Why investing in Women's sports, is a Gold Mine for FIFA & ICC?

International Women's Day is a celebration of Equality & Equity. Global Organisations, the world over are creating the requisite support, culture, and mindset, to be inclusive, provide opportunities, and create a safe workplace. Women are the rising power and rightly so, across all spheres - how can sports be far behind? Today, we take a look at how investing in Women's sports can be beneficial in the coming years - If you follow trends, you will concur, if you don't, take a look at my feed, and you and you will be.

1.????FIFA World Cup 2022 ??? 6 .0 ??bil Digital Engage. ?????? ?32 countries

2.????ICC T20 WC Cricket 22 ??????6.6??bil ??Video Views???????????? ???16 countries???

History & Earnings 2022:

1. That’s the Men’s sports, of course – 17th Century for Soccer & 18th Century for Cricket. ?

2. A couple of hundred years start:

o??Refined frameworks for operation: With centuries of operation this is obvious.

o??Sponsorships, titles & broadcast rights: Since the start – advertising/sports has been a pair – 19th Century Cigarettes Pack for baseball/cricket – 1920s on Radio & eventually mid-20th century TV broadcasts.

o??Media and agency development: Over the years media and landscape changed too and digital has been added to the mix with massive reach.

o??Event planning and distribution services: As sports grew popular, hosting a popular event is a major event too – FIFA or World Cup Cricket for example and event management and planning companies have kept pace.

o??Rich history – to see the number at 6 billion today.

3. Earnings: We are talking earnings roughly upward of USD 5bil (FIFA generated USD 7.3bil with Qatar World Cup 2022)

Women Sports:

1. Now think of Women's sports – the same ones – Soccer & Cricket –

2.?Sure, they do not generate the same revenue, viewership currently might be low, compared to men's events, and sponsors/brands are not too keen to spend.

3. However, things are changing and changing fast – consider this:

South India – All states had the highest viewership between Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka – The Captain of Indian WC Maithali Raj hails from Andhra (the matches were delivered in Tamil, Telugu & Kannada along with Hindi – Smart Strategy)

Now consider the Change taking Place Globally:

1.The rise of Women's Sports Trends

a.?Web3 / Metaverse / Regulations – Immersive experience – early adopters of tech are women.

b. Increase in Fanbase – Digital Acquisition / Sports & Athleisure brand growth / Fashion and lifestyle

c.?Creator Economy – Fanbase Interactions Via curated Apps / Stronger connect within Athletes / Data Analysis driven platform to personalize fan content & increase interactions / Rewards with Metaverse / Virtual Meet Ups / One-on-One sessions online.

d. International Olympics Committee announces E-sports as part of Olympics – beauty is, it is skill-based, attracts a digital native crowd, and empowers Gen Z & Alpha – imagine Discord, Twitch & YouTube going wild with the top players/ teams' streams.

2.?Openness & Drive towards Women's Empowerment – We celebrate International Women’s Day on Mar 8th – A celebration reverberating across countries, and companies as they raise the targets for Diversity Equality & Inclusiveness - till we are all at parity.

3.Access to OTT & Off-Line Media by the majority of the World’s population

4. Rise of Women in Leadership positions around the world – Government / Corporate

5. Bold Corporate Sponsorship for Empowerment of Women & Causes

6. Rise of Women Entrepreneurs / Creators

2030 Demographics & Women -

1.?2 Bil females aged between 15-49 in the Year 2030 out of a population of 8.5 billion.

2.?Role Model: A large target market that is seeking role models, deeper meaningful brand connections, experiences, liberty & freedom (consumers are seeking deeper connections with brands - athletes are a positive conduit )

3.Then Geographies that can be targetted: Largest Retail Markets – 2030

a.????United States of America

b.????India

Strategic Solution

What can make it lucrative, build the hype as is done for Men’s Soccer or Cricket & create role models for Gen Z & Gen Alpha to follow -

1.?Coverage: Talk about it, Online & Offline, PR & Communication Strategy that reaches via the right channels & media - (where the target market’s attention is), Digital media – Content development – Blogs, Mailers, Newsletter & Ads,

2.?Sponsorships ??- School / College level tournaments | Develop base | Low Cost- High Impact – (Generate Content & Context) - ‘Think of Adidas Street Football’ -

3. Building Advocacy with Ad Agencies – Ad Agencies / Consultancies can present pitch presentations of rising stars in the sports – catered to brands that seek attention in cluttered spaces.

4.Brand Outreach program: Reaching out to the Brands / Senior Exec to understand how the sport can address their needs of attention/brand connectivity & resonance with the target market. – Build proposal – present - refine – finalize.

5.?Women Role Models – Amplification | Content | Context | Narrative & Storytelling

6.?OTT Platforms: Series on Woman cricket with a key influencer/actress on Disney Hot Star Viacom 18 / Amazon or Netflix– a more behind-the-scenes, growing up, emotional take like famous Cricketer movies and speaking to the ‘culture’ building support and interest. Take the cues from Netflix series on Formula 1 and how it has invigorated interest - in the sport.

7. Promotion with stakeholders – Working with Brands on curating content that promotes an emotional connect, gives the brand a context & builds the passion for the sport.

8. Grassroot Support: What part can local media, BCCI & Brands play to create a grassroots support system for Girls and Women in Cricket? The Mastercard Campaign with BCCI was a great one to promote Women’s Cricket - #halkemeymatlo – more such are needed with other like-minded brands too – the best part is BCCI has the muscle & ICC the innovation to build a strong future.

Adani Sports Line has major teams lined up in Gujrat along with Football & Soccer Academy – How can they contribute to Women’s Cricket in the state of Gujrat – they are one of the groups with franchise rights for the Women’s Premiere League.

Why so much focus on India? It is a country that loves cricket. Has shown engagement with Women’s Cricket & has a young population till 2030 – If engaged today – next seven years, you can reap the benefits, and take the models to USA too. If India watches - viewrship goes up - Set matches on India prime time - time zone & betting on Women's Cricket would pay of well.

Target: 2028 with goal-based yearly milestones, this can be a possibility -

Onboard yet?