How Digital Media Is Fueling the Rise of Women’s Sports
The big media rights contracts from the NFL and the NBA have received a lot of attention. But those aren’t the only shows in town. We’re now witnessing a rise in viewership for women’s sports.
From packed arenas filled with fans wearing Caitlin Clark jerseys to record-breaking viewership on ESPN platforms, women’s sports have reached a cultural and commercial tipping point. Once sidelined in the media landscape, women’s competitions are now beginning to dominate conversations, drawing massive digital audiences and commanding prime slots on streaming platforms.
Sports Business Journal recently wrote about an explosion in ad revenue at ESPN for college sports. While football and men’s basketball remain the primary drivers, a key to the new growth is women’s sports, specifically softball and basketball. As Meg Aronowitz, SVP/production at ESPN, said in the article, “When I took over the sport of softball in 2005, we had six linear games on the schedule. Now, we’ve got 250-plus regular season softball games being televised by ESPN.”
This shift is a fundamental transformation (and expansion) of the sports and media industries. Digital media and streaming are helping turn women’s sports into must-watch events, and in doing so, they’re unlocking new ways for advertisers and media companies to engage younger, more diverse, and deeply loyal audiences.
Women’s Sports Are Outpacing Expectations
It’s not just that women’s sports are growing. They’re outpacing expectations and, in some cases, outperforming their male counterparts.
Consider the WNBA. Fueled by the arrival of Caitlin Clark to the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese to the Chicago Sky, the league has hit historic highs. A May 4 preseason matchup of the Indiana Fever against the Brazil women’s national team drew 1.3 million viewers, more than nearly every NBA preseason game over the last decade. WNBA League Pass subscriptions are surging, and the league is increasingly being treated as a national property, not a niche one.
Then there’s the NCAA. The 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship between Iowa and South Carolina averaged 18.9 million viewers, topping the men’s final by more than four million. It was the first time in history the women’s final outperformed the men’s.
Meanwhile, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) The NWSL reported that total viewership across Nielsen-rated platforms in 2024 reached 18.7 million, marking a fivefold gain from the 2023 season, boosted by global talent and forward-thinking moves like eliminating the traditional draft in favor of direct signings.
And at the Paris 2024 Olympics, female athletes dominated, both with their competitive performance and social media followings. Simone Biles returned to the podium with multiple golds and a 58% spike in social media followers. Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade saw her follower count jump 277%. Across the Games, women generated 53% of all social media engagements, despite accounting for only 43% of total coverage.
These are signals of a sustained, systemic shift.
Distribution Powerhouses Are Doubling Down
The growth of women’s sports isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s being amplified by some of the biggest names in media and streaming.
Netflix recently secured exclusive U.S. rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for 2027 and 2031, marking a major vote of confidence in the commercial potential of women’s sports IP. Paramount+, Prime Video, and ESPN+ have all signed new distribution deals with women’s leagues and tournaments. On social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, content tagged #WNBA and #WomensSports is racking up billions of views. Athletes are building direct relationships with fans and creating personal brands that travel far beyond the field of play.
This democratization of access, where any fan can discover a rising star’s highlight reel or training regimen in seconds, has changed the game. And it’s made women’s sports one of the most discoverable and dynamic genres in streaming today.
Why Digital Culture Is Fueling the Boom
So, why now? Why are women’s sports surging in this particular moment?
In many ways, digital media plays to the strengths of female athletes. Stars like Biles, Ledecky, and Reese are creators. They use platforms ranging from Instagram to TikTok to the Met Gala – and give fans unfiltered access to their journeys, perspectives, and off-court passions. These athletes also resonate across lifestyle categories: fashion, wellness, mental health advocacy. Their presence is holistic and human, and that matters in an era where authenticity drives engagement.
The rise of women’s sports represents a moment of rare convergence: cultural significance meets commercial viability. And with the right strategy, powered by flexible, converged ad solutions, that moment becomes a movement.
It’s also important to acknowledge the generational shift. Gen Z and Millennials are watching more sports online than on cable, and they gravitate toward content that reflects their values. That includes equity, representation, and community, which are values that women’s sports inherently champion.
