Scarborough: Female Fans on the Upswing

Fifty million women are avid followers of pro sports, according to Scarborough Sports Marketing, and the percentage of adult women sports fans has doubled in four years.
The company said that, according to its study, Major League Baseball was the winner at gaining women fans; the number of loyal female MLB fans jumped from 12% in 1998 to 28% in 2002. And 31% said they are loyal NFL fans, compared with 17% in 1998.
Neal Pilson, a consultant to Scarborough, said, “We’ve seen more women at major sports events and know they’re watching television coverage in greater numbers.”
The markets with the largest percent of loyal fans are Denver and Minneapolis. Other high-ranking cities include Buffalo, Cleveland, St. Louis, Atlanta and Jacksonville, Fla.
“Female sports fans represent an untapped market that the sports industry should be targeting,” said the company’s Howard Goldberg.