Women’s Tennis and WNBA see biggest year-over-year ad effectiveness improvements while brands such as State Farm and New Balance receive boosts from creatives featuring women athletes, per EDO’s report
EDO today released its inaugural Women’s Sports TV Outcomes Report. The report found double-digit year-over-year improvements in TV ad effectiveness during women’s sports programming, including tennis, WNBA, and NCAA basketball, which were the top women’s sporting events for advertisers in 2023.
With the start of the NCAA’s March Madness Tournament and the 2024 National Women's Soccer League season fast approaching, marketers must recognize and harness the power of women’s sports in driving business outcomes. EDO’s report is designed to illuminate growing advertising opportunities throughout the world of women’s sports — in basketball, soccer, tennis, and more.
“Naturally, the growing interest in women’s sports presents a major opportunity for TV advertisers,” said Laura Grover, SVP, Head of Client Solutions, EDO. “After all, live sports have consistently been the TV programs most successful at driving consumers to engage with brands that advertise during them — generating key outcomes like online searches that are proven predictors of future sales.”
Grover continued, “Women athletes like Coco Gauff and Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark are powerful brand representatives during the ad breaks, delivering strong results for brands like New Balance, State Farm, and more. As women’s sports continue to gain popularity, this opportunity will only grow more appealing for advertisers.”
Key takeaways from EDO’s Women’s Sports TV Outcomes Report include:
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Tennis dominates the list of top women’s sports events. The women’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open matches secured the top two spots in all women’s sports programming, outperforming the average primetime broadcast and cable ad by 53% and 51%, respectively.
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The WNBA is growing faster than ever before. Ad engagement is growing rapidly year-over-year across the Regular Season (7% increase from 2022), Playoffs (+23%), and Finals (+30%). Male-focused advertisers are also seeing success during WNBA programming. Among the top advertisers in the WNBA, male-centric brands such as Bosley Hair Restoration, Old Spice, and Hims outperformed the average WNBA advertiser by 341%, 134%, and 51% respectively.
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Sportswear brands see increased engagement with campaigns featuring women athletes. Adidas (+69%), Puma (+62%), Nike (16%) and Vuori (+8%) aired ads starring women athletes in 2023 and saw an impressive increase in effectiveness compared to the average ad for that brand across broadcast and cable in 2023.
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The Caitlin Clark Effect is a slam dunk for NCAA women’s basketball advertisers, as games featuring the player from The University of Iowa outperform games without her by 7%. Clark has appeared in six different State Farm creatives following her first brand appearance in November 2023, where her ads are 46% more likely to generate engagement than the average State Farm ad since.
Top Brand Advertisers in Women’s Sports Programming
The report also highlights the diversity of advertisers that have capitalized on an increasingly engaged women's sports audience. The top advertisers in 2023 include:
- New Balance ads were 203% more effective than the average women's sports advertiser in 2023.
- Kesimpta +173%
- Cadillac +171%
- Liberty Mutual Insurance +134%
- TRESemme +128%
- Ruffles +125%
- Old Spice +172%
- Invesco Funds Group +116%
- Vagisil +96%
- Ritz Crackers +95%
Visit edo.com/women-sports to download EDO’s Women’s Sports TV Outcomes Report and learn which brands, creatives events are most successful at generating outcomes. To know what’s working for your brand during women’s sports programming, reach out to hello@edo.com.