RALLY YOUR FEMALE FANS

By Angela Kryhul

Engaging Your Female Fans

2024 marked a turning point for women’s sports. As the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) made headlines, organizations leveraged data-driven insights to engage female fans through targeted social media campaigns and strategic partnerships with brands that resonate with women and girls. We spoke to executives with PWHL and Golf Canada about key strategies for building strong connections with their female audiences.

She Plays Golf, Calgary
*^{Photo: Golf Canada}*

GOLF CANADA: SHE PLAYS GOLF

Piloted in Calgary in 2023, the She Plays Golf initiative expanded to Vancouver and Toronto in 2024. She Plays Golf engages women and girls with golf in welcoming, inclusive and judgment-free environments. Laura Wilson, director of Inclusion Programs and Safe Sport at Golf Canada, shares the strategies driving the program.

The Challenge

“We looked at our participation pathway [for golf], from awareness and first involvement right through to high performance, and we realized that there are gaps that make it difficult for women to transition along that pathway. We looked at what types of activations we could create to keep women and girls engaged and moving along the pathway.”

Data-driven Strategies

“We put at least a year’s worth of research into building the program. We learned from the experiences of other organizations. We also engaged with Canadian Women in Sport as a resource because they have much of the data we’re looking for as to why women will engage in sport and the psychosocial factors that need to be at play to help us increase that engagement.”

Target: Aspiring Professionals

“On the high performance side, we’re looking for women who are currently competing in golf or aspire to the LPGA Tour. The Championship Series was designed to create more opportunities, here in Canada, for aspiring professionals to compete against other top talent. During the Series, five women earned an exemption into the CPKC Women’s Open.”

Target: Newbies

“We also targeted women and girls who are active and may currently be participating in other sports. We presented golf as an opportunity to learn a new sports skill and hopefully fall in love with the game. Our Learn to Scramble activity was a positive way to help transition women onto the golf course. We had volunteers stationed at every tee who offered golf advice, etiquette rules and help with club selection.”

Golf as a Networking Tool

“We created leadership networking events centred around golf. RBC’s Women’s Leadership Networking Series featured panel discussions followed by informal networking centred around golf activities where instructors offered tips and tricks.”

Accessible to All

“We kept the cost of our Try Golf session affordable at $25 or $30. That included two hours of instruction, all the equipment and the opportunity to socialize afterwards. We hosted at public facilities that already have ongoing programs for women and girls so that our participants could transition into those programs.”

Strategic Partnerships

“We wanted to engage community partners who talk about the positive benefits of sport participation. We aligned with Fast and Female as well as Girls in Sports Canada. For the Junior Girls sessions, we created four activity stations: putting, chipping, full swing and a facilitated discussion on building confidence.”

SHE PLAYS GOLF 2024
Calgary, Greater Vancouver Area and the Greater Toronto Area
23 events at 18 golf facilities

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
70 participants

SHE PLAYS GOLF FESTIVAL
580+ participants
89 women coaches & volunteers

HOW TO BUILD A FEMALE FAN BASE

• Don’t reinvent the wheel. Utilize resources that already exist and learn from others that are working to build their own female fandom.
• Develop meaningful partnerships with women leaders, sponsors and like-minded community organizations.
• There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to fan engagement. Build your strategies around data insights from your particular fan base.
• Create safe, welcoming, fun and inclusive environments where women feel like they belong in the sport.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S HOCKEY LEAGUE

The PWHL’s inaugural season was a resounding success. The league’s six franchises—Ottawa Charge, Montreal Victoire, Toronto Sceptres, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens—captivated audiences across North America. Amy Scheer, senior vice-president of business operations, and Kanan Bhatt-Shah, vice-president of brand and marketing, discuss how key lessons from the league’s first season will shape PWHL strategies for an even stronger 2025 season.

Psychographics Over Demographics

Amy Scheer: We just hired a director of business intelligence and analytics, so we are starting to dive into some of those insights. A lot of people want demographic information, but when you go out and talk to fans, it’s really the psychographic information that is much more important, especially if you’re looking to build a female audience. Women always have so much going on in their lives, so it’s really important to understand the reasons why women want to attend your games and be fans of your sport.

Telling Their Own Stories

Amy Scheer: Mainstream media really has not covered women’s sports nearly as much as they should, and so women athletes and their leagues have had to take matters into their own hands. It’s why you have websites like Togethxr, The Gist and Just Women’s Sports, because women have had to be leaders in storytelling in order for our sports to grow and our athletes to build their profiles.

Kanan Bhatt-Shah: We’re constantly monitoring what type of content is driving the greatest engagement. We’re finding that authenticity and access to our players is something that our fans are excited about, both during the season and off season.

MERCHANDISE STRATEGIES

During 2024, Mattel Inc’s Barbie and PWHL partnered to create a special collection of apparel and accessories for both adults and youth that includes totes, tumblers and shirts featuring slogans like “Dream It Do It” and “Crushin’ Limits.”