Breaking the sound barrier: how brands can leverage audio for women’s sport

The Lionesses capped off their heart-stopping Euro 2025 run with a gritty win last Sunday, keeping us on the edge of our seats right through to a final penalty shoot-out. 

The tournament is set to be the most watched edition ever, with a cumulative live audience of over 400 million and a cumulative all programme audience in excess of 500 million.

While women’s sport is setting new standards for culture and community, driving huge surges in interest, brand investment hasn’t kept pace. Only 6% of Fortune 500 companies sponsor women’s sports compared to 20% for men’s sports. Perhaps more concerning is the continued reliance on the tone and tropes of men’s sport. If brands want to become fan favourites with those passionate about women’s sport, they must move beyond carbon-copy campaigns.

If your brand sits in a category where everyone is trying to ride the same cultural wave, what makes you stand out?

If your brand sits in a category where everyone is trying to ride the same cultural wave, what makes you stand out? Sound can do that. We’ve heard all the brand favourites before, from Kanye’s Stronger, White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army, or Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma. All iconic, all male, all becoming tired and overused. 

Above: England's Lionesses triumphed at last weekend's final in Basel to win their second consecutive Women's Euros final. 

The route to pole position lies in thinking beyond the usual suspects. There is power to be unlocked in fresh choices that reflect both audience and era. Take the BBC’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 spot [below] - a handmade visual world matched with the raw, energetic sound of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Proof that the right audio, just like the right message, can cut through and create cultural memory. Maybe it’s time we got the bands back together. 

Keep your eye on the ball

Women’s sport is making its way onto marketers’ radar. Ad spend on women’s sport hit $244 million in the US in 2024, a 139% year-on-year increase. But scratch the surface, and the same patterns remain. But it shouldn’t fly under the radar that, in football in particular, there isn’t the legacy of the men’s game - and that’s not a drawback. Instead, there’s a new cultural canvas for innovation that brands can operate within. A unique opportunity to create bespoke compositions and audio-first campaigns, tailored to today’s sound-on media landscape and reflective of the inclusive, community-driven nature of women’s sport - where fans are deeply engaged across digital and social platforms.

The cultural conversation between brands and consumers is much closer than before, and the sonic space should reflect this behaviour

Case in point: Wimbledon’s official TikTok account amassed over 200 million cumulative views in the first three days of the tournament. Its strategy consisted of behind-the-scenes content featuring both influencers and athletes, as well as the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff jumping on viral trends.

This is a legacy brand identifying the importance of speaking to the fans of today in their language, recognising where they spend their time. For any brand trying to navigate new media consumption behaviours, this is the tape they should be studying. The cultural conversation between brands and consumers is much closer than before, and the sonic space should reflect this behaviour

Above: The BBC's spot for the Women's Euros used "raw, energetic sound of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs".

Come out swinging at your target audience

So, what does the perfect playbook sound like in practice? In a world of non-stop media noise, brands need to embrace the science behind sound to truly make an impact and  capitalise on the rising viewership of women’s sport. Research has shown that treble-heavy audio resonates more strongly with women. While there are plenty of male fans to account for (I, for one, am looking forward to the Tour de France Femmes later this month), it’s important to play to the core demographic. 

Some brands opt to leverage the visceral energy of crowd noise alongside the dulcet tones of a recognisable player or pundit. 

Although leaning on an existing soundtrack á la BBC is strong - given it provides immediate recognition and accelerates production processes - this comes at the expense of the payoff delivered by tailored audio; a ThinkBox study showed that music used to drive the narrative elicits a 77% uplift in emotional impact and 58% uplift memorability.

Some brands opt to leverage the visceral energy of crowd noise alongside the dulcet tones of a recognisable player or pundit. The National Lottery brought this approach to life with its Women’s Football 2025 spot. Fronted by former Lioness Jill Scott, the ad pulled at viewers’ heartstrings from the off.

Others might want to draw on fan-created audio - chants, TikTok remixes and localised soundscapes – to connect with how women's football is experienced at the grassroots. These sonic moments, born in community not in studio boardrooms, offer rich creative cues that reflect the community driven nature of women’s sport.

Above: Visa's spot "blends stripped-back music with traditional football sounds".