Women's dominance of Ireland's sports sponsorship market to continue following World Cup
Ireland women's team captain Katie McCabe was already identified by industry professionals as one of the most marketable football personalities in 2023. Picture: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie
Investment by brands in sponsorship opportunities for women’s sports will increase following the record-setting viewership of Fifa’s World Cup, a leading sponsorship consultant has said.
According to RTÉ, its coverage of the Fifa Women's World Cup 2023 broke audience records with the Republic of Ireland’s group match against Canada becoming the most-watched women’s team sport event in Irish TV history, with an average of 551,000 viewers.
Ireland's opening match against Australia was the biggest live event of the year on RTÉ Player, with 368,000 live streams, and the second-highest live-streamed event ever on the platform.
According to data from ONSIDE, a consultancy group that specialises in sponsorships, two-thirds of sponsorship industry professionals in Ireland selected a woman as their most marketable personality in 2023 and the company expects this trend to continue into 2024.
John Trainor, chief executive of ONSIDE, said Ireland’s captain Katie McCabe was the highest footballer on this list, but there is a gap between McCabe and her teammates at the moment.
“There is a gap between Katie and the other FAI senior women’s team players at the moment, but more opportunities will open up,” he said.
One of the issues Mr Trainor pinpoints for sponsors is that it is hard for companies to work with Irish sports stars on “local activations” when they spend most of the year playing with their clubs overseas.
Despite this, Mr Trainor said its research indicated an uptick in both consumer and industry confidence in football generally and women’s football in particular, leading into the Women’s World Cup.
“Early movers in women’s football sponsorship such as Sky, Carlsberg and Cadbury invested strongly in activation and became an important part of the evolving growth story. They have provided essential proof points for other brands considering getting into women’s sport in general or also aligning with the FAI senior women’s team,” he said.
He did warn a major event like the World Cup could be a peak for a sports team or athlete which is often followed by a decline but in this case, there are factors in place to suggest there will be continued growth going forward.
“We are confident that total investment from brands in women’s football will increase,” Mr Trainor said.
"One of the important factors going forward for the team in terms of sponsorships will be if they can keep the momentum going and succeed on the pitch.
“If Ireland’s women can qualify for the Euros in 2025 this will be a significant driver of positive momentum,” Mr Trainor said.
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