The Breakaway: Transforming Interest in Women’s Sport into Tangible Business Growth for Clubs, Brands, and Investors

Growing attention toward women’s sport creates new possibilities for sports organizations, brands, and investors. However, converting this momentum into commercial growth requires answering precise questions: Who are the fans to win over? What characteristics make a team recognizable? What can a women’s sports organization offer a brand, and what does it take to develop sponsorship value over time?

These decisions are precisely what The Breakaway focuses on as a strategic advisory firm specializing in the business of women’s sport. The Breakaway advises professional sports organizations, brands, and investors based on a core belief: women’s sport demands growth models built on its own distinct characteristics. Its approach combines data, positioning, and operational experience through its proprietary FAIR framework (Fans, Athletes, Identity, and Revenue) to translate audience insights, the role of athletes, and organizational identity into commercial strategies and actionable plans. Among the many projects The Breakaway has contributed to, or built from scratch, three deserve particular mention here.

“EVZ: From Fan Research to Marketing Strategy

EVZ, an ice hockey team competing in Switzerland’s top division, turned to The Breakaway to address a challenge involving its women’s team: understanding which audiences to reach and how to build a lasting relationship with them. The Breakaway conducted a research project utilizing YouGov data to identify two priority audience segments with distinct motivations. Subsequently, these insights were linked with player profiles, exploring their “off-ice” interests and personal stories. From this work, two personas were established, enabling the development of targeted content and activation proposals. The research and data gathered became a concrete foundation to guide marketing efforts, matchday attendance initiatives, and overall fan engagement.

Elitfotboll Dam: Shaping a Distinctive Commercial Offering

In Swedish women’s football, the project with Elitfotboll Dam tackled a complementary challenge: how to make a club’s value clear and relevant to a potential sponsor. In an executive workshop with top-tier club leaders, The Breakaway explored how to integrate athlete visibility, content, community ties, and social initiatives into partnership offerings aligned with corporate brand objectives. The initiative provided frameworks and practical examples for building partnerships around each team’s unique characteristics, expanding commercial strategy well beyond traditional visibility inventory.

Leading Healthcare Enterprise: Maximizing a Sports Sponsorship Portfolio

Another project led by The Breakaway examined the landscape from the sponsor’s perspective. The objective was to make the value of supported sports properties more recognizable and coherent while aligning them with corporate identity and business priorities. The process included stakeholder interviews, channel and content audits, and direct listening sessions with athletes. These inputs informed a clear narrative and activation strategy detailing which stories to tell, which athletes to involve, and which channels and resources to deploy. The strategy also addressed employee engagement and defined criteria to guide future sponsorship decisions.

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For The Breakaway, building value means connecting these distinct perspectives. Sports organizations must understand and refine their offering; brands must evaluate partnership alignment with their core objectives; and investors must assess commercial potential and execution capabilities. It is precisely through aligning these priorities that opportunities in women’s sport can evolve into sustainable growth projects.