The news: Women’s sports are becoming a key growth engine for marketers looking to reach attentive fans without the massive cost of major events like the Super Bowl.

Viewership for women’s sports is much smaller than overall live sports, but is growing at a faster rate: We forecast women’s live sports viewers will increase 6.9% this year, while live sports viewership will only grow 0.4%.

Women’s sports name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal volume increased 36% YoY in 2024, outpacing men’s NIL growth, per SponsorUnited. Women’s basketball has also jumped past men’s basketball in NIL deal activity.

Female athletes are no longer on the playing field only—they’re transforming into influencers to be drivers of brand growth. Brands are increasingly “investing in athlete-creators who bring highly engaged, loyal audiences and the kind of authentic connection that traditional advertising simply can’t replicate,” said Bess Devenow, senior strategic insights and communications manager at Vantage in a statement shared with EMARKETER.

Proven results: A significant portion of athletes driving high engagement are women, Devenow noted. The data backs up his claims:

• Ads during women’s live sports have a 40% higher impact on consumer engagement than the average primetime ad, per a 2025 EDO report.
• Ads during the 2025 NCAA Women’s College Volleyball Championship Game boosted ad impact by 3.5 times.
• The 2025 NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament caused engagement to skyrocket 334%, per Nexxen Discovery.
• Women athletes accounted for 75% of the top 150 most engaging social posts in the 2024-2025 season and 66% of mid-engagement posts, per SponsorUnited.
• On TikTok, female athletes accounted for 61% of all views among the 50 most-marketable athletes and 80% of total content posted by athletes on the platform, per Women’s Sport Trust.
• Women’s sports are driving unparalleled engagement on social. The WNBA saw a single-season record in 2024, with nearly 2 billion views across WNBA social media platforms, a 252% YoY increase in WNBA app users, and 250% growth in TikTok views.

Implications for marketers: Women’s sports offers a less cluttered—and often less expensive—ad environment, making live sports accessible to marketers who are looking to connect with highly engaged and passionate audiences without breaking the bank.

Proven advertising results emphasize the need for marketers to invest in women’s sports to build loyalty and long-term audience relationships.