Playing By Different Rules

Male vs. Female Athlete Marketing Strategies

START

Do you know the difference?

This module will build upon these concepts:

• Sports and media mutually boost each other, with sports driving sponsorships for media and media enhancing sports visibility through traditional and digital platforms.

• Digital media enables personalized fan engagement and athlete branding, strengthening connections and attracting sponsors.

• Female athletes face underrepresentation and unequal marketing, limiting their career growth compared to male athletes despite rising participation in sports.

• What is the rellationship between sports marketing and an athletes' career growth?

• This module section is designed to educate marketers on the different marketing strategies being used for male and female athletes and how these strategies impact career growth.

• This module will include four topics and each topic followed by a quiz question. You will have multiple chances to answer each question. It is ok to get the question wrong, but you must select the correct answer to continue.

Introduction

• Social media has become a key tool for athletes and organizations to share information, promote events, and connect with fans on a personal level

• Athletes use social media to create and maintain a specific image that increases their visibility, builds a unique following, and strengthens fan loyalty, which is attractive to sponsors

• Platforms like X (Twitter) allow athletes to reach a worldwide audience, transforming casual fans into devoted ones through immediate, personalized updates

• Social media gives athletes control over how they present themselves, allowing them to showcase their personalities and lives off the field, making them more appealing to fans and advertisers

• Social media has profoundly influenced sports by fostering stronger connections between athletes and fans, enhancing brand loyalty and creating new sponsorship opportunities

Sports + The Media

Question 1

• Female athletes face a lack of media coverage and misrepresentation, with depictions rooted in "hegemonic masculinity," which elevates male superiority in sports

• Women are often portrayed according to traditional feminine stereotypes, emphasizing aesthetics, sexuality, and nurturing qualities, while minimizing their athletic skills and strength

• Male athletes are treated as the "norm" in sports media, receiving more serious and skill-focused coverage, while women are belittled through language and tone, often framed as emotional or lucky rather than talented and hardworking

• Female athletes are portrayed as uninspiring compared to men, perpetuating stereotypes that paint them as inferior and unserious, which reinforces societal gender biases

• This unequal media treatment limits sponsorship opportunities for female athletes, hindering their career growth and contributing to broader patriarchal norms in social, economic, and political spheres

Women in Sports Media

Question 2

• Branding is foundational to marketing, aiming to create recognizable, differentiated products that drive profit and loyalty by increasing both market share and dominance

• A brand is a combination of elements (name, symbol, or design) that creates value and recognition, influencing not just consumer markets but also how people perceive societal concepts like politics and identity

• The "athlete brand" concept ties public personas to performance, aesthetics, and lifestyle, generating significant earnings through endorsements and licensing, with $1.3 billion of top athletes’ earnings attributed to branding

• Advertisers invest in athletes with strong, appealing images, as their personal brands can drive consumer connection and sales, making image as critical as performance for career success

• Social media enhances the value of athlete brands, creating opportunities for visibility, connection, and growth, making it an essential tool for both athletes and sports organizations

Athletes as Brands

Question 3

• Female athletes can use social media to challenge traditional media biases, create their own public image, and secure sponsorships by portraying themselves authentically and redefining femininity

• Female athletes face "gendered economics," where they must prove their worth to sponsors while battling objectification, as their bodies are often prioritized over skills or personality in branding

• Women athletes invest in their appearances to align with conventional ideals of femininity and marketability, but this focus on physical traits reduces their visibility as athletes and creates ongoing financial and emotional burdens

• Female athletes who assertively promote themselves are often seen as violating traditional gender norms, limiting their opportunities. Hyper-femininity and hyper-sexualization are frequently required to meet marketability standards

• Despite opportunities in social media, biases from traditional media persist in digital platforms, perpetuating gender roles and limiting female athletes’ ability to gain equal representation and sponsorships

Female Atheltes + Self-Branding

Question 4

• Currently, research shows how marketing strategies such as branding on social media can be beneficial to an athlete in terms of sponsorship opportunities and endorsements.

• However, it remains unclear whether or not marketing strategies have an impact on an athlete's playing career.

• Although, based on current studies, the lack of media attention given to women's sports has limited marketing opportunities, therefore limiting the amount of income players receive, facility upkeep, and ticket sales. All of these items can lead to a shorter and less lucrative career than male athletes.

Impact on Career Growth

Question 5

Digital media is recognized as the most effective marketing strategy for athletes, particularly through social media. However:

1. The relationship between marketing strategies and athletes' on-field performance, including statistics and career outcomes, has not been adequately explored.
2. The focus on social media branding as the primary marketing tool overlooks other digital media strategies that may impact an athlete's career

More research is needed to explore the correlation between marketing strategies and athletic performance, as well as the broader range of digital marketing strategies used in the sports industry A deeper understanding of the differences in marketing strategies for male and female athletes is crucial to improving career growth and success for both genders. The next module will use this insight to promote more equitable practices that benefit athletes’ careers and ensure long-term respect, notability, and success, regardless of gender

What Needs to Be Done

End of the module!

Thank you for participating in this training module about marketing strategies athletes. Let's create an equal playing field for all athletes that promotes fairness, accuracy, and growth.