(Finance) – In view of the next Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Championships in the United States and Europe are recording record levels of audience and revenue growth, creating enormous potential for investors and sponsors. Media rights fees represent an increasingly important source of income for women’s sports leaguesIn U.S. women’s basketball, costs increased tenfold in 13 years in the latest college hoops deal and doubled in five years in the previous professional league deal, while in European soccer they quadrupled in five years for the most recent European women’s championship, implying annual growth rates of 19%, 20% and 38%.
This is what emerges from the report published by S&P Global that examines how the rapid growth of women’s sports is creating investment potential, with a focus on gains in the United States and Europe. The report, “Turning Moments into Movements: The Momentum of Women’s Sports Olympics and the Opportunities for Investors and Sponsors,” is the second in a two-part series on women’s sports released simultaneously by S&P Global in the countdown to the Paris Games.
High returns – the report reads – raise the stakes for teams who must sign media deals, grow live, TV and streaming audiences, retain new and commercially viable fan bases and secure exclusive broadcast slots.
The report highlights how a new audience of female sports fans represents both an opportunity and a challenge for big brand sponsors, with a growth in interest that has required an evolution of marketing and presentation strategies. The growth of women’s sports is producing investment opportunity with relatively low base valuations and high growth potential. Implied annual growth rates for a group of U.S. women’s sports team investments over the past two decades range from 13% for the Chicago Sky to a more recent and astonishing 348% for the Las Vegas Aces. Returns in later phases will decline, but strong growth should continue as more women’s teams gain operational independence from their traditional ties to men’s teams.
“Women’s sports are experiencing a unprecedented growth in terms of spectators, sponsorships and investments, marking a pivotal moment in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics,” he said Nicole Serino, Director Credit Research & Insights Research at S&P Global Ratings and lead author of the report. “This is a critical moment for media companies, investors and sports governing bodies to lay the groundwork for a sustainable growth of women’s sports and help female athletes secure their rightful place in the world of sport.”
(Photo: © inkdrop/123RF)