"When Laura Correnti took the stage at Marie Claire's Power Play summit in Philadelphia, she made one thing clear: Women's sports aren't just having a moment-they're building a movement. A longtime advertising executive and former partner at the award-winning agency Giant Spoon, Correnti built her career on creating big-impact campaigns before striking out on her own. In 2023, she founded Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment, a firm dedicated to driving commercial investment and visibility in women's sports."
"In 2019, there was a recognizable disconnect in the market following that year's FIFA Women's World Cup-the momentum and enthusiasm from fans and consumers following the U.S. women's national soccer team winning their fourth title (the same year players from that team would also win their equal pay lawsuit) exceeded the demand or interest from the advertising, media, and marketing industry. I wanted to understand why."
"Women's sports don't suffer from a product or storytelling issue; rather, the industry has been impeded by operating in systems not designed to support its growth. For example, women's sports have largely been transacted on and measured by the same key performance indicators in the advertising and media industry that men's sports have: reach and efficiency. To date, it's impossible for women's sports to thrive in this ad-supported model when game days have historically had little to no broadcast exposure-let alone prime-time positioning-to achieve comparable scale."
Women's sports are transitioning from a moment into a sustained movement through targeted commercial strategies. Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment launched in 2023 to drive commercial investment and visibility in women's sports. The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup generated fan momentum that outpaced advertising and marketing demand, revealing a market disconnect. The industry often applies men's-sports KPIs—reach and efficiency—to women's sports, limiting growth because game days historically lack broadcast exposure and prime-time placement. An ad-supported model constrained by limited scale prevents comparable returns. Structural changes to measurement, media placement, and investment practices are necessary for sustainable growth.
Read at Marie Claire
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