When Laura Youngson organized a group of women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and play a high-altitude match, she didn’t expect to focus so much on soccer cleats.
The point of the 2017 games was to highlight the inequalities in women’s and girls’ sports. On that front, Youngson achieved her goal, with the match becoming the subject of a documentary and landing the group in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Still, something bothered Youngson as the game unfolded. Glancing at the athletes’ feet, she was struck that all the women were wearing men’s or boys’ soccer cleats instead of specially designed gear. This realization led her to launch IDA Sports. This makes soccer cleats for women’s unique athletic needs.
“There was this real commercial gap in performance footwear for women,” said Youngson, whose Ida cleats are worn by players including Washington Spirit midfielder Courtney Brown. “As the game grows, we’re in this moment where everything is specializing, but footwear hasn’t really kept up with the pace, so we wanted to change that.”
IDA is one of a growing number of companies established in recent years to prioritize women in sport.
These aren’t just lifestyle or athlete brands. Moolah kicksFor example, it creates women’s basketball shoes designed specifically for women’s feet and counts Courtney Williams of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx as one of its partners. Lindsay Hausman founded Hetus, a performance running shoe company. Saysh, Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix’s running shoe company, allows buyers to make free exchanges when sizes change during pregnancy.
Beyond shoes, Liv Cycling has become a performance bike for women, as well as a sequel to its Indiana Fever partner, the Tampon. This tampon has swirl grooves that help prevent leakage during intense activity.
The companies are entering the market at a time when interest in women’s sports is intensifying.
WNBA Recently shattered attendance records and was lifted by player star power caitlin clark and angel wreath. Teams in the National Women’s Soccer League are worth 29% more this year than they were a year ago, with both Angel City and Kansas City currently valued at more than $250 million. Several new professional sports leagues have been formed in recent years, including a professional women’s hockey league and a 3-on-3 unparalleled basketball league. A women’s professional baseball league is scheduled to launch next year.
Overall, women’s sports will generate $1.88 billion in global revenue in 2024 and is projected to earn $2.35 billion this year, according to consulting firm Deloitte. Commercial revenue, including sponsorship and merchandising sales, exceeded $1 billion worldwide for the first time last year.
No more “shrinking and pink”
All that growth means more opportunities for women-owned brands. There is also an opportunity to reject the “shrink and pink” mentality. In this mentality, companies were criticized for taking men’s products and selling them to women by making them pretty rather than functional.
“Marketing is about understanding consumer needs,” said Dae Hee Kwak of the Sports Marketing Research Center in the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology. “So you’re thinking about the needs of female sports fans and athletes, which women understand better than women, right?”
Leela Srinivasan, CEO of sports marketing and sponsorship platform Parity, said men’s products are simply not built for women’s bodies.
“Women in motorsport will tell you that even the way seat belts are designed, they don’t fit right, they don’t fall in the right place,” Srinivasan said. “We talk to motorsport legend Lynn St. James about her inability to reach the pedals. Nothing is designed with the female body in mind.”
Bonnie Tu, who founded Liv Cycling, experienced that problem on her bike.
“Whenever I go on vacation, I will ride my bike from the hotel,” Tu said. “Most of the time I hurt myself because the bike is not suitable for me. Most bikes are for men, and whether it’s a mountain bike or a road bike, it’s all been for men.”
Youngson similarly considered biomechanical needs when designing IDA’s cleats, resulting in a product with a wider toe box, narrower heel, and shorter studs than men’s boots.
For someone who has spent decades in and around women’s sports, these changes represent profound shifts. Natalie White, who founded Moolah Kicks after playing basketball in college and working on the business side for several WNBA teams, always remembered playing sports in boys’ and men’s shoes.
“It wasn’t until I was a senior in college that I saw more ads of top WNBA players hugging men’s shoes, so I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy.’ When you start your career, through the pros, are you going to not only play with equipment that doesn’t suit you, but promote it?” ” White said. “Oh my gosh, crazy.”
Larger shoe stores, including Adidas and Nike, built women’s soccer and basketball shoes, recognizing the growing market and needs of female athletes. Sabrina Ionescu has a signature shoe with Nike, and this summer Adidas released the first player edition of Adidas’ F50 Sparkfusion cleats with NWSL star Trinity Rodman.
Women want products without pandering
Kwak said that in addition to products made specifically for them, women also value authenticity as consumers. And that means working with women’s leagues, athletes, and sometimes causes that involve equity and social justice.
For example, IDA partners with players’ unions in both the NWSL and the Gainsbridge Super League, both national professional women’s soccer leagues launched last year.
Coalition Snow, a women-led ski and snowboard company based in Reno, Nevada, not only ensures safe and fair working conditions throughout its supply chain, but also uses recycled materials in its packaging and partners with a nonprofit organization to plant trees in Kenya on every board or pair of skis sold.
In addition to community clubs, LIV Cycling sponsors women’s race teams and competitions such as the Tour de France Femmes. Athletes involved in the creation of the product also help. It’s what personalizes these companies compared to sporting goods giants.
But it’s all about taking that first leap, Youngson said.
“As the game grows and specializes, that should be attractive to brands,” Youngson said. “So you go, ‘Why aren’t you doing that?’ Because the money is there, doesn’t the game have everything around us like the men’s game? ”
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AP Sports Writer Alyce Brown contributed to this report.
