Women comprise high percentage of Super Bowl audience

By Kelly Spencer

On Jan. 26, an estimated 130 million viewers will tune into ABC to watch a face-off between two champion football teams interspersed with historically expensive commercials. Nearly half of those viewers will be women, attracting a larger female audience than the Academy Awards.

During the past four years, the National Football League has witnessed an explosion in female viewers. In fact, 40 percent of professional football's weekly audience is female, according to a recent study conducted by NFL Properties, the marketing arm for the league. With a weekly fan base of 113 million, 45 million female viewers cannot go unnoticed.

The female sports fan is not just along for the ride either. The study also found that nearly half of the women watching football believe they are devout and informed fans.

"Women have been part of our audience for some time, but they've clearly evolved from detached and less knowledgeable to far more involved and connected," Howard Handley, senior vice president for marketing and fan development at NFL Properties told the New York Times.

As the appeal of football increases, so does a female viewer's loyalty to her team.

Houston native and Santa Clara senior Sara Klinger enjoys watching football and was thrilled when her hometown won the bid to house the new expansion team.

"I can't wait until the Texans make it to the Super Bowl," said Klinger.

Efforts to accommodate this significant segment of viewers with varying degrees of interest ranges accordingly.

Recent legislation in New York, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and 14 other states requires a sufficient number of women's restrooms be installed in new sporting facilities to accommodate female fans.

Since the 1999 regular season, nearly every NFL team has implemented a series of classes meant to educate female fans. NFL 101 Workshops for Women invites women to increase their understanding of football's history, offensive and defensive strategies and how to decipher game officials' signals.

The marketing departments of NFL sponsors are responding with advertisements tailored to appeal to a female audience. One of the first companies to take advantage of this opportunity was NFL Properties with its "Feel the power" campaign. The commercial depicts the evolution of the female sports fan beginning with a reserved 1960s housewife and eventually building to a female football fan that understands the sport better than the man she is watching with.

The female television network Oxygen Media responded in 2001 with a commercial designed specifically for women.

Santa Clara marketing department Professor Edward McQuarrie would be surprised if the majority of the ads focused on women but recognizes attention will be given to a female audience.

"You probably won't see the Miller mud wrestling commercial," said McQuarrie, referring to Miller's currently running ad showing the supposed dream beer commercial for males.

Shawn Bradley, chief operating officer of the Bonham Group Market Research, iterates the importance of understanding more than just the gender of the audience. Bradley believes it is just as essential to realize that many women are drawn to sports for the same reason that men are: they enjoy the exhilaration of an intense and entertaining match-up.

The networks have taken notice of a developing female audience as well.

Perhaps you have heard of sideline reporter Melissa Stark? She is constantly within five to eight feet of the action keeping audiences informed about injuries and strategy. The daughter of a former eye doctor for the Baltimore Colts, many argue that Stark's exposure to football and knowledge of players rivals some of the best sports announcers.

"She's a lot better than 90 percent of the sports announcers out there," Mike Whalen, professor of television production and broadcast journalism in the communication department.

Although Whalen generally believes sideline reporting - specifically halftime interviews - fails to offer unique information, he does believe she is "one of the most intelligent and insightful sideline reporters."

Although Stark appeals to male and female audiences alike, the presence of a female broadcaster epitomizes the trend of a growing female fan base that even critics like Andy Rooney cannot prevent.

With Super Bowl Sunday approaching, be prepared for a telecast and commercial lineup targeting a broader audience. With nearly 50 million women tuning in, you cannot afford not to.