New research highlights benefits of sponsoring women’s elite sport

The Victorian Government’s recently released report The Value of You Can Be What You Can See, highlights the major financial opportunity for corporate sponsors to capitalise on the underinvestment of women’s elite sport.

The report shows that every dollar invested into the visibility of women’s sport supports, on average, the realisation of $7.29 in customer value for the sponsor.

Commissioned by the Victorian Office for Women in Sport and Recreation through its Change Our Game Research and Insights Initiative, and delivered by Melbourne-based global sports insights firm, Gemba, the report measures the return on investment for potential corporate partners who invest in women’s sport.

Investment in women’s sport is offering corporate sponsors a clear competitive edge, with the report revealing sponsors could enjoy a winning margin and customer growth by backing more women in the game.

Victorian Minister for Community Sport and Acting Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Ros Spence notes “corporate sponsorship of women’s sport can deliver powerful benefits for companies that want to partner with clubs and athletes.

“Continued growth and the demonstrated value proposition of women’s elite sport make it a compelling investment for corporate sponsors, and these findings reinforce how big an opportunity exists.”

Women’s elite and grassroots sport in Victoria has seen exceptional growth, with the report showing corporate supporters of women’s sport are benefitting from more than $650 million in customer value annually.

The report found that sponsorships of women’s elite sporting properties outperform men’s elite sporting properties across brand awareness, brand consideration and customer conversion.

Despite the significant and continued growth of women’s sport, industry benchmarks show that the value of women’s elite sport properties is currently at only 12% of the level of men’s elite sport properties.

Corporate sponsors also are benefitting from improved brand attributes and increased employee satisfaction, a key point of difference between sponsorship of men’s and women’s sports.

The report urges corporate organisations to invest now and grow alongside women’s sport, with benefits maximised when sponsors commit to long-term partnerships and quality sponsorship leveraging.

Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation Sarah Styles adds "we’ve seen fantastic growth in opportunities for women to be professional athletes in Australia, but a significant gap remains in how our women athletes are being supported by corporate organisations.”

Find the report online at changeourgame.vic.gov.au.

Image. Cover of  'The Value of You Can Be What You Can See'. Credit: Victorian Government