Sara Gotfredson’s Post

Simone Biles. Katie LeDecky. Sophia Smith. Coco Gauff. Sha'Carri Richardson. Nelly Korda. And the list goes on and on and on.... Tonight's #trailblazingtuesday celebrates the 30 day countdown to the first 50/50 Olympics and the women who will represent our country in a month 🇺🇸 Excited to see how brands: 📣 Collaborate with female Olympians to promote products, leveraging their credibility and reach to connect with target audiences. 🎬 Engage Olympians in creating unique content such as training tips, behind-the-scenes footage, and personal stories to build a stronger connection with fans. 💬 Utilize Olympians' social media presence for campaigns that highlight their journey, achievements, and your brand, thereby increasing engagement and visibility. 🗣 Feature past Olympians in brand events, launches, or speaking engagements to draw crowds and media attention. 👟 Develop special edition products or merchandise in partnership with Olympians, creating a unique selling point and appealing to their fan base 💡 🇫🇷 AND for brands still looking for ways to make an impact this summer, we have some ideas up our sleeves how to drive engagement and awareness around these incredible female athletes going for gold! 🏅 📲 #trailblazingmarketplace #olympics

#Trailblazingstories This edition of #trailblazingtuesday (yes on a Wed!) is coming to you from Cannes where the conference is a buzz around women’s sports and storytelling. At every panel the importance of authentic storytelling comes up as being mission critical to maintaining the momentum in women’s sports. For decades men’s sports has had dedicated sports radio and around the clock sports tv networks that cover the stories of athletes, teams, leagues, contracts, trades, personalities, & rivalries. These stories fuel fandom, which fuel the audiences for live games, which fuel the tv contracts, which fuel players salaries & merch sales, and so on. As brands think about investing in women’s sports, storytelling must be at the center of that investment. Trailblazing Sports is proud to partner with talented storytellers in women’s sports media to grow the game. What stories can WE tell together?!? The GIST The Athletic RE—INC TOGETHXR Just Women's Sports Bleacher Report Hana Kuma The E.W. Scripps Company SHE Media Women's Sports Network

#Teamworkmakesthedreamwork Even though it's been a month since we officially launched the #TrailblazingMarketplace at the first ever Women's Sports Club Newfront with our partners at Sports Innovation Lab, it still stops me in my tracks when I see these headlines in the trade pubs I have read for the last 20 years (shout out to Mollie Cahillane Sports Business Journal) about what we are building. I know that these moments don't happen without #teamwork and #trust - which is why it's tonight's #trailblazingtuesday focus. Our idea was not overly complex: Capitalize on our experience and relationships over the last 20 years in sports, media, and partnership sales to curate a collection of unique women's sports assets across the media, sponsorship, and athlete ecosystem; use the Sports Innovation Lab Audiences to drive scale and performance to those programs; and deliver exceptional value and impact for brands & their agency partners resulting in dramatic increases in ad spend against women's sports storytelling and live sports content. Seems simple right? But this idea doesn't work without the #trust of our Trailblazing Marketplace Partners (refresher on who they are with this fun video https://lnkd.in/gUmqTTJf) to represent & create assets together in our offering, as well as the continued support from brands and agencies who have leaned in, took meetings, and dedicated time to brainstorm and strategically plan with us. #trailblazers #partners #thankyou And finally - a late breaking announcement, Trailblazing Sports Group will be in Cannes and look forward to seeing all my old friends there! I've never been, but have heard enough of you all talk about your rose meetings over the years, so figured it was time to check it out and talk a little women's sports with you all...while sipping rose...#teamwork.

Where to begin with tonight's #trailblazingtuesday? Over the last 72 hours, it seems like every media outlet and on-air pundit has been consumed with the storylines around the W. I will leave it to the experts Sarah Spain, Cari Champion, and Chiney Ogwumike (who I suggest listening to their measured and thought provoking takes around the W) to commentate on Saturday's game and aftermath; and stick to what I know best from my 20+ years in sports marketing, which is that storylines fuel ratings, and the popularity of teams, leagues, and players. Think of a world in which we didn't have iconic sport storylines around Billie & Bobby, Magic & Bird, the "Bad Boys" in Detroit, Pat Summitt’s dominance, America's Team in Dallas, the Williams sisters, The Curse of the Billy Goat, USA vs Russia at Lake Placid, The Great One in LA, The Showtime Lakers, The 99'ers, Mary Lou's perfect 10, Chrissie & Martina, Pistol Pete and Caitlin Clark, Steph & Sabrina, and the list goes on and on. Those stories fueled movements, ignited change, and altered perceptions for new generations of athletes and fans. So let's all take a deep breath, exhale, and lean in. The stories have always been there in the W, and there is a lot more to come from this league and these elite athletes this season and beyond. Now to a few highlights we should all be paying attention to: 💥 Viewership peaked opening weekend of the WNBA on ABC at 1.9M viewers, which was was the most viewed opening weekend double header EVER on ABC - with 1.3M people staying for the Aces/Sparks game following the Fever/ Liberty Game 💥 Oklahoma is attempting a historic run as the first team to win 4 straight Women's College World Series titles as they take on Texas. As the 2 earlier round games on Sunday each averaged over 1.1M viewers, the WCWS starting tomorrow night on ESPN should outperform the men's college WS again this year. This game is sold out, and this is a red river rivalry you don't want to miss! 8pm ET on ESPN 💥 The US Gymnastics championship on NBC drew over 2.2M viewers on Sunday (3rd most watched program that day beating out the UFL on Fox) with Simone Biles securing her 9th title - who's ready to watch her shine at the Olympics in a month?!

