As well as UK women winning big on the pitch and track, they are also making huge progress in the marketplace.
According to Marketing Week, “2022 is set to be another record year for UK women’s sport viewership, as the industry aims to treble its value to £1bn by 2030.”
And the recent exceptional performances by athletes at the Commonwealth Games, and England’s footballing Lionesses can only help.
Tammy Parlour, CEO of the Women’s Sport Trust, envisages a bright future for the sector. “Domestic competitions such as The Hundred and the Women’s Super League are the perfect gateway to viewing more women’s sport,” she says, “and I look forward to seeing the impact other major international events this year will have.”
And there is already some intriguing commercial data that suggests women’s sport can more than compete with men’s – Chelsea’s women’s Instagram interactions in 2021 were higher than 12 of the male teams that play in the Premier League.
Equally important for advertisers, the sector’s rise presents different opportunities.
Sam Grimley, Commercial Director at sports sponsorship experts Gum Gum, told Forbes: “For the brand that wants to get to my 15-year-old niece and wants to have affinity with her…they’d be wasting their money sponsoring the men’s cricket team. But doing something with the women’s team, you can reach her.”
A one-billion-pound brand, who would doubt it?