Nielsen Sports Insights · Quick read
10 things to know about the women reshaping sports & fandom
Rising viewership, changing demographics, and sponsorship value — what every brand should know
#1
71%
increase in women’s sports minutes viewed from 2022 to 2025 with over 46 billion minutes of women’s sports consumed last year.
Nielsen National TV Ratings, Big Data + Panel
#2
19%
decline in share of audiences reporting “no interest” in women’s sports, dropping from 33.4% in Q1 2023 to 27.2% in Q1 2026.
Nielsen Fan Insights, Q1 2023, Q1 2026
#3
52%
of consumers agree brands and sponsors should invest more in women’s sports.
Nielsen Fan Insights, Q1 2026
#4
18%
increase in women viewers to WNBA Draft from 2025. The 2026 WNBA Draft saw significant growth in key demographics, with Black viewers up 38% and Hispanic viewers up 19% year over year.
Nielsen National TV Ratings, Live+SD, Big Data + Panel for 2026, Panel-Only for 2025
#5
45%
of the audience for the first national broadcast of the PWHL were women; an audience share 10 percentage points higher than the men’s league.
Nielsen National TV Ratings, Live+SD
#6
30%
of NWSL fans bought a brand after watching a game and seeing a sponsorship, outpacing sponsorship conversion for multiple men’s leagues.
Nielsen Global Sports Report, 2025
#7
46%
of women are interested in football, up from 40.5% in 2023.
Nielsen Fan Insights, 2023 – 2025
#8
60%
of women’s sports fans have switched brands based on a company’s values or actions, a higher rate than the 45% of sports fans overall.
Nielsen Advanced Audience Attitudes Study, 2025
#9
69%
of women’s sports fans view a brand more positively when it partners with athletes connected to their interests.
Nielsen Advanced Audience Attitudes Study, 2025
#10
48%
of soccer fans are also fans of one or more women’s professional sports leagues, compared to 13% of fans overall.
Nielsen Advanced Audience Attitudes Study, 2025
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