The Business Case is Simple for Investing in Women’s Sports - It's All in the Math

During an all-day program of sessions, panel discussions, and interviews, a packed room of business leaders, sports league members, and entrepreneurs heard and enjoyed give and take with leaders in the worlds of investment, branding, media, and Athletes Unlimited athletes.

Jon Patricof, CEO and Co-Founder of Athletes Unlimited, began the day by welcoming attendees to the third annual Innovation Summit, which was sponsored by Morgan Stanley Global Sports and Entertainment (GSE) and by Earlystone. Cassidy Lichtman, Director of Sport for AU Pro Volleyball and member of AU’s board of directors, introduced each session and shared her thoughts along the way. 

“This is still just the beginning,” Patricof said in his opening remarks. “Even if you haven’t been in one of these rooms before, you absolutely are here at the beginning of what is going to be a decades and generations-long story of growth, success, and cultural transformation. You are now part of that group today. It is the early days, and you are here at the foundation. We have so much more to do yet.”

Women’s sports appear to be on the verge of explosive growth, buoyed by several factors, including a resurgence in women’s basketball and Caitlin Clark’s transition from college star to the WNBA, where she joins a host of talented and marketable players. The Olympic Games and emerging sports such as rugby are giving female athletes new opportunities. 

Athletes Unlimited has carved out its own niche after making its debut with softball in 2020 and expanding to volleyball, lacrosse, and basketball, with unique playing formats in each sport while creating leadership and decision-making roles for the athletes themselves. 

Themes sounded throughout the day were that women’s sports need investment and data analytics to continue to grow, but they also need to tap into the stories the players have to tell. 

“Look, I respect data,” said Sandra Richards, Managing Director, Head of Morgan Stanley’s GSE Division during a morning session titled The Next Play: The Intersection of Sports and the Economy. “But there is something that when you experience it, you can feel the energy. You can see the crowd, what commentary people are saying. Social listening, I do a lot of that. And I’m telling you there’s something here.”

Richards’ co-panelist, Sarah Francis, expanded on that and introduced participants to a new word, one that was repeated throughout the day. 

“Energy and vibe, you can’t find in the data alone,” said Francis, Strategic Relationships Leader at EY. “One thing we talk about is this term, ‘anecdatal.’ How are you embedding the data into the storytelling?”

One person who has lived on both sides of the storytelling fence is AU Pro Softball player Haylie McCleney. In addition to being the subject of storytelling, McCleney has worked as a broadcast color commentator. She is also a member of the partnerships team of AU. 

“Content, media, storytelling, it’s right in front of you,” she said during a panel on Game Changers: Building a Career on and off the Court. “There are so many more stories that are out there that haven’t been covered yet because we haven’t been paid attention to. The product has always been there for women’s sports. The platform has not. Right now, we’re starting to see that platform come about. But we just need more. It’s a volume issue. Media coverage, corporate partners, there’s so much untapped potential.”

Thanks to sponsors Morgan Stanley and Earlystone, Athletes Unlimited athletes were treated to a pair of private events as well.

“We are on the verge of women making real money in sports,” Morgan Stanley Sr. Vice President, Global Sports and Entertainment Director, Sonia Balfour-Fears told the athletes. 

Balfour-Fears and a team of Morgan Stanley representatives worked with the group and took questions about investing, and being “good stewards of credit cards and financial issues.”

The main theme was, “Take 30 minutes and think about the next 30 years.”

Earlystone hosted an open conversation to hear directly from the athletes about what support is needed to grow and thrive as professional athletes.

One advantage women’s sports have today is the explosion of media, from social media to podcasts, in addition to traditional outlets, which weren’t always accommodating to women’s athletics. 

“I know people look at the game today and they’re like, ‘Wow, these women are really good,’” said basketball legend Sheryl Swoopes, the subject of the Keynote Interview, conducted by Sarah Spain. “I said to someone the other day, ‘We’ve always been good. The game has always been exciting.’ I think the biggest difference today is social media to me plays a huge part in where the game is today. There are more eyes. Fans feel very connected to the players, right or wrong, like them, love them, hate them. It gives them a space to feel like they’re connected to that athlete.”

Swoopes wasn’t the only nationally known name to partake in the Innovation Summit. Kim Ng recently joined Athletes Unlimited as a senior advisor to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), a traditional softball league that will launch in 2025. 

Ng was the first female general manager of a Major League Baseball team when she helped lead the Miami Marlins to their first full-season postseason berth in 20 years in 2023. 

A former softball player, Ng summed up her feelings on where women’s sports are during the Fireside Chat, conducted by Allie Kleva, Chief Growth Officer of Athletes Unlimited. 

“This moment in time,” Ng said. “It’s not a moment. This is a movement. I am just so thrilled to be here and to be a part of this. When I’ve seen a successful situation, they’ve involved communication and listening and trying to build a great culture. So when we talk about AU and what Jon and Jonathan (AU co-founder Soros) have tried to create here, those things are at the pinnacle of their ethos. That was really important in making the decision to come on board with AU.”

As time goes on, more sports fans – male and female – are finding the appeal of women’s sports. Those involved in playing and operating those sports know that capitalizing on the current momentum and ensuring growth will require investments. 

There are solid signs the time is right for that to happen. 

“I’m really excited for this moment,” said Rachel Fleitell, Chief Operating Officer of Thirty Five Ventures. “It does feel different. Yes, maybe we’re tricking ourselves and saying that. But yes, it feels different. It feels like there are so many more ways for you to interact with athletes you love. There’s so much more support than they’re used to be, even though there’s a long way to go. Female athletes are getting some of the looks now. There are dollars now to support it. No one can take their foot off the gas pedal because this is the moment we just have to keep driving forward.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Ami Galani, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Tipt Ventures, during the session on Infusing More Money Into the System, presented by Earlystone. 

“The reason I think it’s different this time is because I do think there’s embedded growth,” she said. “There are structural advantages that are different than a decade ago. What social media has done is that it democratized content. When you democratize content, that 50 percent that you didn’t think was big enough is now big enough because it’s democratized.

“It’s like this super decade of sports in the United States. The next decade has every major global sporting event on U.S. soil. This is like the first time this has happened in a century. There is all this stuff that is going to happen on U.S. soil on the men’s side and the women’s side that just creates a lot of consumption and creation behavior. So I see these as structural advantages that make this different than before. It’s going to be hard to ask people to write us a check, but we’re not going to stop.”

The final word of the day went to Lichtman, who made a passionate plea for continued investment. 

“The question has never been, ‘Are we good enough? Are we talented enough? Are we valuable enough?’” she said. “The question has always been, ‘Will you invest in us?’ So I want to thank you for being in this room and saying you will invest in us. We’ve been here. Our athletes have been here. Their predecessors were great. It goes back generations. But this room didn’t exist at the time. As we’ve said multiple times, this can’t be a flash in the pan. You can’t invest for a day and think we’re going to get to the NBA level. It’s going to take a lot of time. It’s going to take a lot of money. It’s going to take a lot of people.”

Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 45 years, covering baseball, hockey, football, college and high school sports, and Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball. You can follow him on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.