For the better part of a decade, women’s professional sport in Australia has benefited enormously from its association with established men’s codes. AFL clubs launched AFLW teams. NRL clubs established NRLW programs. Existing memberships, sponsors, and supporter bases created a platform that accelerated growth and legitimacy, writes Andy Thomas, executive creative director and Trish Folan, general manager of Landor Australia.
That foundation was necessary. It was effective. And it helped bring women’s sport into the mainstream.
But foundations are not destinations.
As women’s sport enters its next phase of growth, the challenge is no longer simply participation, visibility, or access. The challenge is building brands that people actively choose to follow, regardless of their connection to the men’s game.
To do this, we must address a critical, systemic flaw in how we build sports brands in Australia. For too long, the default strategy has been the “Shadow Brand” model: take a legacy men’s club, tack a “W” onto the acronym, apply the exact same logo, colours, and tone of voice, and send them out onto the field.
While this provided a helpful launchpad, the Shadow Brand has now become a commercial ceiling. The data proves that women’s sport is no longer a sub-category or a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. It is a commercial juggernaut. A recent McKinsey report valued the US women’s sports market at $2.5 billion, noting it is growing 4.5 times faster than men’s sports.
Crucially, the audience driving this growth is fundamentally different. Insights from Meta reveal that the modern women’s sports fan is younger, digital-first, and deeply values-driven. They follow
individual athletes and community narratives just as fiercely as they follow team crests. They demand authenticity, inclusivity, and respect.
When you force this new, progressive entertainment product to live inside the rigid confines of a 100-year-old men’s brand, you actively alienate this lucrative fanbase. You are asking a modern
audience to buy into a legacy culture that was never built for them.
You also handcuff your commercial teams.
Non-endemic sponsors – luxury fashion houses, tech giants, and premium lifestyle brands – are desperate to access the highly engaged, values-driven audience of women’s sports. But they want a clean, premium environment. They do not want to be sold a discounted, secondary logo placement on a men’s guernsey.
The most successful women’s sports properties in the world are increasingly demonstrating this distinction. Look at the WNBA, the newly formed Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) in
North America, or locally, the Matildas. They aren’t succeeding because they mirror a men’s equivalent. They succeed because they own their distinct brand posture, visual flex, and cultural swagger. They are standalone entertainment brands.
It is time for Australian clubs to unbundle the identity.
To unlock the next wave of commercial growth, women’s teams must step out of the shadows. They need to shed the legacy baggage of their male counterparts and build bespoke, standalone brand
architectures.
This doesn’t mean abandoning a club’s heritage. It means brand portfolio optimisation. It means giving the women’s brand the creative oxygen to breathe, behave, and speak differently. It requires
developing a distinct visual identity, a unique tone of voice, and bespoke match-day experiences that cater directly to their audience, not the men’s audience.
For the last decade, women’s sports have been stuck in the “Gratitude Era” – an unspoken expectation that female athletes should just be grateful to wear the famous jumper, play in the big stadiums, and share the men’s facilities.
That era is over.
Brand architecture isn’t just about logos and colours; it is about unlocking new audiences and revenue multiplication. By stepping out of the shadows and owning their distinct cultural space, women’s sports won’t just look different. They will be worth more.
Written by Andy Thomas, executive creative director and Trish Folan, general manager of Landor Australia.
