Reflecting on his time at the Women In Sport Summit, Gemba head of insights, Andrew Goodieson, sat down with Ministry of Sport to discuss his company’s research, ‘Shifting the Goal posts’.

The purpose of Gemba’s research:

On the purpose of ‘Shifting the Goal posts’, Goodieson said the research serves an objective voice, where some of the research will provide helpful anecdotal comments and other parts not so much.

“What we have done in this research is really strip it back and understand the different aspects of how you drive women’s sport. There’s a fan base, there’s audience, there’s commercial, there’s broadcasts, what are the inputs to that? And how can we help a brand like Suncorp, or broadcaster like Foxtel, to take those inputs or take those bits of research and apply it to their business?” Goodieson said.

“I think at the end of the day, that’s what we’re trying to do. Be a trusted adviser to those guys and give high-quality objective information,” he said.

Driving factors to grow women’s sport:

The research from Gemba has reported that live viewership, which is the primary contribution to interest in women’s sport, sits at 37%, while having a connection to a team is the responsible for 26% of people being interested.

Adding onto the driving factors of interest in women’s sport, Gemba reported that 54% of fans watch national leagues followed by 38% watching individual sports.

Additionally, key insights for drivers in viewership are accessibility of sport on TV and witnessing more than just on-field actions, meaning people also watch women’s sport for the role models and want to be involved in creating change.

Harsh realities:

On the harsh realities of Gemba’s research, Goodieson said female sports receive 12% of the sponsorship investment men’s sport does, which he said is a jarring number and shows far we have to go.

“You watch the launch of the AFL and NRLW seasons, and they look like they’re getting far more than 12%. But at the end of the day, when that comes back to salaries, facilities and investment, they’re running on the smell of an oily rag sometimes. So, I think that’s one of the realities,” Goodieson said.

“The other one is that there’s two million Australian women who are sports fans not watching women’s sport regularly and that can be turned into an easy win. One of the key themes from working with Foxtel is you have access to these entertainment shows and the different channels, and you think how you can convert them to watch sport through relevant broadcasting,” he said.

To read the previous story from the Women In Sport Summit, where Angel City’s Steph Rudnick discussed how the club was leading the way for women’s sport, click here.