Women and Sports: The Revolution Continues
More women become empowered as athletes as the women’s sports economy shows relentless momentum
From trend to tipping point: since our 2026 trend, “Women and Sports: The Revolution Continues,” was released in January, the momentum behind women’s sports has accelerated across leagues, investment, media, fandom and participation. What looked like a cultural shift is increasingly becoming a structural one, with women’s sport moving firmly into the mainstream—and creating new opportunities across the wider wellness economy.
The biggest change since January is the sheer expansion of the professional landscape. New women’s leagues are launching across hockey, volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball, flag football, lacrosse and rugby, while established properties are attracting new investment and audiences. The result is a much more diverse women’s sports ecosystem—and more opportunities for fans to find a sport, team or athlete that speaks to them.
Investment is following the audience. New funds and financing rounds are targeting women’s sports and its surrounding media and commercial ecosystem, while broadcasters and platforms are giving women’s sport more prominent space. Women’s sports bars are also becoming a visible part of the culture, creating dedicated places for female fans to watch, socialize and build community.
Female athletes are increasingly powerful cultural and commercial platforms in their own right. They are moving beyond traditional endorsements into fashion, beauty, wellness, footwear, media and other businesses, using their own experiences to identify gaps and create products and services for women.
At the grassroots level, the shift is equally striking. Women are lifting heavier, joining leagues, and taking up sports–from women globally training hard and competing in the spawning hybrid fitness competitions like Hyrox to Gen Z women in China rushing to golf. And the women-only fitness and strength training studios just continue to multiply. Sports are increasingly being framed not simply as a way to change the body, but as a source of strength, confidence, connection and identity.
The trend is also becoming more global. From the growing participation and viewership of women’s sports in India to new women-focused sporting initiatives across Asia and the Middle East, the appetite is expanding well beyond the Western markets that have traditionally driven the market and conversation.
The trend explores the diverse ways that the trend is impacting the wellness market, from gyms, fitness studios and wellness resorts shifting their women’s training programs from “smaller to stronger” to more wellness brands partnering with elite female athletes, whether as brand ambassadors or in designing their programs.
Together, these shifts signal a structural change, not a moment: women’s sports are no longer asking for permission, but actively redefining what power, performance and possibility look like—on the field, in culture and across the global wellness economy.
The “Women and Sports” trend is written by Amy Eisinger in The Future of Wellness 2026 Trends report. Purchase it HERE.
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