As corners of mainstream and legacy sports media struggle with women’s sports coverage amid growing collegiate, WNBA and NWSL viewership, broadcasters and media buyers are seeking new, experienced voices. As options appear at women’s sports NewFronts, upfronts and events at Cannes, women’s sports secure a stronger presence on iHeartMedia, Vox Media and elsewhere. For Ally and RE—INC, bringing even more voices to ION NWSL games continues that momentum.
“There’s nothing more powerful than taking the camera or taking the microphone and getting to tell your story and explain your own culture,” Heath said. “It was missing, and there’s been a gap or a white space in the market for women’s sports.”
Pitching gal culture
When Press and Heath first launched RE—MEDIA, the media division of RE—INC, Heath said they were frustrated with the lack of women’s sports culture within sports media and the narrow depiction of it when it did appear.
Heath coined the name for what she wanted RE—MEDIA to represent: “gal culture.” Her first call to pitch the concept was to “the matriarch of The RE—CAP Show,” Ally CMO Andrea Brimmer.
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“I explained to her gal culture, and she was like, ‘It’s crazy, but we all know what bro culture is in sports. We’ve all opted into that sports culture because that’s just what it is,’” Heath said. “I remember getting notes after the first episode from so many folks that I had pitched gal culture to—most of them were men—and they were like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know what a women’s locker room is like. What’s going on? What are they talking about? What do they care about? What are these cultural buckets that they’re tapping into that are unique to their culture?’”
Those details of an athlete’s career have become increasingly important to Ally as it looks for ways to make more equitable investments in women’s sports. Marciano noted that Ally follows three avenues toward fulfilling its 50/50 pledge—a promise to evenly split its sports marketing spend between men’s and women’s sports: investing in live sports, in media companies like RE—INC and in the athletes themselves. Though live-game rights typically come with a broadcast partner attached, distribution for smaller media companies and athlete properties can be a bit more difficult to find.
