In this week’s Women in Sport Weekly, supported by our partnership with Lidl, we look back on football momentum, menstrual coaching, Women of Influence, Women’s Cricket, Record crowds and more…

 

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24 HOUR STREAM FOR WOMEN’S SPORTS NETWORK

A new 24-hour network streaming just Women’s sports will launch later this year in the United States.

The Women’s Sports Network, which will colloquially become WSN in US broadcasting fashion, will be free to watch and supported by advertising.

Initial deals are already in place with the LPGA, the World Surf League and US Ski and Snowboard.

The interesting element from a European perspective is the 24-hour nature of the medium. As anyone in media will understand that is a lot of hours to provide programming for. In fact, it is 8,760 hours over the course of the year.

US Sport will find enough to make that a reality in the prime time slots but wouldn’t it be great for sports like Camogie, Ladies Football, the Energia League and the Women’s National League, all of whom are invested in the streaming world, to offer their sporting events to the channel for those hours of the morning across the US that otherwise might be hard to fill.

The streaming content is already being paid for and created. There might not be any fee payable in the early days but the exposure to brands and on a worldwide stage would be invaluable for the sports, the players and the brands that could be further encouraged to support them.

“Women’s sports programming has been too hard to find on TV for too long. Brands are telling us that they want to support female athletes, and they appreciate how brand-safe and relatable they are,” said Carol Stiff, a member of the new station’s advisory board.

“When we launch, 50 years after Title IX started the ball rolling towards parity for women’s sports in America, the Women’s Sports Network will fill a void that has been plaguing brands and audiences alike.”

“For too long, the women’s sports industry has been seen through the lens of men’s sports, and that has led to a massive underestimation of the commercial opportunity,” added Stuart Maclean, CEO of Fast Studios who have created the concept.

“Our significant investment in the Women’s Sports Network, the outstanding team of partners we’re continuing to grow, and the cultural forces at play all combine to make this the most exciting new venture I’ve ever had the privilege to launch.”

 

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WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS AND TIKTOK

Six Nations Rugby and TikTok have announced a landmark partnership that will see the entertainment platform become the Title Partner of the Women’s Six Nations, as well as an Official Partner to the Guinness Six Nations and Autumn Nations Series, from the 2022 season through to 2025.

For the first time in its history, the Women’s Six Nations will have a Title Partner, with the Championship set to be known as the TikTok Women’s Six Nations.

The investment from TikTok will be felt by each Union. Whilst not limited to the Women’s game, this partnership will help each Union continue to develop this area of the game.

In doing so, exposure for the women’s game, engagement, participation and major growth are all ambitions of this partnership.

As a result of the new partnership, TikTok has committed significant investment and promotional support to drive the growth of audience engagement with Women’s rugby.

READ THE FULL STORY ON SPORT FOR BUSINESS HERE

 

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SPORT FOR BUSINESS MEDIA MONITOR

Over the next four weeks, we will track the percentage of coverage devoted to Women’s sport in terms of representation on the news agenda and also in terms of the imagery that is carried in the media.

What is monitored is measured and what is measured is managed. This month will see the Winter Olympics, the start of the Lidl Ladies Football League and the Littlewoods Camogie League, the start of the Women’s National League in football and the continuation of the Women’s Super League in England.

There are enough stories of women competing at the highest level to merit the support of media across the traditional and online sections but it will be instructive to see just what level that is now set at after a year in which Women’s sport dominated the narrative like never before.

Has it changed the baseline of the exposure which we should expect as fans, or will there always be a reason why the sports pages are still seen as a predominantly male preserve?

READ MORE ABOUT WHAT WE ARE DOING

 

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VOTE OPEN FOR HERSPORT ATHLETE AND TEAM OF THE YEAR

The voting is open for the Her Sport Athlete, Young Athlete and Team of the Year.

The shortlists in each are a roll call of excellence with Rachael Blackmore, Kellie Harrington and Ellen Keane in the senior category, Mona MacSharry, Vikki Wall and Rhasidat Adeleke in the Young Athlete and a collection of teams from Olympic and Paralympic medallists to All Ireland Champions, all of whom have outstanding claims.

The Awards are sponsored by Sport for Business members Lidl, Whoop, Clubforce and Sky, as well as by Gym+Coffee and will take place at UCD on February 19th.

 

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LITTLEWOODS LAUNCH SIXTH YEAR OF CAMOGIE NATIONAL LEAGUE PARTNERSHIP

Littlewoods Ireland is on a mission to get people to attend matches in the Camogie National League which gets underway at the weekend.

To gain insight into the public’s connection with the sport, Littlewoods Ireland conducted research in April 2021. This revealed that although half the population (51%) are GAA fans, disappointingly the majority of the population (89%) could not name a current inter-county Camogie player.

Following the 2021 Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues, Littlewoods Ireland conducted follow up research which demonstrated that the dial had shifted in a positive direction with recognition of players increasing from 11% to 15% within the time the leagues had taken place.

A number of matches will be streamed live on the Camogie Association YouTube channel through the season and there is hoped to be a more consistent approach to ticketing with tickets for all matches the following weekend released each Tuesday.

READ MORE ABOUT THE SEASON ON SPORT FOR BUSINESS

 

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Each Friday we carry a Women in Sport Weekly Column, highlighting stories here in Ireland and around the world that are relevant to the idea that we are only catching up to what is happening elsewhere and that while we may be strong in some areas, there are certainly others where we need to prod and poke to ensure fairness.

That’s all, it’s not a takeover, it’s not at the expense of sport that is there already, it is just recognition that sport should be more conscious of its obligation to the 50.5 per cent of the population that has just as much right and talent to play sport as anyone.

If you think there is a story around Women in Sport that we should feature please get in touch and let us know.