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Volleyball’s Spike Into the Spotlight
September 25, 2025 | Edition #33
Hey there!
Prime time TV and sponsor dollars? Men’s sports used to own them. Not anymore.
From WNBA sellouts to NWSL record deals, women’s sports are proving that fans show up, brands cash in, and networks tune in. The next wave? Sponsorships delivering outsized ROI and LOVB volleyball, aiming to make Wednesday nights a prime time habit.
This week, we dive into the brand gold rush fueling women’s sports and the TV battle for its next breakout star.
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Ever notice how Caitlin Clark, Coco Gauff, Jeeno Thitikul, and Simone Biles feel everywhere right now? That’s not just hype - that’s a cultural takeover.
The proof is everywhere:
🏀 WNBA: Sponsorship up 52% (2022-2024), now $76M across 531 deals.
⛳ LPGA: 1,200+ brand partnerships since 2019, delivering ~400% ROI.
🎾 WTA: Deals up 34% to 1,080 by 2024.
The numbers impress, but the real magic happens when stories turn into dollars.
The sponsorship effect
Fans don’t just watch; they share it, live it, and brands follow.
30% of fans think better of brands backing women’s sports (vs. 20% for men).
9.96M fans are more likely to buy a women's brand.
63% of young fans (18-34) notice sponsorship activations.
No surprise then: sponsorship in women’s sports is growing 50% faster than men’s leagues, with 86% of sponsors hitting or exceeding ROI.
And here’s the kicker: rights are still relatively cheap. The Women’s Super League pulled a £65M domestic TV deal with Sky Sports and the BBC. Compare that to the Premier League’s £1.6B per season, and women’s sports suddenly look like a bargain with massive upside.
But it wouldn't be possible without the athletes!
The athlete effect
The 2024 WNBA season was proof in motion. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Hannah Brink didn’t just play; they rewrote attention economics.
The ripple effect was immediate: WNBA viewership shot up 201%, NWSL ratings climbed 72%, and search traffic exploded. Even jersey patch ads were nearly $143K per game.
And it’s not just hoops. Tennis thrived, too:
📺 1.1B viewers tuned into the WTA in 2024.
📱 Social views surged +195%, with Instagram alone climbing 400%.
Athletes aren’t just competing; they’re driving brands, eyeballs, and whole economies. But even with momentum like this, growth still faces limits.
Momentum meets the hurdles
Growth is surging, but the biggest hurdle remains: scale.
Take sponsorships: the WNBA pulled in $76M in 2024, impressive, but the NBA’s media rights alone top ~$3.1B annually.
Media coverage still lags: women’s sports account for only 15% of total sports coverage. That’s triple what it was five years ago, but still far from equal.
Visibility gaps remain across sports:
Fragmented leagues and uneven ROI make sponsorship tricky.
Even so, women’s sports are accelerating faster than the industry can keep up, and that momentum is impossible to ignore.
The future of women’s sports
Even with these hurdles, the trajectory is unstoppable. Elite women’s sports are set to hit $2.35B in 2025. The NWSL pulled $75M, nearly matching the WNBA.
Rugby and soccer are packing stadiums, while TikTok and streaming fuel the fan base. North America drives 56% of revenue, but Europe and the Middle East are pouring into grassroots and facilities.
Women’s sports aren’t tiptoeing, they’re dunking into the spotlight. For brands, this isn’t goodwill; it’s ROI, culture, and growth you can measure. Miss this wave, and you don’t just lose the worm, you lose the trophy.
What Do Women’s Sports Need Most Right Now? |
For decades, prime time belonged to men’s sports. NFL on Sundays, NBA on weeknights, MLB in the summer. Women’s sports? Too often, benched.
But in 2025, the tide is shifting.
WNBA: locked a $200M-a-year media deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal.
NWSL: secured bigger slots on ESPN and ABC.
And now, volleyball wants its turn under the lights.
This fall, League One Volleyball (LOVB) signed a multi-year deal with Versant, with USA Network stepping in by January 2026. The prize? Wednesday night prime time.
If LOVB sticks the landing, volleyball could become the next big breakout in women’s sports.
LOVB’s unique playbook
LOVB isn’t a copycat league. Founded by Katlyn Gao, Peter Hirschmann, and Kevin Wong, it began as a youth network before jumping pro in 2025. Its model rests on three pillars:
Scale: 93 locations, 24,000+ athletes, 3,200+ coaches.
Athlete-first: $60K starting salaries, year-round benefits, and even equity stakes.
Lifestyle brand: backed by Adidas and Spanx, built for performance and culture.
The growth has been fast. ESPN tested LOVB with 10 prime-time matches in 2025. DAZN, Women’s Sports Network, and LOVB Live followed.
Investors? Billie Jean King, Kevin Durant, Lindsey Vonn, Jayson Tatum, and Candace Parker. Add $16.75M (Series A) and $35M (Series B) raised, and LOVB has everyone’s attention.
Everyone took notice in 2024
Volleyball Nations League (VNL) really heated up! The women’s finals in Thailand drew 38.4M viewers. Across the tournament, VNL pulled in a total audience of 268M, with peak viewership hitting 23.6M - making it China’s second-highest sports broadcast of 2024.
Fans weren’t just watching, they were engaging. The tournament racked up 23.3M social media interactions and 127M views on the Volleyball World website.
Think of the WNBA’s record-breaking 2024 season as a wake-up call:
A big part of this surge? The “Caitlin Clark effect.” Her 2.1M-viewer debut was the WNBA’s biggest cable game since 2002.
Like Clark, volleyball’s rise was driven by stars such as Paola Egonu, Loveth Omoruyi, and Kim Yeon-koung. Sure, the star power was undeniable, and networks took notice.
Why TV networks suddenly care
The numbers finally add up. Rights for women’s sports cost 30-50% less than men’s games, giving networks high ROI. Plus, the audiences are younger, median age 32 versus 39 for men’s sports, perfect for advertisers. And women’s sports bring fresh, compelling content to a crowded schedule.
The real kicker? Explosive growth came not just from leagues, but from new formats in 2024–2025. That’s where volleyball enters.
Networks saw the rise and bet that volleyball could be the next breakout. But success isn’t guaranteed.
Time for a timeout!
Volleyball is booming, but hurdles remain:
Three leagues: LOVB, PVF, and AU — all chasing the same spotlight.
Only 60–70% of matches air nationally, compared to 85–90% for top men’s leagues.
Overlapping seasons risk splitting audiences and killing peak ratings.
Women’s sports are growing faster, but without collaboration and smarter scheduling, fans could get lost.
And history warns: just being on TV doesn’t guarantee survival. MLB learned that in 2025 when ESPN walked away from its $550M/year deal because ad revenue couldn’t keep pace.
LOVB has what leagues dream of: star investors, athlete-first policies, and national TV slots. But the question isn’t whether volleyball can get on air, it’s whether it can stay there long enough to turn hype into habit.
Because in sports, the real win isn’t the first broadcast. It’s building a product; networks can’t afford to drop.
Visit our Think Tank Hub to explore insights, interviews, and more.
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In 2025, Wrigley Field secretly scanned millions of fans’ faces across 3 games 2025, and now they are facing major lawsuits over privacy.
Dallas Cowboys reach $13B in 2025, doubling since 2021, powered by stadium revenue, mega sponsorships, and Jerry Jones’ business strategy.
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