Game Over: How Female-Focused Brands Are Entering a League of Their Own in the NFL

I’m so energy depleted right now. Most of it is because of the expectations I put on myself and getting in my own. Gratitude is great and all but I think more of us in to cut ourself slack. I was listening to a pod with Sahil Bloom and what he said about time is now etched in my brain.

“When you’re young, you’re a time billionaire.”

Interpret this however you choose, but I’m taking it as a reminder to continue to be spontaneous, travel more with my parents, build a portfolio career, experiment with countless hobbies, naturally build a flexible routine, invest in the relationships that will matter when your 60, and balance doesn’t exist (but your health should never take a back seat).

Major thanks to my friend Michaela Gordon! She writes The Early (if you’re looking to break into VC this is the newsletter for you!).

NFL’s New Power Players

The NFL is witnessing a historic shift in franchise ownership, fan engagement, and preferred media channels. Female ownership has reached an unprecedented level, with women holding majority stakes in 10 of the 32 teams – representing a combined value of $63.34B, or about $6.234B per team. Last year’s Super Bowl (2024) saw record-breaking female viewership, with the Super Bowl attracting 58.8M female viewers – a 9% increase that marked the highest female viewership recorded since 2000. 

Betches Takes the Field

This season, we’ve seen a surge in NFL sponsorships by women-focused brands, from media powerhouse Betches Media to iconic fashion brands like Veronica Beard. 

Betches Media reaches one in five women in the U.S. and 250M global users. As an official NFL media partner, Betches will “produce content that enables millennial and Gen Z women to tap into exciting NFL moments.” UK media juggernaut, LADbible Group, through its parent company LBG Media in the UK acquired Betches Media in 2023. Building on this momentum, Betches expanded its digital empire in 2024 with Betches Sports, creating a dedicated platform that speaks to female sports enthusiasts while catering to the football curious fan more interested in the relationships and halftime shows. The move proved particularly strategic given that NFL football ranks as the most-watched sport among Betches' followers.

On the other hand, the hefty price tag of $150M to stream two Christmas Day games got Netflix 24M+ global viewers, contributed to an additional 20M subscribers, and increased revenue by 16% while also having its stock surge at the beginning of 2025. Huge win for Netflix and wouldn’t have been possible without the league’s female fan base, but Betches doesn’t have to share any of the revenue they make from their NFL content and didn’t have to broker a traditional media rights contract like Netflix did.  

In addition to the NFL’s vast distribution network, athletes themselves hold enormous power when it comes to swaying consumer buying behavior in sectors ranging from apparel to food and beverage.

Could The Real MVPs (Most Valuable Purchasers)

• With a Female consumers account for 47% of all NFL store purchases annually, with this figure climbing to 52% during the November-December 2023 holiday season

• Overall, NFL teams have spent 15% more of their budgets on partnering with cosmetics, grooming, skincare, non-athletic apparel, and jewelry brands (cc: Sponsors United) 

• 15% of all US adults purchased beauty/personal care products in the past six months because it was endorsed by a professional athlete in 2024 

• 20% of all US Gen-Zers purchased beauty/personal care products in the past six months because it was endorsed by a professional athlete in 2024

The WAG Effect

On September 6, when Taylor Swift attended a game at Arrowhead Stadium wearing a Versace denim corset and girlfriend denim shorts, she triggered a retail phenomenon. American Eagle, recognized as "Gen Z's No. 1 selling jeans brand" by NPD DecisionKey, saw denim corset sales surge 112% week-over-week after posting a similar look. Their partnership on this NFL collection with Marissa Lawrence, who has 351,000 Instagram followers at age 25, generated 50% higher sales than the brand's average top-performing posts.

The "WAG effect" extended to jewelry, with Baublebar experiencing a 50% increase in site traffic after Swift wore their Kansas City Chiefs necklace, leading to a complete sellout. The brand has since received numerous custom orders from NFL WAGs, including a special design for Brittany Mahomes featuring Patrick's number in their signature bubble font.

We thought it would be interesting to map out the brands with predominantly female customer bases that have partnered or advertised with the NFL. We see huge powerhouses like L’Oreal on the list, alongside more niche brands like My BlockSkin.  

Market Map

The Beauty Blitz: Blocking Millions from Masculine Brands

Back in 2013, the NFL announced its first beauty partnership with Covergirl, highlighting the company’s new nail polish line. Fast forward a little over a decade later, the 2024 Super Bowl saw numerous first-time health and beauty companies advertising. Cerave, e.l.f., NYX, and Dove paid an estimated $7M hoping that their 30 second ad would create buzz amongst their target customers. Ads were lucrative for brands and the NFL alike – a 2024 report found that 64% of Gen Z and millennial women now hold a 'favorable view' of the NFL. 

e.l.f.’s Super Bowl ad featuring Jennifer Coolidge generated more than 60 billion impressions and a 90% increase in traffic to the e.l.f. website the week it ran. E.l.f. went public in 2016, and has quadrupled its share price since it’s IPO. Estee Lauder debuted a 30-second advertisement on Amazon during the NFL slate in October 2024, featuring Keke Palmer and Katie Feeney, who boast a combined 20M+ social media followers.

