This year, for the first time ever, womenâs elite sports are expected to break the billion-dollar barrierâwith expected revenue of $1.28 billion for 2024, compared with $981 million for 2023. In sum, growth is looking good, according to a November report by Deloitte, which projects that womenâs football (soccer) will contribute the most to 2024âs revenue total (43%), followed by basketball (28%) and then tennis (5%), with many other sports making up the rest (23%).
But sport isnât just a business. Itâs also an inspiration for business because sports help shape norms. Shining floodlights on talented female athletes can help shift the conversation about gender, challenge stereotypes, and generate new images of strong role models. And, in fact, thereâs a clear correlation between women who have played or play sports and female leadership in society and the workforce more generally. According to an Ernst and Young and espnW study from 2020,âŻ80% of female Fortune 500 CEOs played sportsâŻin their formative years.âŻâŻ
Itâs no secret thatâŻplaying sports imparts key skillsâŻthat translate to the corporate world. From teamwork, learning from failure, resilience, and the ability to maintain forward- thinking to mental tenacityâŻconfidence and self-beliefâthese traits are hugely beneficial in any business.âŻ
Hereâs how managers can learn from women in sports to drive greater equity and inclusion:
Stilted by a ban on womenâs football in many countries for much of the 20th centuryâincluding in England (1921â1970), Brazil (1941â1979), and Germany (1955â1970)âthe 21st-century push for more equitable conditions illustrates that progress is not just individual, but collective. Be inspired by the example of female footballers teaming up to change the game.
Women in sports are agentic: they want to win, they train hard to win, and they are willing to demand fairer compensation and related benefits off the court or field. At the same time, women in sports share communal values by also showing how to nurture networks and push for equity.
Female former players are taking on leadership roles within sportsâ governance structures, working to improve matters from within and systemically. In business and society, advocating for equity also requires long-range tactics, including involvement in governance structures to address gender discrepancies in leadership and managerial roles.
Bringing in and showcasing colleagues with outside-the-box skills and non-traditional experiences can help promote a stronger, enriched team. Leadership skills come from many experiences in life, not only from educational degrees: they also emerge from experiences in sports.
Four lessons from womenâs football for advancing gender equalityÂ
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