NIELSEN SPORTS IDENTIFYING AND MAXIMIZING THE OPPORTUNITY THE RISE OF WOMENS SPORTS Manchester City Womens Georgia Stanway (left) and Lyons Amandine Henry during the UEFA Womens Champions League, Manchester. (Photo by Dave Thompson/PA Images via Getty Images)2Copyright © 2018 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 3 CONTENTS This report is built around research conducted by Nielsen Sports across eight of the most commercially active sports markets the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand (n=1000 per country) as well as perspectives gleaned by Leaders during its XX Series think tanks, designed to encourage the continued growth of women's sport this year. It is an unparalleled deep-dive into whos engaging with womens sports, how theyre watching and their attitudes toward sponsors who associate themselves with womens sports. WHOS ENGAGING WITH WOMENS SPORTS? SPORTS FANS INTEREST LEVELS IN WOMENS SPORTS THE POTENTIAL FAN BASE CONSUMING WOMENS SPORTS THE APPETITE FOR WOMENS SPORTS CONTENT THE POWER OF FEMALE ATHLETES INTEREST IN SPECIFIC WOMENS SPORTS EVENTS CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF MENS AND WOMENS SPORT WORLD SURF LEAGUE: RIDING THE CREST OF A WAVE THE BIGGER PICTURE 5 7 8 9 12 19 22 14 29 254 The rate of change in womens sports is one of the most exciting trends in the sports industry right now. For rights holders, brands and the media, this represents a chance to develop a new commercial proposition and engage fans in a different way. Tennis and golf have led the way in the professionalization and commercialization of womens sports, but more recently it it has been soccer achieving significant mile- stones. There is an increasing number professional leagues around the world, and the UEFA Womens Euro 2017 attracted a TV audience of 150 million. In May we saw a new world record attendance for a womens club soccer game, when 51,211 at- tended the finale of the 16-team Liga MX Femenil. In England, 1.6 million watched the Womens FA Cup final clash between Chelsea and Arsenal, with 43,423 spectators in the stadium. Building on this momentum, next years FIFA Womens World Cup is set to engage on a large scale and represents a great platform for brands to stand out. In other sports, trek cycling is the latest organization to commit to running a profes- sional womens road team, and in Australia womens leagues such as the Rebel Wom- ens Big Bash and the Womens Australian Rules Football league, known as AFLW, are attracting large audiences, stand-alone sponsorships and broadcast revenue. Indi- vidual female athletes becoming stars is nothing new, and we see this especially in the U.S., where the likes of Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Ronda Rousey and Lindsey Vonn are not only household names around the globe, they are pushing boundaries and paving the way for generations to come. This building commercial momentum is resulting in groundbreaking equal pay agree- ments. In Norway and New Zealand, womens national team footballers now earn the same as their male counterparts, while Rugby Australia announced it will pay its mens and womens sevens teams equally for the first time. Furthermore, these athletes feel they are privileged to compete in the sport they love as a career and genuinely want to inspire, and make a difference for, the next generation. Making sense of an exciting and growing marketplace is fundamental for rights hold- ers, brands and other stakeholders currently operating in or looking to enter the space. We believe there has previously been a lack of data around womens sports, so Im excited to share these insights as a starting point to forming a detailed under- standing of the womens sports commercial landscape. INTRODUCTION WOMEN IN SPORTS Lynsey Douglas Global Lead, Womens Sports Nielsen Sports “MAKING SENSE OF AN EXCITING AND GROWING MARKETPLACE IS FUNDAMENTAL FOR RIGHTS HOLDERS, BRANDS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS CURRENTLY OPERATING IN OR LOOKING TO ENTER THE WOMENS SPORTS SPACE.”Copyright © 2018 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 5 A fundamental part of maximizing the commercial opportunity around womens sports is developing a detailed understanding of whos engaging with events, teams and leagues and how. Across the eight markets * , 84% of general sports fans have an interest in womens sports (they stated they had an interest in both male and female sports, or just in womens sports). Of those, 51% are male, which confirms both that women are also interested in watching womens sports and that womens sports represents a major opportunity to engage male fans debunking the perception that only women are interested in womens sports and confirming that womens sports represents a major opportunity to engage male fans. WHOS ENGAGING WITH WOMENS SPORTS? 