PVF content series joins successful wave of league-owned media opportunities in women’s sports

The GIST: This weekend, the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) premiered its new Team Spotlight Series on YouTube. While women’s sports are winning more primetime coverage and network support than ever before, both emerging and established leagues are still successfully leveraging their own broadcasts to reach fans.

• Let’s touch base with a few other women’s leagues to illustrate how owning and streaming content not only gives them a bump with networks, but also creates a major selling point for brand partnerships. Killin’ it.

🏒 The PWHL launches its PWHL Media House. The PWHL doesn’t just want to join the hockey conversation, it wants to be the hockey conversation. The league wants its media arm to generate discussion around women’s hockey, and it got things started by acquiring the Jocks in Jills podcast, which has already attracted brand sponsorship from SharkNinja, Canadian Tire, and Nobis.

• Companies often focus directly on sponsoring leagues, but as these brands have shown, listeners tend to show love to podcast sponsors as well.

🥞 LOVB recruits veteran and rookie journalistic talent. The volleyball league is filling out iHeart Radio’s Women’s Sports Audio Network roster with its own pod, Serving Pancakes, hosted by journalist Tiffany Oshinsky and LOVB Austin’s Khat Bell. While agency Deep Blue is leading this project, there’s other opportunities for sponsor-produced content like Rebel Girls’ Gen Alpha–led LOVB series.

🎬 The NWSL offers behind-the-scenes footage to Amazon Prime. In addition to broadcasting regular-season games, the soccer league worked with Amazon Studios on For The Win, a four-part docuseries about last year’s playoffs. The league also continues to find creative ways to foster interest outside its $240M broadcast deal, such as its agreement with Roku to build an NWSL hub.

Zooming out: Women’s sports fans may finally be getting mainstream love, but the efforts to create accessible, free content distribution is baked into its DNA — and that’s a good thing. While leagues benefit from network support and distribution, airing games on platforms like YouTube is especially important for the PWHL, which still doesn’t have a deal with a U.S. linear TV network.

• It’s also good for brands who can work out deals with leagues directly to sponsor fan-favorite content instead of being forced to negotiate for ad space with linear TV networks. Winners on the way.