The audience isn’t narrow, either. Older viewers, especially male Boomers, tuned into the Paris Olympics for women’s gymnastics, swimming, and soccer. From parents streaming NCAA tournaments to young fans discovering highlight reels on their phones, the fan base is broad, multi-generational, and growing.
What It Means for Advertisers and Media Companies
We’re in a new era, and it calls for new strategies. At Operative, we believe women’s sports are uniquely positioned to benefit from the shift to linear streaming, or the blending of traditional ad sales with the precision and scalability of digital delivery. Here’s how advertisers and media brands can act on this opportunity:
Adopt the Linear Streaming Model
Women’s sports are live, dynamic, and increasingly appointment-based, making them a natural fit for linear streaming. Advertisers want premium placements that mirror the reliability of traditional TV while capitalizing on the addressability of digital. The linear streaming model allows you to do both.
Our AOS platform was built for this moment: enabling media companies to unify pricing, inventory, and placement across both linear and streaming, while maintaining flexibility to sell fixed spots for marquee moments and programmatically fill inventory at scale. With a platform like AOS, media companies can sell the first break of a WNBA game or an NCAA championship in a fixed spot, just like in linear. But they can also allocate mid-game and post-game inventory to dynamic digital buys, which are targeted, real-time, and measurable. The result is a maximized yield across the board. This approach is particularly well suited to live sports, where fan attention is concentrated and predictable. For buyers and sellers alike, it unlocks the best of both worlds: scale and specificity.
Double Down on Streaming Platforms
Media buyers looking for the next frontier should take a close look at women’s leagues and do it now. Inventory is still undervalued relative to audience engagement. Streaming rights for women’s leagues like the WNBA and NWSL are growing in value, but pricing has not yet caught up with demand. For example, the WNBA drew 54 million unique viewers in 2024, yet its new media rights deal, averaging $200 million per year, is far below the NBA’s $76 billion multi-year package. Similarly, the NWSL’s $60 million annual deal came as national broadcast viewership rose 95% year-over-year, indicating that audience engagement is outpacing current media valuations.
That’s an opportunity. Platforms like Netflix are still early in their monetization journeys when it comes to women’s sports. Brands that stake out real estate today will be rewarded with access to a highly engaged, increasingly global audience, and less competition for placement.
This is especially true as the number of major streaming events grows. Netflix’s rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup beginning in 2027 means advertisers have time to plan. But once those campaigns open up, they’ll fill quickly.
Build Athlete-Led Campaigns
In women’s sports, the athlete is often the brand. Simone Biles isn’t just a gymnast; she’s a spokesperson for mental health. Angel Reese isn’t just a rebounder; she’s a fashion icon. They bring depth and dimension that brands are eager to associate with.
That makes athlete-led storytelling a powerful advertising strategy. In addition to sponsoring a broadcast, advertisers can co-create content with athletes: behind-the-scenes docuseries, branded training tips, social-first challenges, or even interactive shopping experiences. When done right, these campaigns can build brand equity. They let audiences participate in the athlete’s journey, and by extension, the brand’s.
We’ve already seen brands like Nike, Gatorade, and State Farm invest heavily in this model, with measurable returns. And because many of these athletes command strong digital followings, the content is already wired for organic reach.
Own the Ecosystem
In a fragmented media landscape, consistency drives results. That means advertisers need to be part of the whole experience.
For women’s sports, the opportunity is wide open. Brands can activate across every phase of the viewer journey: sponsoring pre-game social chatter, integrating into halftime highlights, partnering with influencers for live Q&As, and using dynamic creative to serve post-game recap ads. The most successful campaigns are multi-channel, multi-touchpoint, and tuned into fan behavior across platforms.
This is where Operative’s AOS platform shines. By unifying workflows across digital and linear, AOS allows media companies to bundle these moments into cohesive, targeted proposals. Instead of treating each impression or spot as a silo, advertisers can buy a narrative arc that mirrors how fans actually experience the game.
The Moment Is Now
Women’s sports are no longer a side story. They’re a growth story. For media companies looking to diversify their inventory and advertisers hoping to reach passionate, cross-demographic audiences, the rise of women’s sports represents a moment of rare convergence: cultural significance meets commercial viability. And with the right strategy, powered by flexible, converged ad solutions, that moment becomes a movement.