Why Retailers Need To Prepare For The New Women’s Sports Consumer

June 1, 2026

The women’s sports industry is not reliant on converting existing sports fans. Instead, the industry is creating entirely new ones. That distinction may be one of the most important to acknowledge and embrace right now, and it was a thread running through many of the conversations during last month’s espnW Summit NYC.

A significant point of emphasis across Summit conversations is how industry leaders are focused on those mechanisms that can develop the culture and experiences of sport consumption specifically for women’s sports fans. Women’s sports are attracting new types of fans whose entry point to professional sport fandom is entirely reliant on the women’s game. As noted by Meghan Turner, General Manager of the Seattle Torrent, during the summit, roughly 60-80% of Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game attendees have never attended a live NHL game. Those statistics tell us that these fans represent a new wave of sport consumers and teams and leagues must determine how to design a product that sustains the growth of this new fandom. As noted by several of the speakers across the Summit, innovation across everything from facility design, to broadcast style, to in game experiences, to ticket pricing, to food and beverage options must be on the table. Forbes