For decades, women’s sports have been systemically undervalued. Legacy tracking systems built around mature men’s leagues failed to capture how engaged women’s sports fans really are. As data, distribution, and demand converge, those gaps are closing—and pricing is catching up globally.
Early-stage backers are seeing outsized returns.
Transaction data from 2019–2025 shows early investors generating multiples from the mid-teens to well over 100x in a few years. NWSL franchises have grown ~21x since 2021. WNBA expansion fees climbed from tens of millions to hundreds of millions in three years. It’s a pattern consistent across leagues and geographies.
Converging shifts created the conditions.
2019–2021: pioneering capital recognized fundamental value gaps as streaming and new measurement exposed true engagement. 2022–2023: institutional interest accelerated as Title IX’s 50th anniversary and post-COVID behavior shifts validated commercial potential, supported by more responsive rights models and ad-outcome proof. 2024 onward: rights values, valuations, and viewership moved in concert.
The opportunity is still early.
Women’s sports revenues near ~$2B remain <1% of the ~$500B global pro sports market. Even a rise to 5% would expand the addressable market 5x from today’s base.
Transaction Trends and ROI Patterns
Angel City FC: from a low single-digit million expansion fee in 2021 to a transaction valuing the club in the hundreds of millions by 2024—triple-digit multiple growth in just over three years.
Disclaimer: Illustrative estimates based on publicly available information; not actual deal terms or outcomes.
Las Vegas Aces: from a low-seven-figure valuation in 2021 to a mid-nine-figure valuation by early 2025—another triple-digit multiple within ~4 years. Similar dynamics appear across additional women’s properties.
How the Market Shifted in Six Years
2019–2021: Streaming/CTV surfaced previously undercounted engagement; social interaction rates for women’s sports outpaced men’s equivalents in many instances. Early entrants captured the widest mispricing.
2022–2023: Institutional spend rose as connected TV scaled and cord-cutting accelerated. New data revealed higher-quality engagement (brand loyalty, purchase intent), supporting pricing power.
2024 onward: Virtuous cycle: more windows and promotion → bigger audiences → stronger rights → rising valuations. The WNBA’s new multi-partner rights model exemplifies the shift.
Note: Estimates based on public transaction, expansion, and valuation reports; 2025 values adjusted to current dollars for directional comparison.
The Opportunity Is Still Early
Despite rapid repricing, supply/demand imbalances remain: sponsor portfolios are still under-allocated to women’s sports versus performance, and many international rights are priced below demonstrated engagement.
Disclaimer: Illustrative estimates based on publicly available information; not actual deal terms or outcomes.
Team sports—basketball, soccer, volleyball, hockey—are leading the reset as capital, infrastructure, and distribution scale internationally.
One glaring gap remains: gymnastics. Despite dominant Olympic and NCAA audiences, professional infrastructure is nascent—representing a significant global white space.
Bottom Line
Global repricing is underway. Early entrants captured extraordinary multiples as markets corrected historical mispricing; but allocation, rights, and measurement still have room to converge with demonstrated demand.
The growth era has started—the key questions now are pace, packaging, and where international expansion unlocks the next wave of value.