GGW Voices is an ongoing collaboration between CDC Gaming and Global Gaming Women featuring commentary and insight from women in the gaming industry.
Women’s sports have dominated culture the past couple years as sports betting revenue and sports tourism continue to skyrocket. Just like successful companies are shifting their business approach to recognize the interconnectedness of the sports, casino gaming and hospitality industries, no longer can the positive impact of gender equity on bottom lines be ignored.
As the impressive gender economist, Katica Roy, says, “whether or not we believe gender equity is a social issue, it’s a $12 trillion global economic opportunity.”
So, let’s keep talking about some of the women exemplifying this in the business world who haven’t just broken barriers, but have changed the game, and increased profitability, for the better.
Fresh off the 2025 Super Bowl, headlines are celebrating the winning team quarterback Jalen Hurts’ all-female management team led by Agent Nicole Lynn, who broke records with her savvy negotiation of Hurts’ 2023 contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles, the largest in NFL history at the time.
In another female-led win following the Big Game, Nike’s stock surged last week after debuting their first Super Bowl ad in almost three decades featuring the launch of the “So Win” campaign empowering women in sport and beyond, an exciting example of Nike’s brand storytelling progress since appointing Nicole Hubbard Graham as Chief Marketing Officer last year.
And, although they didn’t make it to the NFL’s final game of the 2024-2025 season, the Detroit Lions historic turnaround in recent years has been nothing short of remarkable thanks to Sheila Ford Hamp’s transformative visionary leadership as principal owner since 2020, despite her not being allowed to work for the league due to her gender after she graduated as one of Yale’s first female tennis players in the 1970s.
In corporate America, 94% of women in C-suite positions played sports, and over half at the collegiate level. Andrea Brimmer, Chief Marketing Officer of Ally Financial, often credits her time playing D1 soccer at Michigan State as some of the most influential development of her career.
In 2022, her team committed to reaching equal media spend across women’s and men’s sports advertising, and launched their “Watch the Game, Change the Game” initiative with the intention of increasing viewership of women’s sports. Brimmer’s partnership dollars, negotiations with CBS alongside the NWSL, and passionately focused intentionality brought the first professional women’s championship game to primetime television. Not only was Brimmer’s innovative approach pivotal for the growth of women’s sports, but Brand Finance reports showed Ally’s brand value increasing 31% at a time when financial services industry brand values were in decline.
Anecdotes like Brimmer’s of former female athlete’s success in the business world have also inspired startups such as Her Competitive Advantage (HCA), the first and only recruiting platform connecting both current and former female athletes to companies and recruiters that value their uniquely transferrable skillset, which launched last year led by founder and current casino gaming executive Stephanie Barrett.
For several years in a row after PASPA was overturned, the female user growth rate on sports betting apps outpaced the growth rate in new male users. Coupled with the rise of popularity in women’s sports, this was an important data point as sportsbooks raced to profitability.
Sports betting and daily fantasy operator FanDuel, currently led by CEO Amy Howe, is known for their deliberate commitment to advancing equity in sports. FanDuel was the first fantasy partner of the WNBA even before PASPA was overturned, and then extended their multiyear partnership to encompass sportsbook in 2022.
Other operators have followed suit in recent years, inspired by increased engagement in women’s sports following the “Caitlin Clark effect”, but FanDuel was at the forefront of this paramount shift. Howe has often referenced her leadership intent of making hiring decisions reflecting diversity across all types of the population, as well as tapping into offerings and promotions targeting female sports bettors. It’s no surprise that FanDuel is the #1 sportsbook in America.
These examples showcase the business imperative of having diversity of thought represented in decision-making rooms to advance innovation with new perspectives and understand, market to, and build for the demographics your company is serving – and, even more necessary for sustainable growth and market expansion, the demographics you likely don’t even realize you’re missing.
