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There\u2019s only seven <\/strong>days left until the start of the 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, and some brands have been eager to get in on the action for months. It\u2019s no wonder: Last year\u2019s Men\u2019s World Cup in Qatar commanded significant attention among US audiences, and less than a year later, the US Women\u2019s National Team is going for its third straight World Cup trophy.<\/p>\n \u201cBrands should be salivating over\u201d women\u2019s sports fans, according to Kerry Bradley, the director of analytics at fan intelligence company Sports Innovation Lab. If Fox Sports almost selling out of World Cup ad inventory by mid-June is any indication, many are.<\/p>\n \u201cThe women\u2019s game deserves a lot of credit for the way that Americans and US-based fans, American or not, have started to engage with soccer more and more,\u201d she told Marketing Brew. Still, \u201cthere are plenty of general sports fans who are still at a stage in their fandom where they\u2019re only going to pay attention to soccer once every four years, or maybe once every two, during big flagship tournaments and international events.\u201d<\/p>\n That makes this summer\u2019s tournament valuable brand real estate, but not every brand did\u2014or could\u2014shell out for broadcast ads or FIFA deals. As a result, sports media companies have seen high advertiser demand in recent months, and individual athletes have been fielding plenty of requests for brand partnerships leading up to the World Cup, riding a wave of increasing advertiser interest in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n Scott McGowan, senior media creative at Mediahub, the media agency of record for Fox Sports, said his team discussed World Cup ad inventory with \u201calmost our entire roster of clients.\u201d But, given economic conditions, some could not pursue \u201cthe dream scenario, where it\u2019s a direct partnership opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf [a client] doesn\u2019t have the budget for that, or it doesn\u2019t totally make sense, what\u2019s the second tier, surrounding opportunity to capitalize on the expected conversation?\u201d McGowan said.<\/p>\n Some major brands, like Frito-Lay and Unilever, announced official deals with FIFA. But for others, that route may not be realistic, or simply doesn\u2019t make sense for their brand. Andrea Brimmer, CMO of Ally Financial, said that as a US-based brand, \u201ca global audience isn\u2019t very important.\u201d Enter player partnerships.<\/p>\n Even women\u2019s soccer players who aren\u2019t competing in the World Cup are of interest to marketers. Ally, which will air ads on Fox during the tournament, also looked to work with former USWNT players to create content around this year\u2019s tournament \u201cbecause they have such big social currency,\u201d Brimmer said, and eventually struck up an agreement with Julie Foudy. Visa, an official FIFA sponsor, pursued deals with individual athletes even before the USWNT roster was announced.<\/p>\n For some athletes competing, the interest in brand deals is so high\u00a0 that they can\u2019t accept them all. At least that was the case for Ali Riley, captain of both the NWSL team Angel City FC and the New Zealand women\u2019s national team, according to Matt Hochberg, who reps her for brand deals. Riley is working with manuka honey brand Wedderspoon and Tourism New Zealand for content surrounding the World Cup.<\/p>\n The email newsletter guaranteed to bring you the latest stories shaping the marketing and advertising world, like only the Brew can.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re now saying, \u2018We have other NWSL players who may not be World Cup players right now, but they\u2019re very well-respected, high-quality NWSL players,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThe attention is not just going to be on the World Cup, but it\u2019s going to trickle down to the NWSL as a whole, and they\u2019re playing when the World Cup ends.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to an assortment of athletes, some sports media companies are also experiencing a trickle-down in advertiser interest associated with the World Cup. Several started planning their World Cup content and sponsorships anywhere from the middle of 2022 to early 2023, and reported generally high advertiser demand.<\/p>\n Sebastian Tomich, CCO of The Athletic, said that even during the Men\u2019s World Cup, \u201cwomen\u2019s sports seemed to be all of the talk with the brands we were speaking with.\u201d The publication started selling Women\u2019s World Cup content around mid-2022, he said, and officially sold out around mid-June.<\/p>\n Emily Lewis, senior account executive at Just Women\u2019s Sports, said she saw brand activity around the publication\u2019s World Cup content seriously heat up after March Madness. By the end of May, inventory was \u201cpretty much sold,\u201d although Lewis said she made some exceptions for brands with larger budgets.<\/p>\n Others said they\u2019re seeing record amounts of interest.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say the volume of interest around this specific event is as high as I\u2019ve ever seen, and there is as much interest around women\u2019s sports as I\u2019ve seen in my time here over the last nine, 10 years,\u201d Joe Caporoso, president of sports and entertainment media company Team Whistle, said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been planning for a busy July, both on the original [content] and the branded [content] front.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that Australia and New Zealand are hosting the World Cup could be cause for some concern among broadcast advertisers given the time difference between there and the US. Brimmer said that might be \u201ctough,\u201d but she still expects \u201creally good\u201d ratings.<\/p>\n For some digital media companies, that\u2019s no problem: Andres Cardenas, CMO of Minute Media, the digital content company behind sports publications including The Players\u2019 Tribune and 90min, said those properties may actually see higher engagement as a result. The Players\u2019 Tribune has been releasing a series of athlete editorials leading up to the tournament, and is partnering with Kia for a video series about women\u2019s soccer. 90min has a World Cup content partnership with Klarna.<\/p>\n Lewis said she even sees the potential timezone dilemma as an opportunity for Just Women\u2019s Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for us, it\u2019s a talking point to be able to showcase our value as a second screen to what is happening from a broadcast standpoint,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be that place that fans can go to when they\u2019re like, \u2018Shoot, I missed the game in the middle of the night.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Even when the World Cup comes to a close, many brand, agency, and media execs don\u2019t expect brand interest in women\u2019s soccer\u2014and women\u2019s sports in general\u2014to wane.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to keep growing,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cThe time to invest in women\u2019s sports was yesterday, but the second-best option is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDon\u2019t hate the player<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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