66% 49% of the population interested in at least one womens sport of general sports fans are interested in womens sports 84% female 51%male versus * U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia and New Zealand Source: Nielsen Sports Womens Sports research 2018 Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix cycling race. Won by Leah Kirchmann.6 2018 US Open Tennis Tournament- Serena Williams of the United States in action against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the Women's Singles Semi Final match.(Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)Copyright © 2018 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 7 Interest levels in the womens versions of specific sports among fans of those sports tend to be greater when mens and womens events are staged together often. Track and field events, from the Olympic Games to the Diamond League, have historically been mixed gender affairs, while in mens and womens tennis tournaments are held simultaneously at the four Grand Slams and several other top-tier events each season. In mixed martial arts, UFC cards include both mens and womens fights. SPORTS FANS INTEREST LEVELS IN WOMENS SPORTS INTEREST LEVELS IN SPORTS WHERE MENS AND WOMENS EVENTS ARE STAGED SEPARATELY OFTEN 61% GOLF 52% CRICKET 51% CYCLING 43% BASKETBALL 43% FOOTBALL 42% RUGBY UNION INTEREST LEVELS IN SPORTS WHERE MENS AND WOMENS EVENTS ARE STAGED TOGETHER OFTEN 89% ATHLETICS TRACK & FIELD 86% TENNIS 81% TRIATHLON 79% MIXED MARTIAL ARTS 69% EXTREME/ ACTION SPORTS Source: Nielsen Sports Womens Sports research 20188 WOMENS SPORTS THE POTENTIAL FAN BASE AUSTRALIA: WBBL AND AFLW LEADING THE WAY Interest in womens leagues and sports tends to be higher when there has been investment and free-to-air broadcasting strategy has been developed and executed. Launched in 2015, the WBBL, a Twenty20 competition, has proved a remarkable success, attracting an early free-to-air partner in Network Ten and title sponsorship from sports retailer Rebel. In December last year, Rebel renewed its deal for a further three years while in April, Nine acquired the rights to broadcast 22 WBBL games per season for the next six years. Australian interest in womens cricket now stands at 43%. In Australian rules, meanwhile, the eight-team AFLW staged its inaugural season in 2017. Games in that first season were largely free to attend, while the broadcast strategy revolved around coverage in local markets on the Seven network mainly the free-to-air digital service 7mate with further national coverage provided by Fox. 41% of Australians are interested in womens Aussie rules. By contrast, in the United States, interest in football stands at 15% no surprise, given that the NFL has no plans to develop a womens league. Football (Soccer) Mixed Martial Arts Extreme Sports Basketball Golf Cricket 105M 94M 79M 72M 52M 46M While interest in womens football (soccer) stands at 43%, which is lower than several other sports, that still equates to a potential fanbase of 105 million across the eight markets surveyed a huge group of men and women that rights holders, brands and broadcasters can market to, as they look to further develop and commercialize their sports. Source: Nielsen Sports Womens Sports research 2018Copyright © 2018 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 9 CONSUMING WOMENS SPORTS A changing and challenging media landscape, with new forms of distribution emerging and new ways of monetizing content taking shape, provides a chance for organizers of womens sports events and tournaments to reach new fans. At a time of direct-to-consumer and OTT, however, the power of significant free-to-air coverage remains strong, particularly for sports looking to raise profile and build a fanbase. As the Olympic Games prove time after time, the injection of interest provided by exposure to a large audience can be vital for sports looking to emerge and grow in the United Kingdom, the BBCs primetime live coverage of the British womens field hockey teams gold medal-winning performance in 2016 has been the catalyst for a significant upturn in interest, profile and commercial returns for the sport. England netballs surprise gold medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, also broadcast live from Australia by the BBC, may prove to have a similar impact on that sport in the coming years. Even on pay television, there is evidence that womens sports is breaking through: the final of the 2017 Cricket World Cup, when England beat India at Lords, was the most-watched live cricket event broadcast that year by Sky Sports, which also holds the rights to all England mens team games. UK TV AUDIENCES FOR LIVE WOMENS SPORTS *Average broadcast audiences of live programs RIO 2016 HOCKEY FINAL 5.5 M 