The Rise of Women’s Sports Unlocks Unexpected Sponsorships

Makeup brands, hair-care startups and fertility clinics historically haven’t been associated with sports. Now they’re taking over game nights as the draw of elite women’s players, teams and leagues attracts new kinds of sponsors.

The menstrual care brand Sequel this week was named as the official tampon provider of USL Super League, for example, as the new professional women’s soccer league prepares to start play this month. The Kansas City Current, part of the National Women’s Soccer League, in December granted naming rights of its stadium’s main entrance to Helzberg Diamonds, its official jeweller.

And the Women’s National Basketball Association’s New York Liberty has accompanied familiar corporate sponsors such as the financial giant Barclays and hotel brand Marriott with newer partners such as the acne-focused skin-care company Hero, women’s workwear designer M.M.LaFleur and fertility centre RMA of New York.

“There were years where I would scratch my head as to why we weren’t garnering more endemic interests, like, why wouldn’t the beauty companies and the hair-care companies and the clothing companies want to align with women?” said Keia Clarke , chief executive of the Liberty. “Now, finding those brands is not hard.”

The new sponsors are being drawn by fans’ growing appetite and female athletes’ soaring cultural cachet and social-media reach.

“There’s interest from new brands that have never ventured into the sports space before because they weren’t appropriate for men’s sports,” said Erin Kane , vice president of women’s sports at Excel Sports Management, a management and marketing agency.

At the same time, lower prices to back women’s sports mean that a wider pool of businesses can get into the game if they so desire. Despite the growing spotlight, women’s sports are still cheaper to sponsor.

Breaking records

The surge in women’s sports comes as sports in general is ascendant in media and marketing. Game days are one of the last occasions standing that can reliably deliver large TV audiences and generate conversation on social media across most demographics.

April’s championship game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s women’s basketball tournament for the first time drew more viewers than the men’s equivalent, fuelled in part by hype around superstar Caitlin Clark . The hype also helped bring attention to the tournament as a whole; viewership of even games she wasn’t in rose 76% year-over-year. And much of the excitement around Team USA at this year’s Olympics has centred on its female stars, rugby player Ilona Maher, swimmer Katie Ledecky, and gymnast Simone Biles and her teammates .

Women’s elite sports will generate around $1.3 billion in revenue globally in 2024, up from $981 million in 2023 and $692 million in 2022, according to consulting firm Deloitte. Commercial deals, including sponsorships, will make up around 55% of that revenue, according to the company, which does not report similar figures for men’s sports.

By way of comparison, the National Basketball Association’s team sponsorship revenue alone was estimated to be worth $1.5 billion for the 2023-24 season, according to sports and entertainment data firm SponsorUnited.

Some companies previously found themselves sponsoring women’s sports as a result of dual packages—buy-one-get-one-style deals whereby sports businesses that owned and operated both men’s and women’s teams would offer partner status across both for a huge discount on the women’s side.

Those kinds of deals are no longer in fashion, sports executives said.

David King , senior vice president of corporate partnerships for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, said he is discussing more brand deals that are specific to the Lynx.

“That wasn’t necessarily the case a few years ago,” King said. “I welcome the day there’s an onslaught of people calling us, but there’s certainly more now than there’s been before.”

Minneapolis-based hair-care company Odele became a sponsor after hearing the pitch about aligning with passionate women and supporting equality, despite the WNBA’s shorter season and lower viewership compared with the NBA.

“These athletes are at the forefront of what influencers can be and should be,” said Lindsay Holden , co-founder of the brand.

The team has been distributing samples, coupons and hosting giveaways at games, and presented a “get ready with me” TikTok series featuring Lynx players.

Brands with less tangible offerings have sought creative ways to activate their partnerships, and often with little-to-no experience in sports marketing, executives say.

RMA of New York, the New York Liberty fertility centre sponsor, introduced a campaign called “Let’s Go, Baby!” that filled the team’s Brooklyn arena with merch giveaways and scoreboard animations during a Pride-themed game in June. And birth-control medication Opill, a WNBA league sponsor since April, this season has set up booths designed to educate women on contraception at other events like the fan festival WNBA Live.

Pricing performance

Women’s sports executives are now trying to narrow the price gap with men’s sponsorships.

