Athlos — the women’s track meet launched last year — is returning this fall with a clever plan to win over fans. Yesterday, the organization confirmed it will host a portion of its competition in the heart of Times Square. This is reminiscent of recent PLL and WLL strategy, illustrating how niche sports and upstart leagues are using unconventional gimmicks to hook viewers.

On Wednesday, AdWeek published purchase consideration insights from brand tracking platform Tracksuit. The data highlights the biggest shifts in purchase consideration among popular Gen Z brands from January to June, proving that authenticity and wellness work best to win over young fans. Here are the key takeaways and the ways they’re being implemented across women’s sports.

Last week, sports sponsorship data insights platform SponsorUnited revealed the 30 most-searched sponsors on its platform for June. The platform’s search data indicated which brands were most buzzworthy last month, with each employing different marketing strategies to make waves with sports fans.

Last week, 3XBA — a professional touring FIBA 3x3 women’s basketball league — announced a unique partnership with Seattle’s Rough & Tumble Pub, the second-ever women’s sports bar. Through their new agreement, the two entities will promote one another through activations at live events.

Sundial Media and Technology Group (SMTG) — the media and live events company behind Essence, Afropunk, and Refinery29 — finalized a unique partnership with Grand Slam Track (GST), a new track and field competition that kicked off this year. SMTG will facilitate media coverage of GST in addition to improving track day experiences for fans.

As interest in women’s sports grows, so does the enthusiasm for content surrounding the women’s game. After seeing Netflix benefit from cult faves Drive to Survive and Full Swing, documentaries that converted new fans to F1 and golf, fellow streamers are considering how to leverage storytelling to win over young, more casual sports fans.

Unlike the limit, the perfect women’s sports brand marketing strategy does exist — at least according to Parity, who released its latest research report yesterday about the business of women’s sports.

Last Friday, the $2.8B lawsuit settlement that will remake the business of college sports, House v. NCAA, was officially approved. This will usher in a new era where athletic departments can share up to about $20.5M of revenue per year directly with student-athletes via name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals.

This week, data insights platform SponsorUnited (SU) shared new intel with The GIST about revenue generation in the WNBA and NWSL. After comparing revenue and existing deals, the findings illustrate the leagues’ immense YoY growth while still underlining the remaining gap when compared to men’s sports.

Yesterday, Portland-based women’s sports bar The Sports Bra named the first four cities for its forthcoming expansion. Since opening in 2022, The Sports Bra has spurred a movement of independent women’s sports bars popping up across the U.S. and is now looking to become a multi-city franchise of its own.

We’ve seen makeup brands go big in women’s sports lately, including E.l.f.’s support of the PWHL and Overtime Select. But the brand’s decision to rev up its investment in NASCAR, coupled with previous NFL activations, shows that catering to women who follow men’s sports is a unique and effective way to reach a historically overlooked demo.

Sports-focused FAST channel Fubo recently launched its Women's Sports Zone while touting highly-customizable ad campaigns for brands. Inspired by viewers’ interest in women’s sports, Fubo found a way to activate in the space without having any direct media rights for a major league.