Episode 59
#59 The secret to creating tangible value for women's sports - community!
Did you know that women’s sports communities are growing faster than men’s? And that this growth follows an industry-wide phenomenon. According to The Sports Innovation Lab report on: “The growth of women’s sports community”:
- Women’s sports have a community growth score that is 40% higher than the general sports fan community
- The women’s sports community growth score is trending up year-on-year vs. general sports, which has a downward trendline
“Alone We Can Do So Little. Together We Can Do So Much”. This is a quote by Helen Keller. It really communicates the power of community. Think about all the impactful changes throughout history. They might have started with one person but they accelerated in growth when people united and came together in a shared mission.
It was with this thought in mind that we at Data Talks launched our very own women in the sports community. Because we understand that community is the secret to creating tangible value for women’s sports.
Why is community the secret to creating tangible value for women’s sports? It’s firstly because there is power in numbers. Exactly like Helen Keller noted in her quote.
When we first started our Women in sports: beyond the hashtag initiative, we focused mostly on profiling women in sports. This was because we knew how terrible the visibility of women’s sports is. One of the people we profiled was Alba Pardo – the co-founder of Women in Action Sports Network. She too was passionate about making a change in the sports industry. We also profiled:
- Maria Caicedo Cabrera (Colombia) – the director of America de Cali official sports training school in Bogota.
- Soleen Al-Zou’bi (Jordan) – Head of Women’s Football & Assistant Technical Director at Jordan Football Association
- Lucy Mills (Spain) – Co-Founder READY, Women’s Football Advisor and Board of Directors Lewes FC
The more people we profiled the more we kept on coming back to the fact of there being power in numbers. Simply put, there is power in people coming together with a shared mission. And not only that, But there is power in people taking all the necessary steps to make change happen.
But do you know what makes our initiative different? We focus on creating tangible value for both the individual and the sports organizations they work for. And we do this by covering all bases around 5 main areas.
Sharing our insights - Based on our experience and industry research on best practices for increasing revenue, selling more tickets and merchandise, and negotiating sponsorship agreements of higher value. We were at the Spobis 22 event in Dusseldorf, Germany, sharing insights on how we can make innovation more inclusive in the sports industry. Catch us at more events in the coming months.
Bringing more education - On best practices for greater success. We write blog posts for women in sports specifically on our blog every month. But we are boosting this so that our community has a constant supply of educational material.
Opportunity matching - Matching everyone in our community with the right opportunities within the industry. At the Spobis 22 event, we invited one of our community members, Lucy Mills, to join us and share more on her area of expertise: Web 3.0 and women’s sports. So if you think you could be our next collaborator, then join our community to pitch ideas!
Women in sports profiling - Bringing the stories of fantastic women in sports and their allies to the forefront. Here are a few great examples: Arianna Criscione talks about the state of women’s sports, Robert Vilahamn talks about how men can be allies of women’s sports, and Julia Roca Valverde talks about how to host the best sporting events.
Community building - With our women in sports community platform, we aim to bring everyone together to:
- Network and meet one another - accessibility is an important factor for making change. How can you truly make an impact if you don’t know who else is an ally and where you can turn to for support?
- Exchange skills and experiences - our community is all about creating tangible value. Not just talking all day long. Because anyone can do that. But not everyone can put their money where their mouth is and really make a difference.
- Be part of making a difference - as I mentioned before, our community members are passionate people. Giving them a platform to exercise their passion and find like-minded people to potentially collaborate with has been a great privilege and honor.
If you would also like to be part of our community, feel free to join here
