Participation is an important element of the female sports engagement narrative. The Index shows that amongst the top 20 sports for female engagement, 11 are also leaders in female participation. Female participation often focuses on sports with low barriers to entry like running, cycling, hiking, wellness, aerobics and dancing. These are all accessible sports, with physical health benefits, many of which also foster community experiences. By contrast, few traditional team sports rank highly on the female participation charts, with netball as the exception.
Tal Hewitt, Sports Strategy Lead at EY-Parthenon, said: “The latest analysis from the Sports Engagement Index suggests that Gen Z behaviour is markedly different to other demographics. Our understanding of Gen Z leads us to believe that it’s possible more of these younger female engagers will remain engaged with sport as they mature. Over time this is likely to impact not only how sports need to engage with their fan bases, but also which sports will top the leaderboards in terms of popularity.
“Sports organisations must recognise and adapt to the needs of their current and future female audience to avoid being left behind. By nurturing female participation, attendance and followership, they can ensure that this vibrant fanbase continues to grow and evolve, retaining engagement throughout women's lives, and ultimately, reshaping the industry for decades to come.”
Women’s sports are helping to attract female engagers, but are currently driven by male engagement
Women’s sports are helping to shift the dial in female engagement figures, but there is still progress to be made. According to the Index, men currently drive most of the engagement with women’s sporting formats, except for cycling, gymnastics, badminton and skiing. Cycling and badminton’s women’s formats show the highest gender shift of all the sports considered, as both pivot from being male driven for the male format to female driven for the female format.
Women’s sporting formats in cricket, Rugby Union and boxing are particularly male driven. However, of the three, boxing appears to be the most successful in attracting a higher proportion of female followers to its women’s format.
Given the high degree of focus recently on women’s football, it is also interesting to note that only 40% of its engagers are women, albeit this is a higher number than for men’s football, where women only make up 34% of the engagement base.
Furthermore, the Index highlights the importance of mixed gender formats in driving participation. This is particularly true for tennis and badminton, with 17% of tennis engagers only engaging in the mixed format of the sport.
Tom Kingsley, Sports Industry Group Leader at EY, said: “If sports attempt to properly understand female sports engagers, they can better serve, grow, and monetise this engagement base more successfully. Sports, such as tennis, that successfully engage a female fanbase not only give themselves a larger market to target, but a better chance of winning when competing for family time, attention and budget. By doing so, they also extend their appeal to a broader range of commercial partners.
“Understanding the opportunities that lie within the female sports engagement population, including the evolution of women’s sporting formats and the new trends being set by Gen Z, will help to plan for future growth and engagement strategies. Ignoring these shifts could mean missing out on substantial segments of the audience poised to shape the future of sports.”