“We’ve gotten pretty aggressive with what we’re asking our partners to spend,” said King, the Lynx executive, declining to confirm specific sponsorship costs. “We’re not going to grow our business by doing the $10,000, $20,000 and $30,000 deals anymore.”

Team owners and sales executives are trying to persuade marketers that women’s sports have more value in terms of engagement than has been historically recognised, even when viewership remains generally lower, games are often fewer or less frequent, and it’s still hard for top players to match the international star power of a Travis Kelce or Lionel Messi .

“Women’s sports is a brand conversation, it’s an engagement conversation—it’s less so a transactional, asset-based conversation,” said Laura Correnti , the founder and CEO of women’s sports firm Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment. “And so that requires teams to examine their pitch strategy, and not necessarily lead with how many people they reach.”

While a five-figure brand deal was once an acceptable number for WNBA sales teams, that’s no longer the case, said New York Liberty’s Clarke. The organisation in the past few years has regularly begun pitching and inking six-figure deals, and sometimes seven-figure deals, she said. The Liberty this season has 47 sponsors, up from 31 last season and 17 in 2022.

“It was easy before to dismiss the WNBA because the excuse was always, you don’t have the numbers. And now it’s like, well, we do have numbers, and we also have these really cool other attributes,” Clarke said.

Reporting season has once again reminded investors that a strong profit does not guarantee a rising share price, and a large loss does not always trigger a sell-off. What matters most is how each result compares with expectations and, increasingly, what management says about the year ahead. During the August 2026 season, companies offering credible turnarounds or unexpectedly strong guidance were rewarded handsomely, while those flagging weaker margins, slowing demand or greater uncertainty were punished.

The following ranking draws on Morningstar’s review of 164 ASX-listed companies and measures each company’s share-price movement on the day it reported. This captures the market’s immediate response to the earnings announcement, before subsequent economic developments, dividends and company-specific news cloud the picture. Here are the five biggest winners, and the five hardest-hit losers, of the season so far.

The five winners

1. Bapcor (ASX:BAP): +41.0%

Bapcor delivered reporting season’s largest relief rally after presenting early evidence that its troubled automotive-parts business was stabilising. Although underlying revenue fell 1.8% to $1.92 billion and underlying NPAT collapsed 85% to $10.8 million, underlying EBITDA of $152.5 million exceeded guidance.

More importantly, working-capital initiatives released $68.5 million in the second half, lifting cash conversion to 109.4% and reducing net debt by 63% to $135 million. The statutory loss was $431.6 million, largely because of non-cash impairments. Investors focused on improving operational momentum, stronger liquidity and management’s expectation of modest FY27 revenue growth.

2. Zip Co (ASX:ZIP): +18.2%

Zip comfortably surpassed its FY26 targets, sending the buy-now-pay-later provider’s shares sharply higher. Transaction volume rose 23% to $16.7 billion, while cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 58% to a record $268.9 million. Statutory profit climbed 46% to $116.4 million, and the cash operating margin expanded by 4.2 percentage points to 20%.

The strongest signal was guidance for FY27 cash earnings of $340 million—around 26% growth and above analysts’ forecasts. US transaction volume increased 42.5% and now represents three-quarters of group volume, offsetting weaker customer activity in Australia.

3. CSL (ASX:CSL): +17.3%

CSL’s result was hardly spectacular in isolation, but it cleared a market bar that had fallen dramatically following earlier downgrades and restructuring announcements. Underlying NPATA was US$3.1 billion, down 2% in constant-currency terms, while operating cash flow reached US$3.51 billion.

CSL maintained its full-year dividend at US$2.92 per share and completed a A$1 billion buyback. The real catalyst was FY27 guidance for approximately 5% underlying profit growth, compared with market expectations closer to 2%. After an extended period of earnings disappointments, investors interpreted the outlook as evidence that CSL’s core plasma business was approaching a sustainable recovery.

4. Judo Capital (ASX:JDO): +16.9%

Judo Capital demonstrated strong operating leverage as its specialist business-lending franchise expanded. Full-year profit before tax rose 34% to $168.1 million, while pre-provision profit increased 42%. Gross loans and advances grew 18% to $14.7 billion, reaching the top of the bank’s guidance range and comfortably exceeding broader system growth.

