The Future Of Sport Is Female (Fans)
Women are the most powerful growth engine in sports today
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In 2023, Nielsen called it the most distinctive shift in sports in the last 50 years: the rapid rise in the importance, influence, and value of female fans. Women are changing sports, full stop.
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A new global study from The Collective at Wasserman surveyed 7,100 women across 10 countries and revealed how deeply women are shaping the future of sports fandom. Today, 72% of women across the globe identify as avid sports fans – yet, many say leagues, teams, and brands are still failing to understand or authentically engage them. As women’s economic power continues to rise, this disconnect represents one of the sports industry’s biggest opportunities for growth.
Women Hold More Economic Power Than Ever
According to Forbes, women are expected to hold $30 trillion in U.S. assets by 2030, and globally are expected to hold nearly $100 trillion by 2048. Beyond simply holding assets, women are also influencing purchasing behavior. Currently, 85% of all U.S. consumer spending is either controlled or heavily influenced by women.
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Even more importantly for the sports industry, The Collective found that nearly half (48%) of women fans say they are the primary decision-makers for sports-related purchases, and 84% report playing a key role in shaping sports-related household decisions.
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This new research backs up a striking disconnect that female fans have felt for decades: that despite the immense economic influence that women hold, they are still misunderstood and underserved by the sports industry.
Women’s Sports Are Answering The Call
While much of the traditional sports industry has struggled to authentically engage women, women’s sports are proving exactly what’s possible when investment, visibility, and storytelling are centered around women. On the most basic level, the proof lies in the results that the women’s sports industry has seen in recent years. Global revenue for women’s elite sports on the whole is projected to surpass $2.35B in 2025, up from $1.88B in 2024. Zooming in further, growth across individual leagues and teams continues to trend sharply upward, with recent examples including:
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🏀 The 2025 WNBA season was the most-watched in league history across ESPN platforms.
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⚽ Bay FC and the Washington Spirit set a new single-game attendance record for the NWSL and any U.S. women’s professional sports league when 40,091 fans showed up to Oracle Park in August 2025.
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🏉 The final of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup set a new world record for the most-attended women’s rugby match with 81,885 fans.
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🏒 The PWHL set the global attendance record for a women’s hockey game when 21,105 fans attended the Montreal vs. Toronto match-up in Montreal.
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One of the key reasons women’s sports are thriving is that they’ve been intentionally built with women at the center. These leagues and experiences aren’t an afterthought; they’re designed to serve a historically underserved audience of women. The rapid growth of the women’s sports industry proves what’s possible when an increase in female sports fans collides with increased female spending power and sports experiences that center women.
The TAKEAWAY?
Women fans aren’t just filling seats; they’re shaping the business of sport itself in a massive way. The future of sports is female (fans), and the leagues, teams, and brands that embrace this reality will be the ones that win.
MEET CAROLINE FITZGERALD
Caroline Fitzgerald is a contributing writer for TOGETHXR.com and a leading expert in women’s sports business and gender equity. A Sports Business Journal "2024 Power Player in Women's Sports," she covers the forces shaping the industry’s next era of growth.
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