Sponsorship in women’s sport: closing the investment gap

Even as the global women’s sports landscape is witnessing a reckoning, it still represents just 10% of sponsorship dollars, 15% of media coverage, and a fraction of broadcast rights fees compared to men’s sports.

This year women’s elite sports are predicted to generate more than $1.28bn (£1.19bn) in global revenues, according to a report published by Deloitte in November 2023. Today, the firm is a founding member of the Athena Pledge, which intends to rally other brands to commit to targets in increased spending and support in the women’s sports ecosystem.

The support component consists of underlying variables holding back metrics that make sponsorship a no brainer. This includes improving the talent supply chain from an early age, developing arenas where athletes can showcase their skills, donating to training camps, aligning with sports channels that provide women’s sports with media coverage, and working to lift broadcast rights fees.

Before taking on the Athena Pledge, brand marketers need data to back up and justify any investment into women’s sports and the ecosystem. They can learn from an ongoing and live case study from Pakistan.

The year before Deloitte’s research and pledge, leaders at Mondelēz International backed the decision of the Cadbury brand team in Pakistan to sponsor the women’s cricket team, introduce scholarships for promising athletes in the under 19-league, and launch a series of campaigns that normalise visuals of girls playing sports.

Why get so involved?

While the global landscape for women’s sports is certainly crossing the $1bn mark, it’s a work in progress in conservative markets such as Pakistan. In its latest global trends report, over 80% of Pakistan-based respondents told Ipsos that they view women's roles only as good mothers and wives. This is part of the reason the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) doesn’t have a women’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) yet.

"We have a dearth of women players and athletes in this country," said Salman Sarwar Butt, who helped the PCB conceptualise and launch the PSL. "Secondly, we don't have a supporting environment and facilities for women to be able to show us what they've got.”

The sentiment of the Ipsos study can be seen reflected in the television audience measurement (TAM) of the 2023 and 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. The average combined ratings for the ten matches aired on Pakistani TV channels in 2023 and 2024 was 1.81% and 1.77% respectively. 

In 2023, the women’s team played two matches, with the face-off against India reaching a 6.5% rating and a 2.59% rating in the match against Ireland. In 2024, the women’s team played four matches, with the face-off against India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Australia reaching a 3.82%, 4.07%, 2.98%, and a 2.04% rating. 

The good news

The outlier spike in ratings against India is a consistent theme of Pakistan’s cricket matches, especially with men’s cricket. Keeping this in mind, the audience drop between India and non-India matches in 2023 was 60%, falling to 21% drop in 2024 - showing the team was able to retain more viewers in 2024.

This is attributed to the women’s team’s increasing popularity on social media, according to data from [influencer marketing platform] Ask Walee. Since 2022 to date, Instagram followers of the top women’s team players have doubled at the very least, with a few increasing five fold. The graphs show a hockey stick trajectory in the lead up to the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. 

"The upward trajectory of these cricketers' followings, with a pointed surge coinciding with the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, speaks volumes about the rising tide of excitement for women's cricket,” said QuratulAin Fatima Rashid, VP of creator media at Walee. “These athletes aren't just gaining followers; they're building a movement, inspiring a generation, and proving that the future of the sport is female."

Cadbury’s involvement

Data provided by Butt shows that there are a total of four thousand clubs for cricket, which have an average of 25 players each registered with the PCB, amounting to over 100 thousand players. The data shows that there are just 460 women cricketers registered, a difference of 200 times. 

The conservative mindsets in the country impacts not just the quantity of players in the pipeline but also the sponsorship revenues, media coverage, and broadcast rights bids. Seeking to bring about structural change, last October Cadbury launched a campaign intended to normalise the visuals of women in cricket with its #GetInTheGame campaign, offering a Cadbury Cricket Scholarship and open trials.

Across Pakistan, the confectionary brand awarded 123 scholarships to support aspiring athletes, alongside scouting programmes that are opening doors for everyone. Across seven cities, 17 of the 123 scholarship holders are now in the under-19 women’s national team. The latest #BackHerDream campaign, launched during the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, took the dream manifestation idea to a whole new level.

“Cadbury Dairy Milk's Back Her Dream campaign sets out to change how we think about girls in cricket,” said Sadia Qutubuddin, senior executive creative director at Ogilvy Pakistan. “It starts by showcasing simple yet powerful acts of family support – a ride to practise, a mended uniform, inclusion in a neighbourhood game.”

