WSF CEO Danette Leighton’s Advice to Brands Investing in Women’s Sports: Strengthen the Pipeline to Maximize Impact
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Investment in women's sports is growing – and the momentum is real and long overdue.
But women's sports are not just a media moment. It is a system – one built across decades of youth participation, collegiate programs, coaching pathways, and advocacy infrastructure that fights for equality at every level, from the playground to the podium.
That system is what makes the elite product possible. And it is still far from complete.
For brands entering the space, the opportunity is not just where to show up – it is how to engage meaningfully across an ecosystem that is interconnected, still evolving, and in need of partners who understand that sustained investment at every level is what makes growth last.
Danette Leighton has sat on every side of the business.
She worked for the championship-winning Sacramento Monarchs and the NBA's Kings simultaneously.
She spent nearly 12 years as CMO of the Pac-12.
Now she leads the Women's Sports Foundation, the organization Billie Jean King founded in 1974 that has invested over $115 million to break down the barriers girls and women in sport continue to face, strengthening the system that supports today’s elite level.
Her read on the market: brands are concentrating spend at the most visible layer while the youth and collegiate pipeline below it faces mounting pressure. The elite product is downstream of everything underneath it. When the lower levels lose funding, the top loses talent.
Key Takeaways:
The most effective investments align across multiple levels of the ecosystem, not just the most visible ones.
Women’s sports are not one market. Geography, sport, and level all matter.
Long-term value comes from investing early and growing with athletes, communities, and fans over time.
Looking Beyond the Top Layer
The elite level of women’s sports is thriving, and it should be. It represents the highest level of competition and visibility.
But it is also the result of everything that comes before it.
From youth leagues to collegiate programs to nonprofit support, each layer plays a role in developing athletes, building fans, and shaping future leaders. Brands that understand this full system are better positioned to make investments that are both impactful and enduring.
Understanding How the Ecosystem Works
One of the biggest opportunities for brands is gaining clarity on how each level of women’s sports operates.
Each layer has its own structure, funding model, and decision-makers:
Professional leagues and teams: valuations, media rights, sponsorships, ticketing, etc.
Collegiate athletics: NCAA, multiple divisions, conferences, athletic departments, embedded in higher education, an ever-changing complicated economic model and system tied to the new world of NIL and so much more.
Youth and grassroots: community-based funding, local partnerships, and access-driven models
Nonprofits and foundations: organizations that help remove barriers and expand participation
“It is important to understand how each part of the ecosystem works,” Leighton said. “That is how you make sure your investment is going exactly where you want it to go.”
The Pipeline Requires Intentional Investment
Unlike many global sports systems, the U.S. does not operate under a centralized model. The pipeline is supported by a combination of schools, nonprofits, and community organizations.
It is a system that continues to deliver extraordinary results.
At the most recent Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Team USA won 33 medals, with women earning 22 of them. Eight of those medals were won by athletes who had received support from the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Travel & Training Fund, a program that has empowered over 1600 women athletes by providing financial support to cover critical costs that keep athletes in the game.
That kind of impact is not accidental. It is the result of sustained investment in the layers below the elite level.
At the same time, access gaps still exist. Girls continue to have significantly fewer opportunities to play sports than boys at the high school level, and collegiate Olympic sports are facing increasing financial pressure.
When investment at these levels becomes constrained, it can impact the long-term strength of the entire pipeline.
A Proven System Still Scaling
Leighton says brands should stop calling women’s sports an “emerging market.”
"Women's sports has been this 50-plus-year-old startup whose product has been ripening for decades, thanks to Title IX," she said. "It never got that initial investment — and yet the product at every level has kept growing, building, proving itself."
That framing matters for CMOs who need to defend the investment internally. The youth, collegiate, and elite levels have proven the product. Now the question is where to deploy capital.
It’s still an untapped opportunity for brands, Leighton says.
“If I were sitting on the CMO side of a brand, I would be investing in women's sports fast and furiously.”
Building Smarter, More Strategic Investments
The most effective brand strategies in women’s sports are intentional.
They consider:
Where to engage across the ecosystem
How each level operates
What success looks like, from both a business and community perspective
Leading brands are already demonstrating this approach, aligning marketing objectives with investments that expand access and opportunity.
That combination is what makes partnerships durable.
Leighton points to her time with the Sacramento Monarchs as an early example of brand loyalty from women’s sports consumers:
“As soon as we brought on a new partner, our fan base responded. They supported that brand, switched accounts, and showed up for both the team and its partners. It mirrored the loyalty you see in NASCAR.”
That level of connection is not built overnight. It comes from being part of the system, not just the moment.
The Long-Term Consumer Is Being Built Today
There is also a long-term business case.
The same pipeline that develops athletes also develops future leaders and decision-makers. 94% of women in the C-suite played sports. Over half competed at the collegiate level. Andrea Brimmer, CEO of Ally Financial, was a collegiate soccer player at Michigan State. Kate Johnson at Google was an Olympic rower. The IOC's first female president swam at Auburn.
That influence is now showing up across industries, including sports, as the first generations shaped by Title IX move into executive roles.
Investing in girls and women in sport today is also an investment in the future of the industry itself.
What’s Ahead and Where Opportunity Is Growing
Several factors will shape the next phase of growth:
1. LA 2028 Summer Games will be a visibility multiplier.
Major events will accelerate visibility and engagement, particularly in the U.S. Brands that invest earlier across the pipeline will have more authentic connections to those moments.
2. Continued growth across sports, including flag football.
Flag football has one the fastest-growing opportunities in the space, with participation expanding rapidly at the youth, high school and now college level and a relatively low barrier to entry.
For brands, it represents a chance to engage early in a sport that is still being defined, while also recognizing that similar opportunities exist across the broader girls and women’s sports ecosystem.
3. Pressure on the collegiate system.
Collegiate athletics, particularly Olympic sports, are navigating structural and financial changes. These programs play a critical role in developing both elite athletes and future leaders.
Sustained investment across this level will be essential to maintaining the strength of the pipeline.
The Opportunity for Brands
Women’s sports are growing across every level.
The brands that will see the greatest return are those that recognize the full system and invest with intention.
The opportunity is not just to participate in the moment, but to help shape what comes next.
