Women’s sports are booming. More people are watching women’s sports – from the women’s NCAA Tournament to the NWSL – and more women are watching sports, including NASCAR and the NFL. That’s all according to a new analysis from Nielsen that breaks down the numbers and viewership in its "Women & Sports" report. Per Nielsen, 28.6 billion minutes of women’s sports were consumed in the first six months of this year, which is up 18% over 2025’s data. Nielsen’s report also shows a 120% increase in advertising spending on women’s sports since 2022, and its study shows that 122 million Americans – more than half the population – are interested in women’s sports. "The rise in popularity of women’s sports isn't just a fleeting trend; it is a cultural re-alignment where access to games, storytelling around athletes and ongoing investment from brands are changing the economy and energy of global sports," said Charlene Polite Corley, Vice President of Inclusive Insights for Nielsen.
Nielsen says the commercial viability of this shift is best shown by the rise in sponsor valuations across major leagues. The WNBA has seen a 71% increase, the NWSL a 82% surge, and the LPGA a 51% gain. At the same time, Nielsen says, a shift is also happening where women are increasingly staking their claim as passionate fans for men’s sports too. In one example, Nielsen’s report states that 46% of NASCAR fans – nearly half – are women, and of the 7.4 million people that tuned into the 2026 Daytona 500, 2.7 million of them were women. Here’s a few more key data points for women’s sports from Nielsen's report:
Fans have consumed 3.8 billion minutes of the 2026 WNBA season and it’s on pace to break last year’s mark to become the most-watched season ever. The gold medal game for women’s hockey at the Winter Olympics drew an average of 5.3 million viewers on USA Network and peaked at 7.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s hockey game ever on-record. For UCLA’s win over South Carolina in the women’s college basketball title game, 9.9 million people tuned in, making it the third most-watched women’s college basketball game on-record. This year, 21 NCAA Tournament games topped at least 1 million viewers. The 2026 Women’s College World Series reached an all-time high total of 30.7 million unique viewers, up 54% year-over-year in viewership for the most watched softball tournament ever. For ESPN, 15 games topped 1 million viewers and secured eight slots in the Nielsen Top 25 ratings amid playoffs for the NBA and NHL. The 2026 Wimbledon tennis tournament drew an average of 1.9 million viewers to the final between Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova, delivering ESPN's most-watched women's championship match for the tournament. The 2025 NWSL championship on CBS was the first broadcast in league history to surpass one million viewers, drawing an average audience of 1.18 million. ESPN’s coverage of the 2025 NCAA women’s volleyball tournament increased by 13% year-over-year, drawing an average audience of 667,000 viewers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nielsen data shows more fans are watching women’s sports than ever before