Dive Brief:
- The NFL has teamed with Betches Media, an entertainment platform focused on women’s content and culture, in an attempt to grow the league’s fan base among women, per a press release.
- As an NFL media partner, Betches will have access to tentpole events including the Super Bowl and NFL Draft from which it can create content of interest to millennial and Gen Z women. The content is slated to roll out across Betches’ platforms, starting with the 2025 Pro Bowl Games.
- The partnership comes as women’s sports — and women’s representation as sports fans — continues to gain interest among marketers. Last year’s Super Bowl had a record-breaking increase in women viewership, per the NFL.
Dive Insight:
Women represented almost half of the 2024 Super Bowl’s viewers, making for a record-breaking increase in women viewership, according to the NFL. While it is possible, even a bit likely, that the big jump in the Super Bowl’s audience last year was due to the “Taylor Swift effect,” there is little doubt that interest in women’s sports is growing, and that women sports fans are becoming more important to marketers.
A partnership with Betches, a platform known for its witty takes and focus on women’s content, could help the NFL maintain its popularity among the demographic. Through the tie-up, Betches will have access to key events, like the Super Bowl, to fuel content including social and digital campaigns, original video series and interviews with athletes and talent.
Brands including Morgan Stanley, E.l.f., Michelob Ultra and Frito-Lay have all put their names behind women’s sports over the past few years, and WPP’s GroupM recently opted to more than double its annual media outlay on women’s sports. Women’s sports has also proven to be a particularly effective channel for advertisers. TV ads run during women’s sporting events saw double-digit increases in effectiveness between 2022 and 2023, according to Edo research, and the recently completed WNBA Finals had its highest viewership in 25 years at 3.3 million viewers.
With those numbers behind it, Betches launched Betches Sports earlier this year to create a space for women sports fans, an effort that could be bolstered by its NFL partnership.
“At Betches, we know that some of the most dedicated sports fans in the world are women,” said Aleen Dreksler, CEO and co-founder of Betches Media, in a release. “It’s been amazing to witness the cultural conversation surrounding women and sports begin to shift and we are so excited to collaborate with the NFL to take our mission to the next level.”
