A multi university in-depth survey that asked hundreds of early professionals and students about their experiences entering into the sports business industry. Seeking to understand how to better serve underrepresented individuals and communities in the industry, we set out to articulate where mistreatment and inaccessible resources play a role with the hopes of providing tangible solutions to our next generation of sport leaders.

In partnership with the Impulse Network out of St. Gallen University in Switzerland, The Collective Think Tank carried out proprietary research to uncover the drivers for the unprecedented growth that women’s football is seeing in Europe. A custom survey was done across seven European markets to identify the latest trends and key findings.

A custom, US-wide survey distributed to an 18-40 age group of 300 participants. This was followed by interviews to further understand their consumption, behavior and preferences regarding women’s soccer as well as to identify the differentiators between Olympic, USWNT and NWSL fandom. This study was done with Suffolk University and The North Carolina Courage.

In two different papers in partnership with Ryerson University, we set out to understand why, if there was an uptick in viewership, sponsorship and attendance surrounding women’s sports, there was a historic dearth of merchandise and apparel. Studying scholarly journals, industry reports and other publications, a group put together a qualitative rationale for how retailers can future-proof the rise of women’s sports and the changing fan base (Gen Z).

NANCY LOUGH | 11.2.2020

Even after record-setting successes in 2019, speculation on the future of women’s sport has continued. Presumably, concern for the future of women’s sport is based on the challenges surrounding the 2020 pandemic.

Yet, the business case for women’s sport has been questioned for decades.

It’s time to wake up.

Perhaps the comparison to established mainstream men’s sport with years of tradition, marketing and media contributes to the doubt, or perhaps the mindset of the economic value offered by women’s sport has not been adequately communicated.

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NEFERTITI WALKER | 11.4.20

WNBA players have wrapped up this season, but their grind off the court continues.

As Nneka Ogwumike describes, “The reason why you see us engaging and leading the charge when it comes to social advocacy is because it is in our DNA.” Throughout the WNBA’s existence, sexism and racism have colluded in the erasure of women, particularly Black women, as leaders of the social justice movement in sport, despite the players' early, provocative and public campaigns against racism.

It is high time we give them their flowers, and in the words of Aeriel Powers, “put some respect” on their names.

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RISA F. ISARD AND DR. E. NICOLE MELTON | 5.24.21

he WNBA’s 25th season tipped off this month. The league says to “Count It” — so we did.

A’ja Wilson, the 2020 WNBA MVP who is Black, received half as much media coverage last season as Sabrina Ionescu, the first pick in the 2020 WNBA draft who played in just three games before a season-ending injury and who is white.

This is not an isolated occurrence. We counted every time each active WNBA player’s name was mentioned in more than 550 articles that ESPN, CBS Sports, and Sports Illustrated posted online over the course of the 2020 season. We controlled for points and rebounds and found that across the league, Black WNBA players received significantly less coverage — seemingly because they’re Black. The box score: An average 52 media mentions for Black players, compared to 118 for white players.

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MUJDE YUKSEL | 7.29.22

The gender gap in physical activity is something researchers have studied for years. Women are often less likely to be physically active due to gender roles and responsibilities that command how they spend their free time (1).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, that gender gap in physical activity only intensified (2, 3).

As the pandemic wore on and digital fitness options became more readily available, both men and women began to participate more in physical activities. Yet, the rate at which women participate in these activities still lags far behind that of men (3).

According to a recent poll, more than half of women (55%) reported that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected their mental health, compared with about 4 in 10 men (38%) (4).

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