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The sound is deafening.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s July 10 and Bell Centre stadium in Montreal is packed, with 20,996 fans on their feet screaming as the Toronto Tempo and Dallas Wings take to the court against a backdrop of indigo strobe lights and rock music.<\/p>\n
The crowd shattered the WNBA\u2019s regular-season attendance record for a single game, an extraordinary statistic given Montreal doesn\u2019t even have its own WNBA team.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long for an avalanche of posts on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cTough day for the \u2018No-one watches women\u2019s sports\u2019 crowd,\u201d one user cheekily proclaimed alongside footage of the roaring crowd.<\/p>\n
The records didn\u2019t stop there. Last week the WNBA announced the first round of the play-offs was the most-watched yet, with an average of 1.3 million viewers tuning in across the network over 10 days. Meanwhile, an analysis from Sports Business Journal found the WNBA drew a league-high record of 3.79 million fans to games in 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n The WNBA\u2019s skyrocketing popularity is the accumulation of what many people in women\u2019s sports spaces have been dreaming about for decades.<\/p>\n The league\u2019s record-breaking attendance, sold-out stadiums, in-demand merchandise, fan activations and superstar players have set the benchmark for what marketing in women\u2019s sports can do.<\/p>\n But what about here in Australia?<\/p>\n Dr Kasey Symons, a lecturer in sports media at Deakin University, says Australia has fallen behind the United States when it comes to creativity and innovation for marketing in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be generous to where we are in our sporting landscape in terms of resources, revenue, and support, but we are undoubtedly behind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not enough any more just to say, \u2018One day we\u2019ll get there\u2019. \u2018One day\u2019 is now, and we can take some examples from other sports to see what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve contacted athletes, player agents, content creators, academics and marketing experts to ask which women\u2019s sports in Australia are thriving in today\u2019s marketing landscape. More importantly \u2013 which ones need to catch up?<\/p>\n What\u2019s behind the WNBA\u2019s meteoric growth, and why isn\u2019t the WNBL as popular?<\/p>\n Not many have had a closer look at the WNBA\u2019s expansion than Australia\u2019s most-decorated basketballer, Lauren Jackson. Over more than a decade in the American league, Jackson won two championships, was crowned MVP three times and was a seven-time WNBA All-Star.<\/p>\n Now, as chief strategy and partnerships officer in Australia\u2019s WNBL (in which she also played, winning seven championships), Jackson has the task of trying to emulate domestically some of that success she\u2019s been privy to abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many moments that are contributing to us being here right now and in a position where we are starting to grow \u2013 we are getting eyeballs,\u201d Jackson said of the WNBL.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re able to start making a little bit of noise around the game and the global women\u2019s basketball movement is happening, and it\u2019s real. There\u2019s a lot of investment going into it. For us, it\u2019s about trying to capitalise on that, trying to grow with it, and [to] stay globally relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson said the way the WNBA is now marketing its players \u2013 where individual stars have become household names \u2013 has been a big contributor to its success.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first went into the WNBA, they made us not be ourselves, we weren\u2019t being marketed as ourselves, it was more what they thought society wanted to see,\u201d she said. \u201cWhereas, I think what\u2019s happened in the last 10 years or so is that you start to see way more authenticity. The athletes are stepping into their own power, and it\u2019s resonating with society.\u201d<\/p>\n Symons has a theory about why the US has been able to produce these cult-like figures, noting American sporting culture allows \u201cindividual personalities to shine and be themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in Australian sports we still have a bit of that tall-poppy syndrome, where individualism is a bit less celebrated, and we do like athletes to stay more humble.\u201d<\/p>\n Symons also praised the multipurpose marketing campaign implemented by the WNBA for fans across a diverse demographic, highlighting the impact of New York Liberty\u2019s famous mascot, Ellie the Elephant \u2013 who has dedicated fan pages and had appeared in Vogue.<\/p>\n The WNBA also attracts investors such as Serena Williams (part-owner of the Tempo), Tom Brady (who has a stake in the Las Vegas Aces), Magic Johnson (part owner of the Los Angeles Sparks) and Karlie Kloss, who is an investor in the group that owns the Liberty.<\/p>\n The WNBL has recently introduced private ownership and Jackson believes will help propel opportunities in, and visibility of, the league.<\/p>\n Why netball is falling behind other sports<\/p>\n Netball remains one of the most interesting women\u2019s sports in this conversation. It attracts a largely female fan base and has mammoth participation numbers in grassroots levels. While total attendance numbers during the Super Netball league have increased this year, the sport is still battling for attention.<\/p>\n Alexa Prinno is a Perth-based presenter and content creator of Your Netball Bestie \u2013 a media platform with a combined 120,000 followers.<\/p>\n From a marketing perspective, Prinno believes netball is falling behind other sports and is eager to see more branding, media visibility and sponsorship opportunities to transform netballers into household names.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say from a fan perspective, yes, I would say netball is behind, from what I\u2019ve seen there\u2019s no denying that,\u201d she told this masthead.<\/p>\n Netball Australia recently announced Priceline Pharmacy as a partner, and Prinno believes the sport should capitalise more on its growing female fanbase.<\/p>\n \u201cMarketing research shows approximately 80 per cent of all household purchasing decisions are made by the women in the household, and yet, for some reason, a lot of big brands still really aim for male-dominated sports,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are looking at females as second-tier decision-makers when they are actually the main decision-makers for purchases. All brands who want to make money should pivot to a predominantly female audience, which is exactly what netball brings.\u201d<\/p>\n Prinno wants Super Netball to draw on inspiration from the WNBA and see more Australian netballers become \u201cthe face of the sport\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see other sports really lean into platforming their superstars, and then we kind of associate the superstar face and name with the sport,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about [the] WNBA, but I do know Caitlin Clark, and I\u2019m interested in watching her play because of the branding and the platform that she has.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"WNBA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/e440b93266536e4913bd25a5bf0e7bdb2adfeca4.jpeg\")
WNBA superstar Angel Reese.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/3c8ef2ed3e0ec1680b7d09658606cf0442c9d656.jpeg\")
Australian basketball legend Lauren Jackson.Louis Trerise<\/p>\n
![\"Aliesha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/29bf42d823f3d9fe4f8d90f344486f873abe9bd5.jpeg\")
Aliesha Newman (centre) designed the ball for this year\u2019s AFLW Pride Round.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Mackenzie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4162194be51d19fbf6a73a69f65b6931e36b1cec.jpeg\")
Mackenzie Arnold during the 2023 World Cup. Getty<\/p>\n