The season of markdowns is heating up with retailers and restaurants cutting prices and dangling discounts to lure back consumers and get them to spend.
Why it matters: Price-sensitive consumers have been "trading down" to cheaper goods to save money.
Investment in emerging leagues is driving women's sports to new heights.
Why it matters: Professional leagues drive visibility and investment further down into youth programs that haven't always been accessible to young girls.
Hockey: Seven months into its launch, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) is now focusing on finding brand partners to help expand access to the sport. PWHL SVP of business operations Amy Scheer told Axios that the league is working with Scotia Bank to invest more in making hockey accessible to marginalized communities.
Volleyball: League One Volleyball, a professional women's volleyball league launching in November, has secured distribution rights with ESPN's digital platforms. League One Volleyball has built the largest club youth volleyball business in the country, which it hopes will drive eyeballs and fandom to its professional push, said CEO and co-founder Katlyn Gao.
Data: Axios research; Note: Includes future teams with confirmed start dates; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios
At least 20 teams are set to play their inaugural season in 2024, from expansion teams like National Women's Soccer League's Bay FC to a host of brand-new teams in the USL Super League, which kicks off its first season on August 17, according to an analysis from Axios' Ashley Mahoney and Simran Parwani.
Between the lines: Women's sports fans have higher engagement rates than men's sports fans, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research.
Sports media executives are pushing to invest more in women's sports coverage, as a way to better serve and grow their audiences.
X: The platform is in conversations with sports leagues about producing more docuseries on the platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino told Axios at the Women's Sports House. Gotham FC and U.S. Women's National Team forward Midge Purce, on Axios' stage, teased a new reality docuseries about women's soccer that will live on X. (Full interview.)
Yahoo: The internet giant has tapped a slew of female Olympians, such as Allyson Felix, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Shawn Johnson East, Missy Franklin and Katie Hoff, to be correspondents for the 2024 games. It plans to increase investments in women's sports fantasy products. (Full interview,)
The women's sports industry is predicted to break the $1 billion barrier for the first time in total revenue this year — a 300% increase from 2021, writes Axios' Analis Bailey.
Why it matters: The main driver of cash coming into women's sports is commercial sponsorships, followed by media rights and matchday revenues (ticket sales), per Deloitte.
For women's sports, which have historically been undervalued by networks in terms of media rights, sponsorships have proven critical.
"We have over 100 advertisers across 50 categories putting money into women's sports, not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's good for business," said Disney/ESPN Advertising president Rita Ferro (full interview).
For the first time in Olympic history, The Paris Games this summer will have an equal number of men and women athletes.
Why it matters: Some of the most highly-anticipated events this year feature female athletes from the U.S., such as gymnastics gold medalist Simone Biles, track and field star Sha'Carri Richardson and reigning Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky.
By the numbers: NBC, which has exclusive rights to air the games through 2032, has already sold more than $1.2 billion in advertising around the games and expects to bring in more money this year than any other Olympic Games in history.
"Female athletes in commercials during the last Olympics had a 14% higher brand recognition rate compared to male athletes," said Alison Levin, president of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, at the Women's Sports House (full interview).
Flau'jae Johnson's long-awaited collaboration with Lil Wayne will finally drop next Friday.
Why it matters: The LSU women's basketball star pulls double duty as a performing artist, and the collaboration track will be part of her aptly titled EP, "Best of Both Worlds," Axios' Chelsea Brasted writes.
The project came about after WNBA legend Sue Bird challenged Lil Wayne to reach out to the young rapper and basketball star, Johnson told me in an interview at the Axios Women's Sports House.
The big picture: Since being part of the team that won LSU's first women's basketball national championship, "I've been living the dream," she said.
German sandal maker Birkenstock, a 250-year-old family brand known more for orthopedics than high fashion, has over the past decade become a surprise runway darling, cashed in on viral trends, and accumulated quite a bit of street cred.
Why it matters: Birkenstock's cork-forward footwear has been quietly cool for years. But the newly publicly traded firm has been ditching its crunchy granola reputation and teaming up with high-fashion designers like Rick Owens, Valentino, Proenza Schouler and Dior.