#theglobalgame Tonight's #trailblazingtuesday focuses on the impact women's sports is having around the globe. With the first 50/50 Olympics in just 59 days, I did a little homework on the global opportunity that exist for brands who want to tell stories and partner with athletes, media properties, and leagues around the world. Here's what I learned: - 🏀 Kilmer Sports Ventures chairman Larry Tanenbaum is paying $115 million to bring the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) to Toronto. Tanenbaum is also the chairman and part owner of a Toronto-based sports conglomerate that owns the NBA's Raptors, NHL's Maple Leafs, MLS' Toronto FC, as well as other professional sports franchises in Canada. He's a businessman who see's the economic value of this W franchise in Toronto, and perhaps read the report by Canadian Women & Sport which found two in three Canadians between the ages of 13 and 65 — approximately 17 million people — consider themselves to be fans of women's sports. As Caroline Fitzgerald always says - It's just good business to be in the business of women's sports. ⚽ For the second year in a row, the FA Cup Final was played at a sold out Wembley Stadium featuring Man Utd vs Tottenham, AND a record crowd of 50K+ were at the UEFA Final a week later in Spain for Barcelona vs Lyon 🎾 🏏 🏄♀️ 🏌♀️ WTA set a global audience record of 1 BILLION in 2023 according to YouGov, and the World Surf League, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), and International Cricket Council continue to set global viewership and attendance records for their seasons/events/ championships. 📈 And on the athlete front, according to Google Trends the most searched female athlete was Iga Swiatek from Poland with 15.6 million searches in 2023. Most brands take a global approach to their men's sports sponsorships, yet only a select few have taken that global approach in women's sports... YET. Here's to betting that will change in '25 and beyond! 🌎 Trailblazing Sports Group #globaltrailblazingmarketplace

Where to find those coveted 18-34 yr olds this upfront season? Tonight's #trailblazingtuesday has your answer 👇 That's right people, the W draws a higher % of 18-34 yr olds than than NBA - and with a 64% male / 44% female audience split, it's proving to be a great place to reach both young MEN and WOMEN. Having sold the NBA for decades I saw what a draw a young multicultural audience was for marketers, but now this demo is harder to find with social & streaming such a big part of their lives - including how they consume sports. So as you plan your sports strategy this upfront season, don't sleep on the regular season WNBA to reach this audience AND make sure your plan has plenty of athlete driven content/sponsorship, unique social extensions, and team sponsorship elements. These opportunities exist in the Trailblazing Sports Group Marketplace, and from the YouGov Sport stats below, these fans are paying attention to the brands who invest in the W. In a closing note, I LOVE the partnership the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority - LVCVA did with EACH of the PLAYERS of the Las Vegas Aces 👏 #moreplayerpartnerships #trailblazing #vialasvegas https://lnkd.in/gJZuidEN

Welcome to the #trailblazingtuesday #upfront & #WNBAWNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) Tip Off edition... As we said at the Women's Sports Club IAB Newfront - this is not an AND / OR proposition. This upfront is time to INVEST IN WOMENS' SPORTS. The WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) on ESPN/Disney platforms opening night is projected to exceed the 5M viewers - breaking the all time inaugural WNBA game record in 1997 - and a feat given the games were on E2 & ESPN+ (because of NHL Playoffs on ESPN). Linear ratings were up between 103% in the women's NCAA March Madness Finals (where else do you see those increase in live sports?!?) ,and over 7% YOY in the NCAA Softball World Series final - essentially drawing the SAME viewership as the men's college WS in the title game. These linear viewership trends are too significant to ignore. AND while it's important to invest in those high profile moments on linear this upfront season- it's equally important to invest in the STORIES and the always on moments that fans are craving and thats where our Trailblazing Sports Group Marketplace partners can help! So let's all do our part to tell more women's sports stories, buy/watch the live events, partner with athletes, and support local teams this UPFRONT season. 💥📈💰 #trailblazing #womensports #upfront

Jason Notte Thank you for covering our #trailblazingmission to increase the long tail investment opportunities in women’s sports! Trailblazing Sports Group Sports Innovation Lab Women's Sports Club

"Women's sports does not have a supply problem. What we have is opportunity" Tonight's #trailblazingtuesday celebrates all of the partners, clients, agencies, industry friends, and supporters who came together to create the FIRST EVER Women's Sports Club Newfront and launch the Trailblazing Marketplace. Thank you to our innovative and driven partners at Sports Innovation Lab, our unsung hero's in event production, underdog venture team, and our 25 Trailblazing Sports Group Marketplace partners, we made history last week! As the first global commercial partnerships firm focused solely on women's sports media & sponsorship, we are excited to work with our agency partners and brands to curate long tail, groundbreaking partnerships in women's sports. This upfront, we want you to buy more big ticket linear women's sports from your network partners AND create more content, tell more athlete driven stories, and partner with properties you hadn't thought of before - and we have the Marketplace & the audience targeting to do that with scale! 💰📈⚽️🏀🥎🎾🏐🪃⛳️🎿🛹 🌊 🤸♂️ Big shout out to my newfront ride or die crew these last 6 weeks! Gina Waldhorn Angela Ruggiero Tricia Lasky Shawntina Phillips Peyton King Hallie Martin SUMMER GARRISON Ping me for Trailblazing Marketplace opportunities with the impressive group of partners below! 👇