforms. Measurement of popularity is no longer through viewership, but through engagement with quality content and affinity with players and sport celebrity brands.
• Women’s football is not a variation of a product to sell to the same fan base – it is an additional proposition that clubs can use to engage an entirely new fan base, a fan base that has been shown to have higher levels of engagement than male sports fans across traditional media, mobile apps, podcasts and social media as well as digital broadcasts. If you want engagement, you want women’s sports fans.
• Women’s sport is far more accepting and open of diversity in all its forms. This inclusivity makes both the players and the women’s game an attractive prospect for brands and commercial partners. Women’s sporting celebrities understand they are representing a generation – a younger demographic. This is why a recent study found over 80% of brands were looking to increase their investment in women’s sport in 2024.
• This year, Northstar created a ‘Top 100’ of the world’s most marketable athletes. Two of the top 5 were female footballers, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. Two other female players were named above Cristiano Ronaldo. The women’s game is and will continue to deliver a unique experience for fans; characterised by a deeper and more personalised experience.
  
  Commercial arrangements must change to become true partnerships that will;
  -    mutually grow each other’s brands.
  -    share data to drive mutually beneficial outcomes. 
  -    create multi-dimensional layers of engagement for fans.

The dinner proved to be an insightful and engaging evening, with participating guests from company boards across the sports, gaming, and media landscape.

The Odgers team have already started the planning phase for the 2024 dinner. If you have ideas of topics, themes and emerging trends you would like to hear more about then do let us know at simon.cummins@odgersberndtson.com

As our sectors continue to converge, the Odgers Berndtson Sports, Gaming & Media Practice will continue to support boards and CEOs with critical appointments globally. Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss your board and c-level talent agenda.

The evening was sponsored by our partner Miller.