IMPORTANT MEDIA FINDS post Women’s World Cup
25.4 Million Viewers Watch FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 on FOX – TV BY THE NUMBERS
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The USA’s emphatic 5-2 victory over Japan in the FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ final, America’s first Women’s World Cup championship since 1999, is the most- watched soccer match in U.S. history, according to Nielsen. The match posted a prodigious 12.9 household rating/share with 25.4 million viewers, and peaked at 30.9 million between 8:30-8:45 PM ET.
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GOAAALL! USA-Germany Women’s World Cup Match Is The Most-Watched Semi-Finals, Ever – FORBES
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Interest in the FIFA Women’s World Cup continues to climb to unprecedented heights in terms of viewership in the United States.
Last night’s semi-finals match from Montreal that featured the U.S. Women’s National Team shutout Germany 2-0 saw an average audience of 8.4 million viewers on FOX, according to fast nationals issued today by Nielsen. It sets a new U.S. viewership record as the most-watched semi-finals match, ever. The 8.4 million viewers is a 47 percent increase over the most recent record set June 26 for the USA-China quarterfinal match that saw an average viewership audience of 5.7 million.
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Women’s Sports & Why Such Low Viewership — espnw
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Given such circumstances, as well as the enormous amount of literal and figurative capital that has been, and continues to be, invested in men’s vs. women’s sports, is it any wonder that men’s sports are more popular? Yet by repeatedly making gender comparisons based on TV and attendance ratings, while simultaneously ignoring historical realities, we end up with what is really an apples-to-oranges comparison, simply because men have long held an enormous time advantage.
Put another way, comparing media coverage given to women’s and men’s sports based on overall popularity is like comparing a tech start-up to Apple. (We should note that Apple, too, began as a small start-up and only took off after a large infusion of capital from a millionaire investor. Imagine how much interest in women’s sports could be generated with a similar infusion of capital.)
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It’s time for athletic brands to close the gap on endorsement deals for female athletes – QUARTZ
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Globally, women control more than $29 trillion in buying power and make 64% of purchase decisions for their households. At the same time, female athletes are drawing bigger audiences than ever. The women’s World Cup final reached at least 20 million viewers in the US, making it the most-watched soccer event in US television history and giving it more watchers than the NBA and Stanley Cup finals.
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Women’s Sport – Don’t Get Left Behind – by Bill Cooper
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This is not a debate any more. Women’s sport, given the requisite resources to be presented to its potential, has the power to entertain, influence and engage like any other entertainment medium and in doing so can advance a wide variety of important commercial and marketing objectives that no other medium can. …
My daughters are watching, texting and sharing and their heroes are Erin Macleod, Christine Sinclair, Rhian Wilkinson, Karina Leblanc and Diana Matheson. So if you want to lay claim to some of their allowance now, and pay cheques of the future, you’d best start speaking their language.
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FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 ignites hope for female athletes in Ukraine – by KYIVPOST
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Taisiia Artyushenko, manager of the women’s Amateur Football Club NRG, says, “In Ukraine there are no opportunities for girls to start playing at a young age, unless you go to a specialized sports school or play with boys in the yard. When you are older, there is nothing for you. Our government does not think about sports for women over 20.”
… “In the last two years I have seen changes for the better,” says Didych. “However, I know many people working purely out of enthusiasm, without help or financial support. We need to plan a good program for the development of women’s football in Ukraine.”
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“Carrie Serwetnyk: For their own goal – IN The Vancouver Sun”
“We wanted to be a part of the World Cup, it’s in our own back yard and no one has ever contacted us to make us feel included. We gave so much for our country. We know that Canadians would care if they knew – our history matters.”