Sports fans are reaching new heights, and women athletes are showing strength in numbers on the court and off. A Deloitte report projects that women's global sports revenues will reach $2.35 billion in 2025, after notching $1.88 billion in 2024 and surpassing the billion-dollar mark for the first time. Growth in the space is expected to come from increases in brand recognition, fan engagement, larger sponsorship deals, and a rise in broadcast and matchday revenues.¹

Additional predictions on the horizon include:²

• North America continuing to generate the most revenue for women’s sports — at $1.39 billion, or 59%.

• Broadcast making up a quarter (25%) of overall revenue

• Volleyball, cricket and rugby attracting new attention

Basketball rules

Around the world, women’s basketball revenue is expected to top $1.03 billion this year.³

In the U.S., the sport will remain in the cultural arena, after the WNBA inked an 11-year media rights deal last year worth $2.2 billion. Under the terms, Disney, Amazon, and NBCU will broadcast more than 125 regular season and playoff games each season, with specific minimums across each platform.⁴

Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year in 2024, Caitlin Clark, has had a remarkable run-up in the world of basketball, as two-time national player of the year at the University of Iowa and now WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Indiana Fever.⁵ The sports industry benefitted from crowds wanting to see Clark setting attendance records and requiring bigger arenas.⁶

In 2024, the season-ending Game 5 of the WNBA Finals was the most-watched Finals game for the past 25 years.⁷ The WNBA notched record-high viewership in 2024, capitalizing on overall interest in the league, rising 29% between 2023 and 2024.^8,9

A strong talent pipeline could keep the momentum going. Paige Bueckers of the University of Connecticut won the 2025 NCAA women’s March Madness basketball tournament with the Huskies in April 2025, and she quickly followed the title with a new superlative: No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, set to join the Dallas Wings.¹⁰

Global stage

Larger-scale wins for women’s sports can come from more worldwide attention. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris opened a big money move for athletes with prize purses for the first time — the World Athletics Federation awarded $2.4 million to gold medalists in track and field. In a few years, the Olympic landscape for women’s sports will change even further.

Read more: Power players and the business of sports

In 2028, all team sports in the Olympic and Paralympic Games will have at least the same number of women's competitions as men's. Soccer fans will have plenty to watch: For the first time in Olympic history, more women's teams (16) than men's teams (12) will compete in soccer.¹¹

Two sports — flag football and squash — will make their Olympic debut at the upcoming 2028 Summer Games.¹²

In the run-up to the sport’s arrival at the Los Angeles Olympics, groups have submitted bids to invest in potential U.S. professional flag football leagues. The sport could see big growth as it gains even more exposure: Around half a million girls ages 6 to 17 played flag football in 2023, a notable 63% jump since 2019.¹³

Tuning in

Outside the sphere of live events, recent launches across media have capitalized on consumers’ intrigue in women’s sports.

Co-founded by Hollywood star Whoopi Goldberg, the All Women’s Sports Network launched in December 2024, airing both live broadcasts and time-delayed events across basketball, soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and other sports.¹⁴ In the U.S., the network is accessible through multiple free streaming apps, which can be downloaded onto smart TVs.¹⁵ The appetite for watching sports doesn’t stop stateside: The network reaches more than 2 billion people across 65 countries.¹⁶

Read more: Screen time: Televisions redefine household hubs

Brands are banking on new audiences and successful teams, with ad spending on women’s sports having hit $244 million in 2024, a leap of 139% from the year prior. Companies in the car, pharmaceutical, and internet/telecommunications industries were among the top advertisers.¹⁷

These events in particular appeal to a group with purchasing power: 74% of women’s sports fans are the primary income earner in their household, compared to 70% of men’s sports fans.¹⁸

Podcasts have been another key channel to tap into sports buzz: Last year, the majority of people aged 12 and older (67%) had listened to a podcast — up from 64% in 2023.

The top U.S. podcast publisher, iHeartPodcasts, gets over 177 million monthly downloads and streams as of March 2025, and has been expanding its coverage of women’s sports.¹⁹ Launched less than a year ago in summer 2024, the iHeart Women’s Sports podcast network has quickly followed on its original offering with eight new shows planned for early 2025, featuring conversations with athletes across golf, auto racing, basketball, and soccer.²⁰

Read more: It pays to listen: Podcasts show sounds of success

Watching or listening to sports media on the go or from the comfort of home can also help fans get their fix outside of the in-person experience: The price of admission to sporting events skyrocketed 25.8% year-over-year, according to Consumer Price Index data from March.²¹

Taking off

2025 has set the stage for a combination of players to grow women’s sports — athletes showcasing world-class talent, fans supporting local teams and economies, and brands that want a piece of the action.