Deposits increased 24% to $12.2 billion, return on equity improved by 1.1 percentage points to 6.4%, and earnings per share rose 29% to 9.9 cents. Reaffirmation of the FY27 outlook gave investors confidence that loan growth could continue without sacrificing margins or credit quality.

5. Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL): +15.8%

The owner of Supercheap Auto, rebel, BCF and Macpac reported record sales of $4.2 billion, up 3.2%, despite cautious discretionary spending. Profitability went backwards: normalised profit before tax fell 7% to $306 million and normalised NPAT declined 2.8% to $226 million as transformation spending weighed on margins. Nevertheless, the result exceeded subdued expectations, online sales grew 5.3% and membership across the group’s loyalty programs reached 13.1 million. Investors were also encouraged by positive early FY27 trading, stable gross margins and continued market-share gains. A fully franked 33-cent final dividend added to the appeal.

The five losers

1. Hansen Technologies (ASX:HSN): –21.2%

Hansen’s historic result met expectations, but investors recoiled from its outlook. The utility and communications software provider achieved an underlying EBITDA margin of 31%, exceeding its 30% target, while generating strong cash flow. However, management designated FY27 an “investment and transition year”, signalling a roughly five-percentage-point margin contraction as spending on products, sales capabilities and organisational changes increased.

Revenue had already been broadly flat, leaving investors concerned that the investment program would depress earnings before new growth appeared. Leadership changes, including the chief executive’s departure, added uncertainty. Management expects revenue growth and margins above 30% to return in FY28, but the market was unwilling to wait.

2. Life360 (ASX:360): –19.4%

Life360’s headline growth was impressive: quarterly revenue rose 38% to US$159 million, subscription revenue increased 31%, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 53% to US$31.1 million. Monthly active users reached 102.4 million and paying circles grew 27% to 3.2 million. The sell-off reflected expectations rather than a collapsing business.

Net income fell 18%, the net margin contracted from 6% to 3%, hardware shipments dropped 18%, and full-year EBITDA guidance was merely maintained. After a strong valuation run, investors wanted a larger upgrade and clearer evidence that heavy investment in advertising, international expansion and artificial intelligence would generate additional earnings.

3. PEXA Group (ASX:PXA): –17.0%

PEXA reported a 7% increase in continuing-operations revenue and 12% EBITDA growth to $152 million, accompanied by a two-percentage-point margin expansion. Free cash flow increased 39%, suggesting the core Australian electronic-conveyancing platform remained highly profitable. Investors instead concentrated on management’s warning that property-transfer volumes could decline, alongside regulatory uncertainty surrounding the fees PEXA can charge.

The company is also continuing to invest heavily in its loss-making international expansion. Morningstar considered the market reaction excessive, arguing that structural transfer-volume assumptions had not materially changed, but the combination of softer near-term activity and regulatory risk overwhelmed the respectable headline numbers.

4. SEEK (ASX:SEK): –14.3%

SEEK produced solid FY26 figures, including 10% revenue growth to $1.20 billion, a 15% rise in EBITDA and 28% growth in adjusted earnings per share. It also lifted its fully franked annual dividend by 13% to a record 52 cents. Those achievements were overshadowed by falling paid job-ad volumes and cautious FY27 assumptions.

The statutory accounts included a $201 million loss from the SEEK Growth Fund and $377 million of significant items, making the headline result considerably less attractive. Investors were particularly concerned that economic weakness could limit volumes while the company continued investing in platform integration and artificial-intelligence products.

5. JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH): –12.3%

JB Hi-Fi’s full-year result was broadly respectable, with group sales rising 5% to $11.1 billion and underlying earnings per share increasing 6% to $4.48. The damage came from its current-trading update. Australian sales were almost flat during the June quarter and deteriorated further in July, while earnings in the core Australian electronics business fell 3.6%.

Housing-related categories were particularly weak as higher living costs and interest rates constrained household budgets. With JB Hi-Fi entering the season on a demanding valuation, an in-line historic result was not sufficient: the loss of sales momentum prompted investors to rapidly reduce their expectations for FY27.

Overall, the season showed that share prices react less to whether profits rose or fell than to the gap between results and expectations. Bapcor was rewarded for being less troubled than feared, while several fundamentally profitable companies were punished because their outlooks failed to justify elevated valuations.