The Value of You Can Be What You Can See
Findings report – The Value of You Can Be What You Can See
For every $1 a corporate sponsor invests into the visibility of women's elite sport, supports the realisation of – on average – $7.29 in customer value for that organisation.
This finding is from The Value of You Can Be What You Can See, a report released by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation that highlights the benefits to corporate partners investing in women’s elite sport, as the eyes of the world turn to Australia for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Women’s elite sport in Victoria and Australia has seen exceptional growth in recent years, with the research finding that early corporate supporters of women’s elite sport are benefitting from more than $650 million in customer value annually.
The report revealed that sponsorships of women’s elite sporting properties outperform men’s elite sporting properties when it comes to 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 only 12% the level of men’s elite sport properties.
The Value of You Can Be What You Can See highlights the major opportunity for corporate sponsors who capitalise on this underinvestment.
Sarah Styles, Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, said that the growth of women’s elite sport has created important investment opportunities.
“We’ve seen fantastic growth in opportunities for women to be professional athletes in Australia, particularly across the professional sporting leagues now in place – but a significant gap remains in how our women athletes are being supported by corporate Australia.
“We are calling on corporate sponsors to invest now and realise the benefits of partnering with women’s elite sport – benefits that will be maximised through longer-term partnerships and by leveraging the partnership wel.”
Corporate sponsors also benefit from improved brand attributes and increased employee satisfaction - a key point of difference between sponsorship of men’s and women’s elite sports.
Investment in women’s elite sport gives corporate sponsors a clear competitive edge - and with the world’s largest women’s sporting event in the shape of the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicking off this month, there’s no better time to invest in women’s sport.
The report was commissioned by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation through the Change Our Game Research and Insights Initiative and delivered by Melbourne-based global sports insights firm, Gemba.
