Women have become pro football’s “LVII” most important fan base.
- Female NFL viewership overall is up 26 percent, compared to an 18 percent rise for men.
- On the most recent Superbowl Sunday LVII, female viewership rose 15 percent, compared to a rise of 10 percent for men.
- There has been a 25 percent increase in Sunday Night Football viewing by women, compared to 10 percent by men.
- Women also make up 20 percent of fantasy-football players.
The league saw women as crucial to profitable lines of licensed merchandise. Women make or influence 85 percent of disposable-income purchasing decisions for the NFL.
According to Nielsen, recent Super Bowls have logged higher female viewership than the Oscars, Grammy’s and Emmys combined. Super Bowl XLVIII, during which advertisers paid $4 million for 30 seconds of air time, was the most-watched TV program for women this year, with 45 million female viewers.
“Sunday Night Football” ranked first among women ages 18 to 49 for the first time last season, and Fox said its female football viewing audience had hit a record high. Women, and the companies who depend on them, helped NFL revenue top a record $9.5 billion last year, and Nielsen data shows women have grown to represent more than a third of the league’s average viewership.
Women and girls made up 46% of the NFL fanbase (ages 8-plus) in the U.S., amounting to 84 million female fans in 2021, according to data from last year’s SSRS Sports Poll. The gender balance is similar among the next generation of fans, with 45% of the NFL’s fanbase under age 35 being women and girls. Also, 56% of women and girls ages 8-plus in the U.S. are fans of the NFL, making the NFL the No. 1 league among this demographic.
They’re not just watching. They’re playing, too. Football participation among girls has grown, In high schools, 24% more girls are playing football — tackle and flag — now compared to 2014-15.
Keeping these women spending has become a chief goal of the NFL expanded merchandising and sponsored spreads in women’s magazines. Women make up an estimated 45 percent of the NFL’s more than 150 million American fans and have become perhaps pro football’s most valuable players. Female fans, loved by advertisers, represent the league’s biggest opportunity for growth.
The NFL “can’t afford to lose their female fan base
