Intro (00:00):

Welcome to the Taylor 10. A fast-paced, 10 minute deep dive into the minds of those shaking up the marketing world, bringing you the sharpest insights, boldest ideas and breakthrough trends driving the industry forward. So tune in, get inspired, and stay ahead.

‍

Lauren (00:19):

Hello, I’m Lauren Qualters and welcome to the Taylor 10. I'm here with Caitlin Bishop, freelance brand and social strategy director and strategic advisor at Women's Sports Rally to learn as much as I can about the fandom surrounding women's sports and its impact on both athletes and culture at large in only 10 minutes. Let's jump right in with the current state of fandom around women's sports. 

I know that you just are a passionate sports fan in general, even prior to getting more involved in it in your professional life. So how would you describe the current state of fandom, but also how have you witnessed it evolve over the past few years?

‍

Caitlin (00:55):

I really started to get into it in 2021, despite having a passive interest for most of my life. But 2021 was when I really felt like there were places that I could put that passion. So I started going to New York Liberty Games. I was probably one of a hundred people in the stands, and that was really still quite exciting. But now when I go to games, you see really Barclays is sold out every single game. It doesn't matter if it's a playoff game, midseason Tuesday game, they've really managed to create a really powerful, loud fan base. I think what makes the fan base interesting now is that even though it has grown in the past few years, it is still really, I would say, driven by a core group of really passionate fans. So you can tell that everyone who's there really loves being there. They love the team and they're kind of bringing a lot of energy. No one's really there from a passive perspective. The other thing is that these fans are really driven by values. And I will say, that's probably something that is going to be changing in the next couple of years as the leagues continue to grow. As any group gets larger, as any brand gets larger, some of the core things that made it what it is starts to get diluted. And I do kind of expect that to happen in the next few years and I've already seen some of that as well.

‍

Lauren (02:26):

Are there any other moments that you can kind of point to that as you were watching them play out, you thought like, okay, this is going to be something.

‍

Caitlin (02:34):

Oh yeah. I mean the Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese final absolutely was the biggest moment. That's a narrative that still plays out to this day, and I think there's good and bad parts to it, but to me that was definitely the turning point. But then there's also just little moments along the way that I've just noticed where it used to be that there were only one or two podcasts that I would listen to kind of get up to date. Now I can't keep up with the options that are available to me. I think also a little bit earlier than I think Women's March Madness kind of becoming this big media property, there was the US Women's National team winning the 2019 World Cup in the way that they did. It was just so dominant. It also was pretty directly tied to their fight for equal pay. So that was just a big part of the cultural conversation that I think kind of laid the groundwork for some of that. And so I think it's all been culminating.

‍

Lauren (03:33):

I think there's two sides, maybe to or two contributing factors rather, that are changing how fans engage. On one side is probably the traditional media coverage of women's sports getting more air time on a sports network or a broadcast channel. But then the other being platform visibility and just if it's the Instagram account of a CBS Sports or a TNT and championing women's sports that way. Do you think that has inherently changed how fans are engaging with these leagues off the court, but online?

‍

Caitlin (04:10):

Social media is definitely a big driver of the engagement that's happening, especially in women's sports with women's sports and female athletes in particular, not getting the same pay that male athletes do. A lot of them have been forced to build their own brands to make themselves appealing to sponsors and use social media in a way that male athletes. So, I do think social media has played a huge role. It helps them engage with fans in a different way. So instead of being restricted to post game press conferences, it really just demands a level of vulnerability with the public. So it is something I think about often of just how much emotional and mental labor some of these athletes are having to put in just to stay top of mind and make up for maybe what they're not getting in the league.

‍

Lauren (05:02):

From your perspective, what are they doing right to continue driving that interest on their own social media pages?

‍

Caitlin (05:09):

I mean, I think being visible is the first one. So, Courtney Williams is an example that comes to mind. So she is a WNBA player. She's been playing for about 10 years in the league. She had a little bit of a breakout last season. She played in the finals and she just got a little more visible to, I would say, the general public than she had been in the past. And she's capitalizing on that right now. So, she has a podcast with her dad because her dad is known for sitting court site at her games being a very loud supporter. And then she also is doing something called Stud Buds with one of her teammates, Natisha Heideman, where they live stream every day at 6:00 PM together. So, she is kind of taking what she's known for, some of the qualities she's known for and she's just creating more content around it. And so she's kind of thinking about what are the things that brands might want to leverage? And you can see a lot of athletes doing this Ilona Maher being another really great example.

‍

Lauren (06:16):

Yeah, that's a great segue with Ilona making that distinction between growth and the women's sports fandom broadly and more conceptually versus growth within their individual sports. So, basketball I think is something we've observed. There is a more tangible impact on that sport. But with Ilona, is that consumer interest actually translating to rugby outside of say, the Olympic run?

‍

Caitlin (06:44):

I will say it is, but it's also not always immediate. So Ilona did sign a contract with the Premiership Women's rugby in England this year. Her first game drew a record crowd. They had to actually switch the venue that they were going to be at in order to accommodate all the fans that were interested. The league also saw a 36% increase in audience viewership for the finals this year when compared to last year. And overall, they saw an 86% year over year increase in season average audiences on television. So they did see a boost. I can't tell you specifically that all of that was contributed to Ilona Maher, but of course we can see a little bit of a correlation there.

‍

Lauren (07:30):

I also want to talk about your experience in those more grassroots fan organizations, namely watch Party, PHL and the Women's Sports Rally. So, what have those experiences of being really on the ground and integral to those event building opportunities –  what has that taught you? That data and research alone wouldn't?

‍

Caitlin (07:52):

It's been very exciting to see how much creativity and passion are on the ground in these organizations and what they're able to accomplish with that. And those are just two out of many throughout the country. There's a lot of watch organizations and women's sports bars that are doing this work. What's interesting is they're creating a culture that I've seen brands kind of chase throughout my career, right? We're always trying to go after what's the authentic piece of culture that we can fit into. And I think these organizations are the ones that are doing this.

‍

Lauren (08:24):

If you could give brands a single piece of advice when entering the women's sports space, what would it be? And I think especially, within that, how can they avoid one consumer fatigue, but two, coming in and just flattening the culture, even just by simply being a brand,

‍

Caitlin (08:44):

I would say have fun, led by the players that a lot of times women's sports tends to be a very values-aligned community. However, I think a lot of brands are coming in now, and so there's obviously one, a little bit of clarity of that is your value if you are showing up in these spaces and putting your sponsorship dollars there. But also, I think I've seen a lot of executions in that way. Where it's a little bit of a manifesto talking about that. And I think we're kind of at a tipping point where that's going to start to get lost just as more brands come into the fold. And so, what I would tell any client working on any sponsorship is how can you contribute to the culture that's here, in a way that really only your brand can do? So, what is your brand able to bring that no one else can? And that can be based in your product. It can be based in your history of how you've behaved as a brand, how you've shown up. So I would say just be really conscious of what your brand can do that's interesting and differentiating in the space.

‍

Lauren (09:49):

I think this was obviously a great conversation. Of course, I value your input and your experience, and thank you for joining us. 

‍

Caitlin (09:58):

Thank you so much for having me, Lauren. This was a really great conversation. 

‍