The issue and opportunity around widespread and consistent coverage around women’s sports is one that continues to perplex many. The data of the growth not just of women and girls engaged in sports, but in the buying and decision power around the female demo, as well as the ever-growing rise in engagement in all aspects of fandom, should mean that there is a more robust appetite for engagement for highlights and storytelling.
While many have tried startups around the space, few who have looked to get a return on investment on a large scale have been able to find a viable model. Some point to risk adverse advertisers, who would rather make safe bets around traditional male sports; some point to a model that has yet to mature in many women’s sports globally on a consistent basis; some point to the fact that more promotion just needs to be done to grow a wide audience who craves the content. However today, with athletes being able to drive their own audiences big or niche, the ability for engaged athletes, male or female, to build a valuable following that can generate brand interest is becoming more of a reality, and one of those disruptive platforms which has served a growing niche is looking to step in and compliment what they have done in mostly youth sports around basketball.
Overtime, one of the first in for creating compelling content around boys basketball with tis wide ambassadors network, this past week launched OvertimeWBB, a wide ranging platform dedicated not just to high school girls highlights, but to all levels of women’s hoops.
OvertimeWBB will share players’ stories through short-form digital and longer-form series across their distributed network on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
“We want to support the incredible momentum in women’s basketball by helping fans find inspiration and excitement from players at every level,” said Dan Porter, Overtime’s co-founder and CEO in a statement this week. “We’re proud to have a platform that specifically focuses on women, and honored to play a role in building exposure for this next generation of athletes.”
The new offering is an expansion of She Hoops Network founded by Marcus Crenshaw, a professional athlete who founded Hoop Cred, the first marketing company for WNBA players, and now represents a number of top WNBA and EuroLeague players through the sports agency VNG Hoops. In just over two years they have expanded the audience and the storytelling to garner a considerable and growing portion of the women’s basketball space. It will be programmed by Chloe Pavlech, who has the company’s co-president and on-air host, before joining Overtime in November.
The timing for OvertimeWBB, combined with the work done by Overtime itself, seems right. The company has built a direct to fan model of snackable video that gives their followers an easily digestible and sharable package on any device. Their method of delivery is cost effective, since a great deal of their footage is inbound, and the need to now diversify from what has become a crowded mens and boys hoops highlight business, without the benefit of live content yet, makes sense.
Most importantly from a business perspective, Overtime sees a need and an audience that is still unencumbered, and is one which they may be able to score with as a first adopter like they did in the high school boys hoops space.
It’s great news for girls and women’s sport, and hopefully great news for brands who are still searching for that consistent way in to a very important demo that needs, and should demand, more attention.
