Women’s sports are attracting more viewers, and according to research company EDO, commercials that air in women’s sporting events are growing in ad effectiveness.
EDO, which focuses on measuring the impact of ads on viewer behavior, said in a new report that ad effectiveness women’s tennis, basketball and other sports rose by double digits from last year.
Caitlin Clark, who set the record for most points by a college basketball player this month, also scored for insurer State Farm. The State Farm spots in which the Iowa sharpshooter appears are 46% more likely to generate engagement than the average State Farm ads.
“Naturally, the growing interest in women’s sports presents a major opportunity for TV advertisers,” said Laura Grover, senior VP, head of client solutions at EDO. “After all, live sports have consistently been the TV programs most successful at driving consumers to engage with brands that advertise during them — generating key outcomes like online searches that are proven predictors of future sales.”
The best-performing women’s sport was tennis, with Wimbledon and U.S. Open matches, which outperformed the average primetime broadcast and cable ad by just over 50%.
The WNBA’s ad engagement is growing rapidly. EDO found that in the regular season, engagement was up 7% from a year ago and during the playoffs it was up 23%. In the finals, there was a 30% jump. Brands aimed at men saw strong results advertising during WNBA games, with Bosley Hair Restoration sprouting engagement that was 341% higher than the average WNBA advertiser, Old Spice racking up results 134% higher and Hims registering 51% greater engagement.
Sportswear makers saw their engagement rise with ads featuring women athletes. Adidas’s ads were 69% higher, Puma saw a 62% lift, Nike gained 16% and Viori rose 8%
