Female Fans: Who Are They and What Do They Want?
by Ivette Ricco, President of Femmefan.com

Did you know that Sports Illustrated for Women has folded?
My guess is that you probably didn't notice, didn't care and didn't consider the magazine an important part of your reading habits.

I am often asked, "Who is the female sports fan, and what does she want?" I think I know the answer to that question; you're the avid and loyal woman who loves sports. She is smart, interesting, and lives life to the fullest. She is passionate about her sports and her team. But as a woman she has different values and a different perspective from her male counterpart.

The problem with the rest of the world, which includes the media, retailers and the sports industry, is that they think they know who and what you are. Clearly, they do not.

That's why SI for Women was a big flop.

According to a recent study by Scarborough Sports Marketing, "50 million women avidly follow professional sports."

"The study revealed that the National Football League (NFL) scored the most touchdowns among female adults 18+, with almost a third (31 percent) loyally following the NFL. Major League Baseball (MLB) also was a big hit, with 28 percent of loyal female fans. Other professional sports organizations that attract females include the NBA (19 percent), PGA (13 percent), NASCAR (13 percent) and the NHL (10 percent)."

"Women find the level of excitement and passion of sports just as exciting as men do and sports teams are now recognizing the power of the woman sports fan."

"Scoring more points in recent years is the WNBA."

I have always maintained that sports franchises and the sports industry as a whole is leaving millions of dollars on the table when they ignore the economic power of the female sports fan. The Scarborough Sports Marketing study bears this out.

"The study indicated that loyal female NHL fans are 34 percent more likely than the average women to be age 18-34; they are 23 percent more likely to be single, and 70 percent of loyal female NHL fans have purchased sports apparel in the past 12 months."

"The study indicated that female sports fans are active consumers of, and participants in, a variety of sports and entertainment activities."

"Female sports fans represent an untapped market that the sports industry should be targeting," noted Howard Goldberg, senior vice president, Scarborough Sports Marketing. "Now more than 50 million strong, loyal women sports fans represent enormous purchasing power."

"Scarborough Sports Marketing, Battle of the Sexes - Fifty Million Women Avidly Follow Professional Sports" December 4, 2002.

Recently Greg Wychinski of www.Sportsfanmagazine.com asked me to explain the demise of SI for women. He asked me why I felt the magazine failed, and whether there was a demand for a publication that covers professional sports from the female perspective.

My response is a resounding, "Yes" there is a demand for a sports publication from the female perspective, but let's understand what that means.

SI for Women was uninformative and in my opinion simply "fluff".
I read Sports Illustrated, ESPN the magazine, the Sporting News and follow the major sports stories on a daily basis. They keep me informed and provide clear and concise opinions and commentary. I also check Internet sports sites for the latest updates as well as commentaries.
SI for Women seemed to target women who enjoyed working out and keeping fit; not the avid sports fan. The magazine was a combination Health and Fitness, Weight Watchers, and Good Housekeeping with a little women's sports thrown in for good measure.

Sports fans, male or female want to know what's going on in the sports world. If you pick up a copy of Sports Illustrated I doubt you will see much in the way of beauty, fitness and health. So why should female sports fan be fed such pabulum?

I did a little research at Barnes and Noble. There were at minimum of 40-50 magazines in the "Sports" section. In addition to Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, and the Sporting News, there were magazines specific to various sports, biking, boating, fishing, golf, NASCAR, etc.
In the "Women's" section, the magazines were dominated by magazines specific to style, fitness, fashion, food, lifestyles, hair, weight, babies, and home. There was not one single magazine that compared to Sports Illustrated in sports-specific content.

Okay so it's a man's world, that's understood. What is not understood is that there are a growing number of female fans; fans with disposable income, college educations, varied interests and lifestyles. These fans want the same information SI and the other quality magazines provide, with a slightly different slant, we are also interested in knowing more about the person who is the athlete, the man who is the husband, the woman who waits for him after his season ends. We would like to know what his training regimen is like, and we wouldn't mind some photos of those incredible bodies. After all the guys get a swimsuit issue don't they? Thrown in some humor and you have a sure fire hit.

Somewhere out there in a place where marketing experts burn the midnight oil as they try to find ways to market low-carb beer (Michelob Ultra) any manner of malt beverage concoctions (Zima) and sports franchises with dwindling attendance (Cincinnati), out there where the Oprah and Rosie magazines of the world join SI for Women in an unflattering crash and burn there has to be a savvy female who knows a good thing when she sees it, and will publish Femmefan for all those loyal, passionate and avid female sports fans, roughly 50 million of them.