In episode 212 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Charlene Polite Corley, the Vice President of Inclusive Insights at Nielsen.

Charlene joins the podcast to break down Nielsen’s new report, “More Fans, More Often: The Commercial & Cultural Evolution of Women & Sports” – which offers one of the clearest pictures yet of the scale, value and growth potential of the women’s sports audience.

The data is significant: Approximately 122.5 million Americans are fans of women’s sports, while U.S. audiences watched 28.3 billion minutes of women’s sports in just the first half of 2026. (Which by the way, is trending AHEAD of the 46 billion minutes watched in all of 2025.👀)

The data makes one thing increasingly clear: There is a massive audience for women’s sports, which means there is a massive business opportunity in serving those fans more often.

In this episode, hear about:

• 📈 Why women’s sports viewership has increased 71% since 2022 – and what’s driving that growth.
• 👀 How greater distribution and discoverability can help turn interest in women’s sports into more consistent fandom.
• 👩 Why women aren’t just driving the growth of women’s sports – they’re driving the growth of sports, period.

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• Follow GOALS on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goals-sports

In episode 211 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Rachel Axon, Women’s Sports and Olympics & Paralympics Reporter at Sports Business Journal.

After 20 years as a sports journalist and covering seven Olympic Games, Rachel is now helping lead SBJ’s expanded investment in women’s sports coverage.

In 2025, Sports Business Journal launched a dedicated women’s sports vertical – including a biweekly newsletter led by Rachel, a regular magazine column, SBJ Live conversations and expanded coverage across the newsroom.

In this episode, hear about:

• 📰 Why SBJ decided it was time to make a bigger, more formal investment in covering women’s sports
• 📈 How the stories being told about women’s sports have evolved as the business itself has grown
• 👀 What more than a year of dedicated coverage has revealed about what the sports industry wants to know about women’s sports

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• Follow GOALS on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goals-sports

In episode 210 of 🎙️The Business Case For Women’s Sports, presented by Ally, Caroline sits down with Jess Smith, President of the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries.

The Golden State Valkyries have sold out every home game, built one of the most passionate fan bases in sports, and become the first women’s sports franchise valued at $1 billion. 🏀📈

Jess first joined the podcast in 2023 while helping build Angel City FC. Now, she’s back to talk about how she took lessons from building one groundbreaking women’s sports franchise and applied them to another.

In just two seasons, the Valkyries have sold out every home game, surpassed 12,000 season ticket holders, reached the playoffs twice, and become the first women’s sports franchise valued at $1 billion.

In this episode, hear about:

• 🏀 How the Valkyries built a distinct brand and passionate fan community from the ground up
• 📈 Why driving revenue and building fandom have been the organization’s two biggest priorities from day one
• 💰 What has to happen behind the scenes to build a women’s sports business worthy of a $1 billion valuation

As Jess explains, the business case for investing in women’s sports can be summarized in just two words: “It works.

More from GOALS

• Follow GOALS on Threads: @goals_sports_
• Follow GOALS on Instagram: @goals_sports_
• Follow GOALS on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goals-sports