Caitlin Clark ascended from the University of Iowa to the WNBA.
More attention and advertising dollars flowed into sports in 2024 behind big events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl, and in emerging opportunities such as women’s sports.
Here are five stories that helped to define the sports and marketing worlds this year:
It was a good year on the ice. As the NHL set attendance records, the women of the Professional Women’s Hockey League skated to an impressive inaugural season.
The PWHL, which made its debut in January, exceeded goals for attendance, viewership and social engagement while securing more than 40 partnerships including a sold-out Barbie collaboration. While attendance averaged approximately 5,400 per game through 72 games, the league set a global record for attendance at a women’s hockey game when 21,105 showed up to watch Montreal host Toronto at the Bell Centre.
The team then known as PWHL Minnesota won the Walter Cup, or the league’s first championship; it is now known as the Minnesota Frost as part of a design and nickname unveiling for PWHL season 2, which begins Nov. 30. And expansion is coming in season 3, as the league said it was seeking two new cities to join the original six franchises.
More on hockey: The NHL’s new marketing platforms pay off
The sneaker wars intensified this year as brands such as Adidas and New Balance launched heavy fire as longtime leader Nike encountered business struggles.
Anthony Edwards, the brash young Minnesota Timberwolves forward, reignited hostilities with the introduction of the AE1 shoe from Adidas. Edwards’ confidence and charisma exploded in a distinct social ad campaign from Johannes Leonardo that dissed other brands’ signature shoes and invited comparison with vintage Michael Jordan ads from Nike. The AE1 ranked at the top of any number of best shoe lists, with fashion implications that go well beyond the court.
New Balance, known for its NBA Kawhi Leonard model and for backing baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, is on the upswing as well. It most recently signed 17-year-old Duke freshman Cooper Flagg to a multiyear shoe contract.
Nike was hardly a bystander, attracting rookie hoops stars including Victor Wembanyama and Caitlin Clark, unveiling a big hit with a shoe line for WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu and making a provocative ad of its own with “Winning Isn’t for Everyone.”
But it was a difficult year inside Nike, where business sagged and a new president and CEO, Elliot Hill, took over in October for John Donahoe, who retired. Hill has already signaled the company would dial back its reliance on retro basketball shoes.
An overtime thriller that cemented the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty, Super Bowl LVIII was a hit on the field—and off.
With their 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas, the Chiefs secured their third Super Bowl win in five years behind star quarterback Patrick Mahomes (once again the Super Bowl MVP) and tight end Travis Kelce, who brought a new level of interest to the game thanks to his girlfriend Taylor Swift, watching from a luxury suite. Usher was the halftime performer.
The game was the most-watched Super Bowl of all time, with an average of 123.4 million tuning in to watch on CBS, Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and Univision, according to Nielsen figures. Brands paid in the neighborhood of $7 million per 30 seconds to be in front of the game’s massive audience, with Michael Cera’s turn for CeraVe earning accolades from both Ad Age and the Clio Awards. Ad Age also awarded ads from Dunkin’, Google, the NFL, Reese’s, Verizon and Volkswagen with five-star ratings.
Iowa sharpshooter Caitlin Clark ascended to the pros, but not before her play led to record-smashing viewership figures for the NCAA women’s tournament final, a feat seen by some as kicking down the door of parity between men’s and women’s sports. The women’s final between Iowa and South Carolina averaged 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN (peaking at 24 million), marking the first time the women’s final drew a bigger audience than the men’s final, which averaged 14.7 million viewers, according to ESPN.
Clark carried that audience over to the WNBA, where her Indiana Fever was a top broadcast draw. Clark was named rookie of the year after averaging 19.2 points and 8.4 assists per game, and her presence also opened viewers’ eyes to other talents in the league such as A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas and Jewell Loyd.
Clark was an early beneficiary of NIL (name, image and likeness) deals in college and brought some of those relationships into the pros with her. She appeared in new ads this year for Topps, Gatorade and Nike.
The Olympic Games in Paris were the first conducted under new International Olympic Committee reforms calling for more sustainable, more urban and more inclusive games. The result was a visually stunning and compelling event that drew an 82% viewership increase from 2021’s Tokyo Olympics, with average audiences of 30.6 million across NBCUniversal’s platforms, NBCU announced. Success in Paris also whetted the appetite for the Summer Games’ return to Los Angeles in 2028.
As many women athletes as men competed in Paris, and costly arena construction was kept to a minimum as organizers took advantage of existing landmarks including the Palace of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. Colorful athletes emerged such as the Pommel Horse Guy (Stephen Nedoroscik) and the Muffin Guy (Henrik Christiansen).
The Olympics featured more advertisers than any previous games, with NBCUniversal estimating approximately 250 advertisers participated, compared to 100 in prior years—although much of that growth can be attributed to first-time programmatic buyers. Advertisers also had new inventory available to them, with unique viewing experiences and branding opportunities across linear TV, streaming and social and influencer channels. The event inspired some stunning work from a variety of brands, although Google’s attempt at using the Games as a backdrop for its Gemini AI platform fell flat.
