BusinessTN

Action Sports Media has made a full court press into collegiate women’s sports marketing—a source of revenue the company says is largely untapped by today’s standards. Although the company’s decision to relocate to Knoxville last year and its new focus on promoting women’s athletics are mutually exclusive, having basketball coaching great Pat Summitt and the U.T. Lady Vols’ machine nearby will certainly lend credibility to the sales pitch. New president and CEO, Gordon D. Whitener, purchased Action Sports and moved its headquarters from Portland, Ore., to be closer to its major university partners. The firm specializes in venue signage and Jumbotron content.

Corporate sponsorships in collegiate sports mean big business. Lady Vols basketball, for instance, has pulled in about $500,000 in net revenues each year over the past three years and can captivate as many as 14,000 fans at higher profile games.

Increased enthusiasm for women’s sports has opened avenues for non-traditional, product-specific marketing (such as jewelry or cosmetics) for companies that wouldn’t typically advertise at sporting events. This opportunity could entice new entrants to grab a piece of the $27.5 billion collegiate sports industry.

“Men’s sports have great attendance, but they’ve kind of tapped out. There’s limited room for growth,” says Melissa Wingate, Action Sports’ new director of women’s sports marketing. “It’s hard to put a revenue number on (the women’s sports potential) because it’s really digging in new ground.”

Looking across the NCAA, the women’s sports fan base may be smaller than the larger men’s events, but the demographics are more defined.

“The people who are fans notice who sponsors the programs. The women’s basketball fan [is] more family-oriented, a little bit higher income and higher age group,” says Joan Cronan, U.T. Lady Vols Athletic Director.

Arguably, not all big conference programs have women’s basketball teams with a Big Orange-sized following. Action Sports has identified its current university partners’ most promising women’s teams and is working to link those with potential sponsors with the best marketing fit.

“We are surrounded by great programs like volleyball, softball, soccer and track, along with basketball, which made it to the Final Four in 2005,” says Lady Vols’ marketing head, Jimmy Delaney. “We say, ‘Give us a product we can sell,’ and they do. We’re spoiled, but we’re fortunate.”

Maybe Action Sports’ initiative will unearth the next women’s sports marketing machine.