GroupM commits to double investments in women sports; launches dedicated marketplace

GroupM announced its commitment to double media investment for annual women’s sports with the creation of a dedicated marketplace. 

GroupM will seek first look and first-to-market opportunities beginning with the 2024-2025 upfront alongside advertisers including adidas, Ally, Coinbase, Discover, Google, Mars, Nationwide, Unilever, Universal Pictures, among others.  

Women’s sports are projected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue in 2024, according to Deloitte, as recent peaks in viewership and engagement across sports channels indicate fans’ appetites for women’s sports are at an all-time high. 

GroupM will collaborate with its media partners to identify and allocate media investments to drive the discovery, promotion and monetisation of women’s sports.  

“Our industry has seen the incredible impact of investing in women’s sports over the last several years, but even with continued momentum, women’s sports investments only comprise a mere fraction of total media spend in sports,” said Matt Sweeney, Chief Investment Officer, GroupM US. “Starting with this year’s Upfront negotiations, our team will procure elevated opportunities that are a win-win for our advertisers. GroupM advertisers have challenged the marketplace to flip the script on how to invest in women’s sports, and they will continue to play a pivotal role moving forward.” 

In 2023, Andrea Brimmer, Chief Marketing and PR Officer at Ally pioneered conversations with GroupM, imploring the agency to establish an advertising marketplace for women’s sports. Kicking off with this year’s Upfront, GroupM will pursue newfound women’s sports advertising opportunities including broadcast sponsorships and bespoke packages to grassroots investments with leagues and athlete-owned entertainment companies. 

“Creating a dedicated marketplace for women’s sports beginning at this year’s Upfront marks a significant step forward in driving real impact in the business of women’s sports,” said Andrea Brimmer, Chief Marketing and PR Officer, Ally. “At Ally, we dreamed about reimagining the investment approach so we could drive systemic change in the way women’s sports media is bought and sold. And, today, through the leadership of GroupM and their many clients across industries, this dream is becoming a reality.” 

“With heightened demand for women’s sports, and a responsibility to enhance the women’s sports marketplace, our team is committed to delivering our advertisers with bespoke and bountiful opportunities that will drive brand impact, increase ad effectiveness and optimize business outcomes,” said Denise Ocasio, Executive Director of Investment, GroupM US. “Fast-growing audiences are watching at a high clip, and subsequently, women’s sports programming is in the ranks with some of the highest-rated broadcasts overall. Advertising alongside women’s sports works.”  

According to recent research by the TV outcomes company EDO, advertising in women’s sports drives positive brand impact and increased ad effectiveness. When measuring the impact of ads on viewer behaviour, adidas ads featuring female athletes were 69% more effective than the brand’s average ad on broadcast and cable in 2023.   

“Beyond prioritising investing in women’s sports as a whole, we need to challenge the way advertising and sponsorship packages are bought and sold,” said Martin Blich, Executive Director, Sports and Live Investment, GroupM US. “For many years, there has been disparity between men’s and women’s sports advertising, but today there are increased opportunities across women’s sports. We hope our commitment will help brands execute a more holistic investment strategy centered around audience while increasing overall sports advertising.” 

Advertisers across GroupM’s agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom will be welcome to participate in this year’s dedicated women’s sports marketplace.  

Amy Adams, Vice-President of Media, Discover, said, “Collaborating with GroupM to double the media investment for women’s sports is a continuation of Discover’s commitment to supporting the growth of women’s athletics. Discover is proud to be part of such a significant step forward in levelling the playing field when it comes to advertising in women’s sports.”  

Kate Johnson, Global Marketing Director, Sports, Entertainment, Content Partnerships, Google, said, “Google is proud to be a brand leader and trend-setting in the women’s sports space, driving visibility and adding hundreds of hours of content to the women’s sports ecosystem via our media and marketing partnerships. We could not do this work without our partners at GroupM. We are proud to be redefining not just what we invest in but how we do it, and invite other brands looking to drive growth and have an impact to invest with us.” 

Gabrielle Wesley, CMO and SVP, Marketing, Mars Wrigley North America, said, “Mars has always been committed to representation in media, and alongside GroupM, we are excited to pave the way for women’s sports through effective campaigns. The world we want tomorrow is inclusive and one where people and the planet are thriving.” 

Sara Sorce, AVP Media, Nationwide, commented “In the Spring of 2021, Nationwide became the exclusive insurance partner of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Since then, we’ve expanded our relationship with a multiyear extension. We are thrilled to see the support of women’s sports reimagined with the creation of a women’s sports dedicated marketplace. As a former female athlete, I believe that investment in women’s sports reaches far beyond the field – creating leaders and fostering diversity. Nationwide is proud to partner on leading the way to scale women’s sports opportunities and overall representation in the media landscape.” 

Aaron Sobol, Head of Media Investment US, Unilever, added, “Women’s sports is a natural place for Unilever’s brands to show up, and we have been increasing our investments in this space for years. We’re thrilled to see audience engagement and marketer investment increasing and for the media buying opportunities to continue to mature. We are very supportive of this effort by GroupM and the sports marketplace to drive simplicity for marketers investing in women’s sports.”