By: Sophia Galasso
Women's soccer has always had a massive fan base in the United States, leading the world with more women playing soccer than men. According to Statista, as of June 2021, soccer was the most popular women's sport worldwide to watch, and as of 2023, soccer is now one of the most popular sports for high school girls to play.
The Barclays Women's Super League, the largest women's soccer league in England, has partnered with Sky Sports, an English broadcasting coverage company, to expand their coverage even further. Statistically, women play more soccer in America, but according to Euro News, Europe is growing rapidly. With the new 2023–2024 “Keep Up” campaign, the largest campaign yet for both the WSL and the Super League, numbers are climbing. It is the Super League's largest investment, and women’s sports, with their growing popularity, are a hot spot for investment with their endless areas for creative freedom.
Dave Stratton, the marketing director for the WSL, wanted to do something different with this campaign and reach a “very distinctive target market” with a new form of brand outreach. Stratton said, based on all women's sports in an article from Marketingweek, "We believe that if you make women’s sport visible, then viewership will follow. We’ve proven that so far.” All female athletes have demonstrated resilience time and time again, fighting for the spectatorship and recognition they deserve.
The sports industry this year, in particular, is truly starting to see significant progress in the opportunities given to these women, as well as the attention it is drawing from the sports community and beyond. According to Stratton, creativity is the most valuable aspect of this market. He has chosen creativity as his driving factor when it comes to these large campaigns, and the results of spectatorship have skyrocketed. There has also been more interest in collaboration from large brands. Sky Sports is currently seen as the #1 broadcaster for women's sports in the area, and they want to continue to capitalize on that.