While women’s sports have not always garnered the national and international attention they deserve, recent years have seen an intense increase in viewership and a growing fan base due in part to brands, sponsors and broadcasters increasing investment in and prioritization of women’s sports. 

As a result, women’s sports have become a true economic engine both at home and abroad:

• The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup generated over AUS$1.32 billion for the host nations Australia and New Zealand, equating to roughly USD$800 million over 31 days of competition. 
• According to a 2024 study on brand earnings by the Women’s National Basketball Association (WBNA) partnerships, the league generated more than $136 million in media value during the 2023 season, bringing on new sponsors including Delta Air Lines, Bumble and New Balance. 
• The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics boasted a complete gender parity, marking the first time the games have ever had an equal number of men and women in the competition. This follows the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, where the Women’s Sports Foundation reported the games’ movement toward parity. Nearly 45% of participants were women–a figure up from 41% in 2018. 
• The 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four hosted in Cleveland, Ohio generated nearly $33 million in direct consumer spending to the metro area, and the Iowa-South Carolina game peaked at 24.1 million viewers making it the most-watched basketball game at any level since 2019. 

Heartland geographies want a piece of the worldwide phenomenon and are expending significant efforts to bring the economic power of women’s sports to their communities. 

Minneapolis Goes for Gold

Earlier this March, Meet Minneapolis unveiled its 10-year tourism plan titled “Destination Minneapolis” which includes a goal of establishing itself as the #1 city for women’s sports to drive economic development. Due to three recent successes, and the strategies that led to them, they just might accomplish that goal. 

1. Ambitious Investment in Franchises: The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) expanded to Minnesota in 1999, when the Lynx joined at a time of relative uncertainty for its financial future. The investment looks to be improving, as the Lynx are among the most successful franchises in the league on the court thus generating economic impact in the community. In 2024, the Lynx advanced to the WNBA finals, which had the power to generate as much as $18 million for their city over the 30 day playoffs. 
2. Establishment of Independent Commissions: Minnesota Sport and Events (MNSE) is an independent 501c6 working to identify opportunities to bring large-scale sporting events to the state. MNSE secured the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Conference Tournament for Minneapolis, which sold out for the first time in the tournament’s history. Commissions, like MNSE, are a critical resource and a strategic tool that can be leveraged to bring economically boosting sporting events to heartland states. 
3. Public Investment in Large-Scale Events: In preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, MNSE also secured Minneapolis the 2024 Olympic Trials for USA Gymnastics thanks in part to state funding. The trials generated an estimated $45 million in economic impact for the city over just four days of competition. MNSE has its sights set even higher than Olympic trials, as they are positioning Minneapolis to make serious bids to host portions of major international tournaments, such as the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup–both being held across the United States and Mexico. They have already begun working with the state, and with state funding, they can make the bids a reality. 

Minneapolis’ ambitious private investment into local teams, the independent establishment of MNSE and the state government’s partnership and funding of MNSE have positioned the city to set a realistic goal to be the #1 city for women’s sports. Their strategies can be mirrored in cities and states throughout the heartland to allow other geographies to enjoy similar positive economic impacts. 

Motor City Investors are Driven for WBNA, PWHL Teams

The WNBA and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) are looking to expand their number of teams, and Detroit has demonstrated interest in hosting new teams in each league. A potential ownership group led by the NBA’s Detroit Pistons’ owner Tom Gores announced their bid to bring WNBA basketball to Detroit: 

“This is an exciting opportunity to welcome the WNBA back to Detroit and bring additional investment and economic activity into the city,” –Tom Gores on behalf of the ownership group

The group aims to bring back the Detroit Shock (a former Motor City WNBA team), and leaders in the basketball world seem to like their chances of doing so, as National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner Adam Silver told the Sporting News: “I actually think it’s really just a question of when the Shock comes back.”

Detroit loves its basketball, but they don’t call it “Hockeytown” for no reason, and the PWHL Takeover Tour offered the perfect opportunity for them to remind the sports world of their nickname. The PWHL Takeover Tour is a series of nine games in cities across North America aimed at spreading the word about the league. At the tour’s first stop in Detroit, Detroiters broke the league’s record for highest attendance, with 14,108 fans attending the game. When the same tour took its second stop in Detroit, 14,288 Detroiters broke the record again.

The Gores group’s official bid for a WNBA expansion team and the record-breaking attendance numbers during Detroit’s legs of the PWHL Takeover Tour demonstrate a golden opportunity for Detroit to take the next step in investing in women’s sports. Ambitious investment into expansion can further increase interest in women’s sports, and soon Detroit can leverage this interest to seek out funding for larger procurement down the line through independent organization and government collaboration–much like Minneapolis and MNSE.

State Government Recruiting Women’s Teams to the Sooner State

Oklahoma, a state utilizing state-sanctioned tax credits to bid for men’s professional sports franchises, is working to include the WNBA and other women’s sports leagues in the policy through new legislation. 

State governments can have an outsized impact on whether or not their cities come to host professional sports franchises. If Oklahoma were to pass this new legislation, the state government would signal its intent to advance the women’s sports industry and capitalize on its economic power. If this initiative is successful, other states may seek to pursue similar options as public interest in women’s sports continues to grow.

Investing in Women’s Sports is a Slam Dunk

Deloitte estimated that women’s professional sports would earn $1 billion in total revenue in 2024, setting a new record in their yearly estimations. Yet even the record-breaking estimate came in low, as their follow-up research reported $1.88 billion in 2024 revenue (as well as an estimated $2.3 billion set to come in for 2025). 

Heartland geographies are beginning to capitalize on the economic engine that is women’s sports, and with an estimated $2.3 billion in potential revenue, it looks like a smart investment. Heartland geographies can capitalize on the multi-billion dollar market through ambitious investment and strategic public-private partnerships. Keep an eye out for how the heartland moves to enact these strategies going forward and pave the way for the massive economic impact that comes with women’s sports.