Women, Sports and Marketing

Traditionally sporting events have been dominated by men and advertising to men. Do you think that is still the case? Have you been to a game lately? Are you aware that women are watching but your advertising is stuck in the 1960’s? Times have changed. If you are a marketer and you aren’t marketing heavily to women at sporting events, shame on you!

Annually, the largest sporting event watched in the world is the Super Bowl. In 2014 112.2 million people viewed this event. It may surprise some to learn that the Super Bowl attracts a sizeable female viewing audience. Of the 112 million viewers it is estimated that 52.6 million women tuned into the big game. They accounted for 46.8% of the viewing audience.

Part of the reason for the spike in the viewership of women are the ads and halftime shows. Ads typically are big budget productions that are designed to create buzz. A 30 second spot costs advertisers $4.5 million dollars. If they were positioning those dollars to woman they probably hit the mark giving the viewing statistics.

Takeaway lesson: there are plenty of women who love football and most other sports.

Are you positioning your advertising to take advantage of the increases female viewers? Are you creating ads that speak to woman?