2024 Super Bowl Ad Case Study: CeraVe

CeraVe pulled off what might be the greatest marketing conspiracies of this era. They started by planting Reddit rumors about Michael Cera secretly running the company, staged paparazzi photos of him suspiciously hauling bags of skincare products through NYC, and even got him to play coy about it on Bobbi Althoff's podcast. By the time their Super Bowl ad dropped to "set the record straight," the internet was already in a frenzy. The results? An absolute marketing masterclass:

• 32B impressions (half of those before they even aired their Super Bowl ad)

• Press coverage exploded with 2,000+ media pieces diving into the conspiracy

• Google searches for CeraVe shot up 2,000% as everyone tried to figure out if Michael Cera was really their skincare overlord

• The campaign was so brilliant it swept the advertising world's equivalent of the Oscars, nabbing 10 Cannes Lions awards

• Even Michael Cera, who famously avoids social media and doesn't own a smartphone, couldn't resist being part of this elaborate ruse

• And this campaign was inducted into their personal Hall of Fame after creating their most viral TikTok, reaching 3.5M views 

And now CeraVe is getting us to turn heads with Anthony Davis’s pregame routine (featuring scalp moisturizer???). Seems like CeraVe got the heads up on his trade to the Dallas Mavericks…

Off Season Launching in Season

Alongside the rise of powerhouse brand partnerships with the NFL, we’ve also seen collaborations between WAGS/culture betting entrepreneurs and the NFL itself. Last month, the NFL announced the launch of Off Season, a luxury fashion brand founded by Emma Grede, Kristin Juszczyk, and Fanatics. The brand’s first collection premiered a four puffer jackets (retailing for $295-$495) inspired by eleven current NFL players and six legendary NFL franchises, including the two playing in this year’s Super Bowl. Since launching in early January, the new NFL fashion brand has already sold out of multiple skews.

More IRL Activations at Super Bowl: Although the average cost of a Super Bowl ad remains around $7M this year, Fox sold 10 of its 59 ad slots for $8M this year. Companies across all categories are getting creative with how to engage in their most watching live event of the year without paying millions of dollars. Revlon is under new CEO Michelle Peluso (appointed November 2024) and emerged from bankruptcy in 2023 after cutting $2.7B in debt. Their February 6-8 New Orleans pop-up event, costing less than 10% of a traditional Super Bowl ad, will host 3,000 guests (consumers, influencers, and WAGs), showcasing products from Revlon makeup, American Crew hair styling products, and Juicy Couture and John Varvatos fragrances. Revlon took a page out of Fenty’s playbook (partnering with Morgan Riddle for an event at the 2024 US Open) by staging IRL moments with WAGs. 

2025 Roster of Super Bowl Campaigns: 

• NYX Fat Oil x Brittany Broski (watching for that BIG FAT KISS at the end of the game)

• e.l.f. Time Show (hosted by Heidi N Closet and Yvonne Orji) 

• Revlon 

• OPI RapiDry x Wingstop

Are These Brands also Gorgeous Investments?

The growing crossover between female-oriented brands and the NFL is happening in tandem with an explosion in social media marketing and the creator economy. Companies like Rare Beauty (the brand that made founder Selena Gomez a billionaire) and Milk Makeup have cracked the code to going viral on TikTok, with 4.3M and 1.1M followers on the platform, respectively.

It’s a recipe for success, and investors are hopping onboard to help fuel the exponential growth of these viral brands. Here are a few data points: 

• Last year, Summer Fridays announced a growth round led by TSG Consumer Partners, a PE firm with over $16B in AUM. TSG has invested in other players in the space including Huda Beauty, Smashbox Cosmetics, and Revolution Beauty. 

• Drugstore beauty leader e.l.f. went public in 2016, and has tripled in share price since its IPO.  e.l.f. also recently announced a growth round with participation from TSG.

• In 2023, Betches Media was acquired by LBG Media for $24M and an additional $30M in future options. Betches has been named an official NFL media partner, with an audience of 250M global users (86% of whom are women.)

• Fenty Beauty, famously endorsed by founder Rihanna at the 2023 Super Bowl, is valued at $2.8B as of Jan. 2025. In addition to Rihanna, who owns 50% of the company, Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH is Fenty’s other major shareholder. 

It’s clear that sports are becoming an increasingly powerful medium for brands to connect with customers, personalize messaging, and win over new audiences. A few final thoughts on what this means for the future: 

• The success of campaigns by CeraVe, e.l.f., and many other NFL partners point to a new era of cross-promotion between sports and female-focused brands. 

• Licensing agreements between the NFL and brands, such as Off Season’s NFL partnership, may also be on the rise, with industries like jewelry, beauty, and wellness all ripe for deals to be made. 

• Partnerships with individual teams (e.g. Kendra Scott’s partnership with the NY Giants) offer an opportunity for brands to connect with specific customer bases and engage communities on a local level. 

• The ease of virality on social media platforms such as TikTok, coupled with the high level of passion and engagement by sports fans, is a perfect recipe for savvy brands to gain loyal customers and build their audience. 

• The NFL, teams, and investors alike can’t afford to overlook women as they make changes to executive leadership, ownership groups, sponsorships, media deals, and other major decision-making processes. 

Needless to say, Michaela and I will be following the space closely in the years to come. And now… time to lock in for the big game tomorrow!! 

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