Visa will award grant funding to women-owned small businesses during the Women's World Cup

The GIST: The girls are getting paid. Yesterday, Visa announced that it will award $500K in grant funding to women-owned small businesses during next month’s WWC as part of its Behind Every Number, There's A Story campaign.

The details: As an extension of their fan-voted Player of the Match athlete award, a small business owner from the same country as the selected athlete will receive a grant from Visa, ranging from $5K for first-round matchups to $50K for the final. A total of 64 grants will be awarded, one for every match of the tournament. Count it.

The why: Research has shown a significant tie between women’s sports participation and business success. A whopping 80% of female Fortune 500 execs played competitive sports at one time in their life and 81% of women small business owners surveyed by Visa agreed that overcoming adversity in sports prepared them to tackle difficult business situations.

• For Visa, a company that supports and profits off businesses of all sizes, the women’s sports and women’s business connection is a smart and strategic marketing move.

• It also builds off their existing commitment to international women’s soccer — the brand became the first women-focused FIFA sponsor in December 2021.

The trend: As reported in Monday’s newsletter, Visa’s not the only one making this play. Last Friday, AT&T launched its third iteration of She’s Connected, a program supporting small business owners and WNBA and NWSL athlete-entrepreneurs. Watch this space.