Adidas taps Twitter livestream series to boost female athletes

Brief:

Adidas is working with Twitter and sports producer Intersport on their first livestreamed series to focus on women's high school sports. The @3StripeLive series will show six games starting next month as part of an effort to boost media representation of female athletes, per a statement shared with Mobile Marketer.
Adidas, citing research that shows only 4% of media coverage in the U.S. focuses on women's sports, is expanding its She Breaks Barriers initiative with a film featuring ESPN's Maria Taylor and four athletes.
She Breaks Barriers includes the video profile of soccer player Becky Sauerbrunn, a defender on the U.S. Women's National Team and Utah Royals F.C.; Keni Harrison, world-record holder in the 100-meter hurdles; Layshia Clarendon, point guard for the Women's National Basketball Association's Connecticut Sun; and marathon runner and Six Star Finisher Rahaf Khatib.

Insight:

As the world observes International Women's Day on March 8 and prepares for this summer's Women's World Cup in France, Adidas is working to boost awareness of women's athletics with its upcoming series of high school games. Adidas, Twitter and Intersport last year worked together to stream Friday Night Stripes, a series of eight livestreamed high school football games with nationally ranked teams, and by streaming women's volleyball and soccer, the brands open the initiative to a new audience.

For Adidas, the games are a way to cultivate a following among girls and young women who are more likely than older generations to consume content on social media platforms like Twitter. U.S. high school sports participation has increased for 29 straight years for both boys and girls, per the National Federation of State High School Associations, but the raw numbers show a major disparity in participation of boys and girls. A record 4.6 million boys participated in high school sports last year, compared to only 3.4 million girls, which also was a record. By focusing on girls and women in its marketing, Adidas could attract a wider audience of potential customers.

Adidas is one of the most-shared brands on social with 3.57 million followers of its @adidas account on Twitter, while its @adidaswomen account has only 59,700 followers. Last year, @adidaswomen ran a campaign with the hashtag #heretocreate that focused on female athletes and celebrities. The She Breaks Barriers push could help the brand bolster its @adidaswomen following, especially around International Women's Day.

It's not clear how many people watched the @FridayNightStripes series last year, although the upcoming @3StripeLive series is one indication that streamed high school games have an ample online audience. For Twitter, the games may help to boost its audience among U.S. teens, who tend to favor YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and other streaming alternatives to traditional TV.