If you watch all those beer commercials on television, you might get the idea that the world of sports is completely male.
But that`s only half the picture: Women, too, are actively involved in sports. So much, in fact, that women are the newest target of sports marketing.
The reason women are becoming popular with sports advertisers is purely financial, one of the best reasons. Last year, according to one study, American women spent $1 billion for sports apparel, equipment and services, a sum even Rodney Dangerfield might take seriously.
”We believe that the potential for the women`s sports market–for products, television coverage, personalities–has yet to be tapped,” said Karin Lippert of New York, president of her own public relations firm and a specialist in women`s sports marketing.
The consultant said that 51 percent of all women participate in sports and that the average active woman also has a career. She says that 70 percent of college-educated women exercise 1 1/2 to more than 5 hours a week. The most popular sports are running, swimming, aerobics, cycling, calisthenics and indoor racket sports.
”There has been a dramatic growth of women athletes in the last five years,” said Lippert, who began to work out three years ago when she started her business.
She runs three miles twice a week, rides an exercise bicycle and attends a body conditioning class a week.
”I do physical exercise for good health and weight control. I also feel it gives me a competitive edge in my work,” she said.
Apparently, she`s not alone.
”Women are at the vanguard of the fitness movement in this country,”
Lippert said. ”All of the companies marketing to women have begun to feature active women in their ads.They`re also gearing their commercials to women in terms of quality of sports equipment and apparel in a way they haven`t previously.”
Lippert became involved in the marketing of women`s sports when she helped establish some racing opportunities and prize money for women runners that men have.
One of her clients is Grete Waitz, Olympic medalist and six-time winner of the New York City Marathon.
”Running is enormously popular,” Lippert said. ”Some 17 million to 20 million women in this country are runners. Eighty percent of new runners are women.”
The sports marketing consultant travels the country, spreading the word to advertising and marketing people that women, who hold 65 percent of health club members, are worth their trim and fit weights in gold as consumers. Even of beer.
”Women are now appearing in beer commercials,” Lippert said. ”Michelob has had career women in their ads.”
Miller Lite, she said, has done a study titled ”Women in Sports” with the Women`s Sports Foundation in San Francisco. It surveyed a random sample of 7,000 subscribers to Women`s Sports and Fitness Magazine and found that:
— 59 percent of the readers participate in sports for improved health. The next largest category, 15 percent, was for stress reduction.
— 93 percent ride a bicycle, and 88 percent own a tennis racket.
— 37 percent reported total annual household income of $31,000 or more.
— 62 percent display a ”very high” interest in sports participation.
— 77 percent have a ”high interest” in spectator sports.
Another marketing point is that some women athletes are making big bucks. ”When I was growing up, there were no career possibilities in sports for women,” said Lippert, 42. ”Now women athletes like Mary Decker, Joan Benoit and Grete Waitz are making more than $250,000 a year.”
That success creates careers for women in sports marketing, Lippert said.
”I recommend the field,” she said. ”Sports and competition go together. Those of us who are going into this field and want to be successful are going to have to be aggressive.”
And the guys in the beer commercials like to win.
”Women at Work,” hosted by Carol Kleiman, airs every Sunday at 7 a.m. on WFYR radio (103.5 FM).
