Super Bowl spotlights growing connection between music and women’s sports

The GIST: In the wake of Super Bowl Sunday, the symbiotic relationship between sports and music has become more evident than ever as it continues to create opportunities to reach new fans. Here are a few examples of how brands have utilized the connection between these two industries. Coming in fast.

🏟️ Halftime shows create buzz for artists and athletes. While the Super Bowl may be the biggest stage, there’s been musical elements at many recent women’s sports events. Pitbull performed at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, Melissa Etheridge sang the anthem at the 2024 NWSL Championship, and women’s track competition Athlos NYC featured rapper Megan Thee Stallion.

🎙️ Women athletes cover music on their podcasts. Lately, sports and music storylines have been mixing on the podcast circuit, but the space has been historically male-dominated. That’s changing fast, from the launch of iHeart’s Women’s Sports Audio Network to podcasts from Angel Reese and Cameron Brink, with Reese interviewing Latto and Brink discussing Destiny’s Child.

🎤 They also double as musicians and collaborators. For years, male athletes have used their spotlight to launch music careers, from the NBA’s Damian Lillard to the NFL’s Le'Veon Bell. These days, multitalented women athletes like LSU basketball star Flau’jae Johnson have been able to parlay the growing spotlight on women’s sports into promoting their music.

• There’s also been a longstanding relationship between women rappers and WNBA culture, with ballers like A’ja Wilson and the aforementioned Reese starring in music videos.

👟 Women rappers are in their sporty spice era. When Nike signed Megan Thee Stallion as a brand ambassador in 2021, the company described it as a way to “further expand the definition of sport.” It was a smart play, one that Under Armour emulated when it signed rapper Lay Bankz and Nike revisited by asking Doechii to narrate its first Super Bowl ad in 27 years.

• Footlocker’s Adidas deal with Coi Leray spells it out a little more clearly: The basketball shoe game has been intertwined with hip hop culture for decades, and women rappers (and athletes) are finally being centered in the conversation. The bottom line? Connecting women’s sports with the music industry is a win-win. ‘Cause girls is players too.