SBJ Game Changers Conference
By Allie Crone, Vice President at TurnkeyZRG
There were several common themes that ran through the SBJ Game Changers Conference at MetLife Stadium. First was that brands and individuals are investing in women’s sports more and more, not because it is the “right” thing to do but because it results in a positive ROI and, potentially more lucrative, it is an investment on the power of women’s sports in the short-term future. Values of women’s sports teams have increased recently and are expected to continue to rise significantly. UEFA women’s teams are expected to have a 6x value increase by 2030. Brands are also now recognizing that they can’t copycat what is done on the men’s side to the women’s side. Audiences and fandom are different, so brands must show up differently.
To do this, we need to get more women into leadership positions at brands who can make these decisions. Women are still drastically underrepresented in leadership position with only 1 in 4 C-suite executives being a woman and women are now, more than ever, leaving companies at higher rates. Brands and properties must take deliberate steps to hire and retain more women, so we continue to see an investment in women’s sports.
A second common theme was the power of non-official content to drive reach and engagement among women’s sports. Most of the video uploads on social media for women’s sporting events were beyond the official team or brand channels. This second screen exposure is driving more people to linear, and vice versa, linear is driving fans to social/digital channels. They have to work in partnership and organic, fan-generated content must be promoted to reach more fans. However, none of this is possible unless women’s sports get more media exposure to show more women’s games, more consistently and on primetime spots. People want to watch women’s sports.
Congratulations to the 2022 Game Changers Honorees!
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ABOUT TURNKEYZRG
Founded in 1996, TurnkeyZRG is a highly specialized talent recruitment/executive search firm filling C-level, senior-level and mid-management level positions throughout sports, entertainment and media. Over the past 25 years, TurnkeyZRG has filled more than 1,400 positions throughout sports, entertainment and media. TurnkeyZRG helps teams, leagues, stadiums, arenas, theaters, college athletic departments, events, sponsors, agencies, media companies, private equity companies and other clients identify, recruit and hire the very best management talent. Turnkey now benefits from ZRG’s global footprint, full array of industry practice groups, data-driven, analytical search tools, and technology investment in changing the way executive search/talent recruiting is done. TurnkeyZRG becomes a tech-enabled disrupter of the prior executive search model. For more information about TurnkeyZRG, visit www.turnkeyzrg.com.