She said the campaign is intended to inspire a quiet revolution, starting from home. Ogilvy's creative idea taps into the powerful insight that with the right encouragement, daughters passionate about cricket can truly flourish. This reflects Cadbury's broader commitment to the Pakistani women's cricket team, breaking down barriers, promoting inclusivity and accessibility, and recognising the immense talent of young women in a sport that has historically overlooked them.

While the central focus of the 2023 campaign was scholarships, this year’s campaign allows Pakistani girls to see their own cricketing images on Dairy Milk packaging. Consumers were able to scan a QR code on their Cadbury pack and upload a photo of a loved one. The AI then generates an image of that person as a cricket hero, featured on a Cadbury pack, allowing users to visualise and share their support. 

According to mid-campaign data provided by Starcom Pakistan, the #BackHerDream campaign reached over 105 million audiences on TV and nearly 50 million audiences on YouTube, Meta, Snap, Spotify, and display advertising. Google, Meta, and TikTok directed over 13 thousand people to the AI image-generation website to upload images of themselves and see themselves as cricketers.

Qutubuddin said that this aspect of the campaign amplified the message of empowerment and challenged traditional gender roles in sports. She added that the campaign also sweetens the deal with opportunities to win personalised Cadbury packs featuring the AI-generated images based on users, further driving engagement and participation.

The media agency claimed that the overall tournament was among the top 22 highest-rated TV programmes in October, with value additions during live match broadcasts capturing 6.8 million eyeballs​. They added that matches of the women’s team were considered to be in the top 15 highest rated programmes according to Kantar, with the match against India the highest rated during its live broadcast.

Justify the investment

The alignment of corporate and brand purpose can justify any underdog investment.

With the Cadbury brand’s purpose anchored in generosity, the investments into women’s cricket aligned with the core messaging. As a first mover, the Cadbury team sought to test a thesis that sponsors of women’s sports teams see better returns on their investments than sponsors of men’s sports teams.

“Women’s sports need help with media visibility, athlete development, fan engagement, and collaboration opportunities,” explains Gohar Syed, marketing lead Pakistan at Mondelēz International. “Our goal is to help bridge this gap, creating lasting impact through thoughtful partnerships that look toward the future. While we’re committed to creating a positive impact on the world through business performance, we are thoughtful about our stakeholder partnerships, focusing on being where the world will be rather than where it is.” 

And while that may be true, the real question is justifying this investment while TV ratings were low and the players themselves hadn’t organically developed a fanbase.

“It is the company’s culture that empowers and values experimentation,” said Syed. “The Mondelēz marketing ecosystem was convinced from day one that we did not want to own the platform by conventional means of wallpaper marketing and instead find unaddressed sizeable cracks, where we could make a difference, and which fit with our point of view.”

Likeminded brand marketer’s can learn from this example and ask themselves how they can be distinctive as sponsors of women’s sport and what they would do with that partnership that others couldn’t do. 

This can apply to improving the talent supply chain from an early age, developing arenas where athletes can showcase their skills, donating to training camps, aligning with channels that provide women’s sports with media coverage, and working to lift broadcast rights fees.

“The undeniable reality is that women's sports in Pakistan encounter significant societal and cultural barriers, which result in limited opportunities for female athletes to develop and compete at elite levels,” said Syed. “This stigma not only hinders participation but also perpetuates a lack of representation and resources. 

Syed said that Cadbury’s investment in women's sports reflects the brands’ long-term commitment to the future of Pakistan, adding that empowering female athletes can transform individual lives and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society. 

“This approach aligns with our brand values and taps into the growing demand for women's sports content,” he said. “By taking the lead in this effort, we are positioned to gain brand benefits while making a lasting impact on Pakistan's sporting landscape.”

Speaking to the quantifiable returns on investments over the past 15 months, Syed shared that Cadbury has partnered with the PCB to launch campaigns that highlight women in athletic roles, inspiring girls from kindergarten to professional stadiums.

“By showcasing empowered female athletes, we enable audiences to envision themselves as future champions,” he said. “We understand that popular culture significantly influences gender roles and the realisation of dreams through inclusive representation. Real-life stories of girls and women inspired by our campaigns illustrate the tangible impact of our initiatives.”

The campaign stakeholders across Cadbury, Ogilvy, and Starcom are committed to maintaining this momentum, nurturing a culture that celebrates and makes female athleticism accessible to all.

“We are already seeing an increase in believability and positive numbers, but we are also measuring our impact through metrics such as website visits, the number of entries received, and the girls who ultimately advance to the under-19 tournament.”

CIPR member Babar Khan Javed is the chief communications officer at Z2C Limited, a seed-funding venture accelerator that backs technology companies.