Women’s Sports and Digital Platforms
Women’s sports are rising throughout the world, and forcing organizations around the sports industry to think differently. With the ever growing support from other teams, athletes, and new organizations, women’s sports are slowly, but surely, starting to receive the recognition they deserve. During the global pandemic, women’s sports as a whole started to pick up not only on social media, but throughout TV coverage and other streaming platforms. Prime examples of impactful crossover support is when NBA star Chris Paul, bought 500 tickets to the Phoenix Mercury’s recent playoff game and gave them away on a first come first serve basis to help bring in community support for their game. Paul and his teammates have attended the last two games, noting how important it was to them to cheer on their counterparts in the city of Phoenix.
DAZN, YouTube, and the UEFA Women’s Champions League have partnered together to expand the social aspect of the league, along with streaming the entire season live on both YouTube and DAZN’s digital platforms. With this partnership, this will be the first time that fans will be able to view all the matches in one place, for free on DAZN’s UEFA Women’s Champions League YouTube Channel. The league, who had no major television partnerships before, had just made it easier for their fans to enjoy the game, but also made it possible to expand their fanbase. When fans are not able to find the game on most platforms, they usually give up looking for it due to the inconvenience. This partnership is helping to resolve that problem, and add a little extra into the mix. As we know from our Fan Project research, Fans of Women’s Sports are digitally native at their cores, so providing them with easy access to a digital platform will make a huge difference.
Not only are they airing every single match from October till May on their platform, but the UEFA’s Women’s Champions League is getting their own series too. The series will address the topic of the ripple effect and how it will lead to more visibility for women’s sports and the new heights the market can reach. This series will premiere after every group stage of play, and will focus on making more of the players household names. DAZN will also travel to different cities every week, similarly to College Game day does for NCAA football, and promote each match of the week. Having the ability to promote these events and get them out on a special platform, provides the league with more exposure and new experiences for fans.
DAZN and YouTube are not the only companies who are stepping up and recognizing that it’s good business to be in the business of women’s sports. Recognizing that the market and interest in these leagues is present, allows for companies and brands to help further expand their audiences.