Grit, goals and glam: How beauty brands are making up for lost time and tapping into women’s sports

August 13, 2025

It would take four more years for the tipping point to come when women’s sports exploded commercially and culturally (record crowds, prime-time coverage, and the amplified visibility of social media), with more athletes glamming up before stepping onto the pitch. From a business standpoint, most beauty brands are still leaving a lucrative white space wide open. Genius Sports’ Sports Intelligence Unit found that roughly 67 percent of women’s sports fans actively support brands that back their favorite teams or athletes.

“The business opportunity is hiding in plain sight. Almost 50 percent of the global population is sports fans. Sixty-six percent of Americans are sports fans. Over 50 percent of U.S. women over 13 follow sports,” Kory Marchisotto, CMO of e.l.f. Beauty told The Athletic. yahoo!