"Women's sports revenue is expected to hit a record-breaking $2.35 billion this year-a whopping 25% year-over-year increase, according to a 2025 Deloitte report. That stat alone shows how rapidly the women's sports industry is growing, but doesn't explain why. Alexis Ohanian, founding control owner of Angel City FC and Los Angeles Golf Club, and creator of professional women's track and field event series Athlos, said at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday that it's the result of an increase in team valuation investments."
"Investments in women's sports were historically "suppressed," said Ohanian, who is also a cofounder of Reddit. And although women's sports are "a ways from [being] overheated," we're starting to see it "whipsaw back quickly," with the rise in valuations and team revenues. Ohanian used the example of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which charged $110 million for a group in Denver-a record-breaking expansion fee. That shows how expansion fees are going up more than 100x over the course of just a few years, he said. "That sounds like a tech story," Ohanian said. "It's a women's sports story." Ohanian also predicted we'll see billion-dollar women's sports teams in the next five years. To put that in perspective, though, all NFL and NBA teams are valued at at least $5 billion, and the MLB has more than a dozen franchises worth more than $4 billion."
"While the stats and anecdotes suggest the growth of women's sports is "exponential," the industry is still a long way from getting overheated, Portia Archer, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, said at the Fortune Global Forum. Though Deloitte's report shows women's sports are projected to see a record-breaking $2.35 billion in revenue this year, that's not even 3% of the $80 billion in total for both men's and women's sports."
Women's sports revenue is projected to reach $2.35 billion this year, a 25% year-over-year increase. Rising team valuations and sharply higher expansion fees are fueling new investment and higher team revenues. Expansion fees have surged, illustrated by a $110 million NWSL Denver fee and more than 100x increases in some cases over a few years. Billion-dollar women's teams are possible within five years as valuations rise, but women's sports still account for less than 3% of the combined $80 billion men's and women's sports market, indicating substantial room for growth.
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