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2019 was one to celebrate for women’s sport. With equal pay agreements, big sporting wins and record audiences, women’s sports are in the spotlight now more than ever.
We saw record breaking audiences with 11.7 million viewers in the UK tuning in to watch England’s football semi-final defeat against the US, making it the most watched television programme of 2019. It’s not just women’s football that is the success story. In 2018 England Netball won gold at the Commonwealth Games with a record 1.8m people watching. Since then the sport has continued to see significant growth in both participation and engagement among women and young girls.
Despite these successes, women’s sport continues to struggle in comparison with its male counterpart. While there seems to be a lot of buzz surrounding women’s sport and the opportunity it presents, there is still a long way to go to understand: How do we continue to shift the dial on viewing figures for women’s sport? Why aren’t more women watching women’s sport? What’s hindering women’s engagement with sport? And where do the biggest opportunities lie?
Women's sport is in the spotlight more than ever before
Elite women’s sport is beginning to gain more traction within the mainstream media and with mainstream audiences. These successes have rightly had a lot of coverage but little of this looks deeper into the significant gender inequality that still exists in sport and the underlying reasons behind it.
We have delved deeper into these biases; what they are rooted in and what the consequences are that have an impact not just on sport but on our wider society.
By speaking to experts, children aged between 7-15 and the broader UK public through a number of qualitative and quantitative research techniques we have produced a piece of sports research that can broaden our understanding of the challenges that women’s sport as a whole faces. We also believe that it can help to accelerate positive change.
Growing audience
This year has seen record breaking audiences across the world tune in to watch women’s sports
Equalising prize money
This year FIFA doubled the total prize money for the 2019 Women’s World Cup
Larger marketing investment
Main sponsors all promised equal prominence in marketing as their male counterparts
Prominence in advertising
Main sponsors all promised equal prominence in advertising as their male counterparts
Methodology
Our approach is to create bespoke, integrated methodologies. We always add value to our findings by applying expert analysis to uncover clear, actionable insight.
sporting experts
interviewed
qualitative interviews,
groups & workshops
adults across Britain
The aims of our research
We are passionate about raising the awareness of women’s sport and working with businesses to enhance their position within the market.
