The Summer Women’s Sports Became Mainstream
The Summer of 2025 will go down in history as one of the greatest seasons in the history of women’s sports. From historic audience growth to landmark announcements and sold-out stadiums, it felt like every single day brought a new milestone moment. But what has made this summer particularly powerful is that there hasn’t been any massive, global tentpole event that created one giant surge in interest.
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No FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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No Summer Olympics or Paralympics.
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And yet, women’s sports have been occupying significant space in sports & culture all summer long.
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This summer, women’s sports have operated under a “business as usual” model, with leagues in regular season play and a usual handful of special events sprinkled throughout. Basically, it’s been a “regular” summer for women’s sports – but even without mega-events to boost visibility, women’s sports saw record-breaking results, continued commercial growth, and unprecedented engagement across platforms.
UEFA Women's Euro
Consider the UEFA Women’s EURO. The 2025 tournament broke its own attendance record, with 657,291 fans showing up in Switzerland — making the event the most-attended Women’s EURO in history. Viewership skyrocketed globally, with semi-final matches drawing peak audiences of over 10M in the UK and 14M in Germany. In the U.S., group stage viewership nearly doubled compared to the last time the Women’s EURO took place back in 2022.
NWSL
Stateside, women’s soccer has continued its upward trajectory, with strong attendance and viewership numbers in both the NWSL and Gainbridge Super League. (Note: the NWSL has outperformed the MLS in viewership all summer.)
Track & Field
Track & field also had a standout summer. Faith Kipyegon put on a show during Breaking4, when she ran a blistering 4:06.42 mile, breaking her own world record. A week later, the buzz track & field buzz continued at the Pre Classic when 300 elite athletes and 12,606 fans descended upon Oregon for the 50th edition of the iconic event.
BOXING
Women’s boxing? Also made history this summer when Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor faced off for the third time and headlined the first-ever all-women's fight card. The event saw 6M global viewers on Netflix and generated $2.63M in ticket revenue (the highest ever in women's boxing history).
TENNIS
There have been so many wins for women’s tennis this summer, but the French Open final between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff notably attracted 1.5M viewers in the U.S., which was a staggering 94% increase over 2024, making it the most-watched women’s final at Roland-Garros since 2016. (And all this despite the tournament prioritizing scheduling of men’s competition…)
SOFTBALL
Perhaps no sport saw more acceleration this summer than softball. Starting with the 2025 Women’s College World Series (where average viewership hit 1.3M, outperforming the 2025 Men’s College World Series), the sport carried its momentum into the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League season. The league started by announcing a historic 8-figure investment from MLB, and ended with a championship that was played in front of a sold-out crowd and was broadcast to hundreds of thousands more.
You’re probably thinking: Did that all really happen this summer? Yes. One thousand times, yes – and this overview is just the tip of the iceberg.
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What this summer has proven is that women’s sports have officially outgrown the label of “niche.” Even in a year when women’s sports have essentially been on autopilot, they’ve broken through to become mainstream entertainment.
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Women’s sports don’t need a major event to be relevant — they already are.
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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