Rise in the Production of Women’s Sports Opening Business Opportunities for Networks

How the data is backing up the business case for women's sports on television

The ratings for women’s sports continue to climb to record levels and that, in turn, drives the need for better and deeper productions.

At the 2023 SVG Summit, leaders in women’s sports production discussed how their productions are evolving, why their programming is connecting with viewers, and how the data is now backing up that women’s sports on television is good business.

The discussion included:

• Patricia Lowry, GameTime Productions, President
• Sara Gaiero, ESPN, VP, Production
• Emily Sisson, Octagon, SVP, Business Development
• Curtis Symonds, HBCU GO, President and Co-Founder

This conversation was hosted at the SVG Summit in New York City on Dec. 12 and was moderated by Melissa Forman, Co-Founder of Impakt Partners.

Emily Sisson, SVP, Business Development at Octagon shared social media data her company collected during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, while also diving into the buying power of women’s sports viewers:

In her new role, ESPN’s VP, Production Sara Gaiero now oversees all women’s basketball ranging from the WNBA to college. How have recent successes helped her campaign for bigger and better shows and how is that conversation changing?

Perhaps the biggest women’s sports television event occurred in 2023 at the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Game. Patricia Lowry, President of GameTime Productions and a former ESPN executive shared some big numbers from the television broadcast:

Watch the full panel discussion now on SVG PLAY:

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