2017 EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS SEMI-FINAL 2017 Channel 4 free-to-air WOMENS FA CUP FINAL 2018 BBC free-to-air 2017 WOMENS CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL Sky Sports pay TV BBC free-to-air 2.7 M 1.6 M 0.5 M NIELSEN SPORTS IS WORKING WITH A UK-BASED ORGANIZATION, WOMEN IN SPORT, ON UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF WOMENS SPORTS. “IT'S FANTASTIC TO SEE SO MUCH CHANGE AND GROWTH IN WOMEN'S SPORT OVER RECENT YEARS,” SAID CHIEF EXECUTIVE RUTH HOLDAWAY. “HOWEV- ER, WE KNOW THAT MEDIA COVERAGE OF WOMEN'S SPORTS STILL HAS A WAY TO GO TO MATCH THE LEVEL OF MENS COVERAGE AND TO HELP MAKE SPORTS AN EVERYDAY PART OF WOMENS AND GIRLS LIVES. OUR GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT HOW TO NORMALIZE SPORTS FOR EVERY WOMAN AND GIRL IN THE UK. RIGHTS HOLDERS, SPONSORS AND THE MEDIA ALL HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY IN CREATING THE PLATFORMS FOR WOMEN'S SPORTS TO THRIVE. Source: Nielsen Sports Audience Data10 Womens Hockey Gold medal match between The Netherlands and Great Britain, 2016 Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto/Getty ImagesCopyright © 2018 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 11 A BROADCASTERS PERSPECTIVE FROM THE BBC “London 2012 was such a catalyst for us,” Stuart Rowson, formerly BBC Sports Young Audiences Editor, told Leaders at an XX Series Think Tank on womens sports. Rowson, who is now Head of Discovery for BBC Childrens, added: “We dont have a specific mandate for womens sports other than: BBC Sport is for everyone. Everyone pays the license fee, and that means we need to provide something that women watch and men watch as well. Driving participation is a big part of what were about as well. When it comes to womens sports, a key aim for us is how we normalize it how do we get to the stage where were not talking about womens sports and mens sports, were just talking about the best sport? That feels like the real goal.” “IF YOURE LOOKING AT ONE SYMBOLIC MOMENT, IT WAS IN RIO 2016 AND THE HOCKEY GOLD MEDAL MATCH. THE 10 OCLOCK NEWS WAITS FOR A WOMENS HOCKEY MATCH TO FINISH I CANT IMAGINE THAT BEFORE LONDON 2012, A MOMENT LIKE THAT, ALBEIT A BIG TEAM GB MOMENT, WOULD HAVE STOPPED BBC ONE IN ITS TRACKS.” LEADERS INSIGHT12 THE APPETITE FOR WOMENS SPORTS CONTENT 45% of the general population across the eight markets *would consider attending live womens sports events, while 46% say they would watch more if more womens sports was accessible on free TV. Underlining the potential opportunity womens sports represents yet further, of those who said they had no interest in womens sports 38% said they hadnt watched but “could be interested,” revealing an untapped market for rights holders and other stakeholders to try and engage the currently unengaged. 45% 63% CONSIDER ATTENDING LIVE WATCH MORE IF IT WAS ACCESSIBLE ON FREE TV 46% 61% WATCH MORE IF IT WAS ACCESSIBLE FOR FREE ONLINE 39% 42% * U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia and New Zealand WOMENS SPORTS MENS SPORTS Source: Nielsen Sports Womens Sports research 2018Copyright © 2018 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. Confidential and proprietary. Do not distribute. 13 While for many womens sports, looking to achieve cut-through in a cluttered marketplace of sports and entertainment options, reaching as big an audience as possible is currently more of a priority than generating revenue through broadcast rights, there is clearly a market for subscription streaming. In France, for example, 28% are interested in streaming womens sports events, and of those 81% would be willing to pay up to 10 euros to do so. At the top level, global rights holders such as the WTA and UFC have successfully developed multi-platform broadcast strategies that involve an owned platform WTA TV has been developed over several years in partnership with Perform, while UFC Fight Pass was launched as long ago as 2014. As OTT becomes more viable, expect more partnerships to be struck between womens sports rights holders and OTT platforms, and more rights holders opting to invest in their own services.UK 38% Up to £10 74%USA 27% Up to $10 66%Australia 21% UP to AUS$20 77%France 28% Up to 10 EUR 81%Germany 25% Up to 10 EUR 73%Italy 45% Up to 10 EUR 78%New Zealand 18% Up to NZ$20 86%Spain 33% Up to 10 EUR 80% INTEREST IN ONLINE STREAMING GENERAL INTEREST IN STREAMING WOMENS SPORTS % OF THOSE INTERESTED, WHO WOULD PAY Source: Nielsen Sports Womens Sports research 201814 1. Serena Williams Tennis 72% 2. Jessica Ennis-Hill Athletics 69% 3. Laura Kenny Cycling 40% 1. Serena Williams Tennis 86% 2. Danica Patrick Motorsport 65% 3. Ronda Rousey MMA 60% 1. Serena Williams Tennis 80% 2. Sally Pearson Athletics 54% 3. Sam Stosur Tennis 53% 1. Serena Williams