Wouldn’t it be great to see our female athletes as the inspiration for more girls — and boys, for that matter — to play sport and dream of becoming the next generation of stars?
What we see today is still a huge visibility gap for female athletes, especially when it comes to sponsorship and brand exposure. Don’t get me wrong, there has been progress, but the big brand dollars still overwhelmingly go to male athletes. And that matters, because it shapes how young girls see themselves. As the saying goes, kids can’t be what they can’t see.
Growing up in a cricket-loving family, I was no different. I didn’t have posters of the Backstreet Boys or Jonathan Taylor Thomas on my walls – mine were Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting. But there were no female players. One could argue that Belinda Clark and Zoe Goss were just as worthy, but they weren’t visible to me, only on rare occasions. Playing cricket wasn’t really an option until high school, and even then, there was no clear pathway like there is now.
And it’s not just cricket. We see the same pattern across AFL, rugby and soccer. Female athletes are performing at world-class levels, yet we rarely see them front and centre in major brand campaigns. Our kids can’t be what they can’t see, and too often, they still don’t see women represented equally in sport.
The sponsorship divide
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Having worked across both commercial partnerships and grassroots participation, I’ve seen the full spectrum of how visibility – or lack thereof – plays out. Even in a sport like cricket, where both national men’s and women’s teams are celebrated, the marketability still leans heavily toward the men.
Of course, there are complex factors at play: player agreements, scheduling, and media coverage all influence sponsorship decisions. But too often, the default preference remains with male athletes. Despite the success and global recognition of our women’s team, brands still hesitate to build major campaigns around female athletes.
There are exceptions, such as Nike’s ‘Dream Crazier’ (see below) and ‘Like a Girl’ campaigns, or Serena Williams’ enduring brand power, but they stand out because they are still the exception, not the norm. When brands lead with women, it does more than sell a product. It sends a message: that women’s sport is powerful, marketable, and worth investing in.
If girls can see girls represented – not just on the field, but on billboards, in ads, and in sponsorship activations – the pathway becomes stronger. The sport becomes stronger.
Building confidence at the grassroots
Engaging girls in sport can be difficult. Encouraging competitiveness in young girls isn’t always celebrated the same way it is in boys, and that’s a cultural challenge as much as a sporting one.
Through my experience leading national and community-level programmes, I’ve seen that girls thrive when the environment is supportive and safe, when it’s okay to fail, okay to have fun, and okay to want to win. Role models are essential, whether they’re running the programme, coaching, or simply cheering from the sidelines.
Parental involvement plays a big role too. When parents are engaged and present, it builds familiarity and comfort, which translates into confidence. But the real turning point happens when girls can connect what they’re doing on the local field to the women they see on the world stage.
That’s where the sponsorship piece becomes critical. Because unless you’re looking for it, the link between commercial partnerships and female athletes is still few and far between. Visibility creates aspiration, and aspiration drives participation.
Investment that inspires
Brand investment doesn’t just drive visibility – it underpins the entire pathway for girls in sport.
We’ve seen this firsthand with the CommBank Matildas. Significant investment into the women’s soccer programme didn’t just elevate the team – it transformed participation numbers. Following the Matildas’ incredible 2023 World Cup campaign, there was a 16 per cent increase in women and girls’ soccer participation in Australia, reaching over 158,000 players.
Cricket provides another strong example. Commonwealth Bank’s 30-year partnership with Cricket Australia was instrumental in funding girls-only programmes and elevating the women’s team’s visibility. The impact was tangible. The most recent cricket census showed that female participation continues to rise, driven by the inspiring role models of the Australian women’s team and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
These examples prove the virtuous cycle: more participation creates more elite athletes. More elite athletes create more visible role models. More visible role models attract more sponsorship, which leads right back to grassroots participation.
CommBank’s investment in the Matildas has contributed to a growth in women and girls’ soccer participation in Australia (Image credit: Getty Images)
Closing the visibility gap
Progress has been made, but visibility remains one of the biggest barriers to equality in sport. Representation is not just about fairness, it’s about sustainability.
When brands invest in women, they don’t just help individual athletes, they help build a future where girls can see themselves in the game. A future where participation at the grassroots level is driven by inspiration, and where women’s sport stands on equal footing – on the field, on screens, and on billboards.
Because our kids can’t be what they can’t see. And it’s time we make sure they can.
Tahnee Bungey is part of SportsPro’s NEW ERA class of 2024/25. To learn more about the programme, click here.
