“Women’s sport has a really exciting future ahead” - Empower Play, Panel Discussion
Leading industry figures share their insights as Thunder partners commit further funds to the development of the team and wider women and girls’ cricket initiatives across the county.
Last week Thursday (May 25), the Empower Play initiative - underpinned by the Thunder headlining the T20 doubleheader for the second year in a row - with £1 from each ticket going to women and girls participation programmes via the Lancashire Cricket Foundation.
A key activity on the day was the hosting of two enlightening panel discussions with leading figures from the world of women’s sport, highlighting the club’s commitment to lead the development of girls and women cricket, as well as providing equity in elite performance.
Hosted by Lancashire Cricket CEO Daniel Gidney and featuring representatives from Manchester United, global sports marketing agency Two Circles and two club partners, CMS and Sportsbreaks.com, the first of two panels - which you can watch in full below - gave a fascinating insight into the current state of play with regards to women’s sport in the UK.
“There has never been a better time for the commercial future of women's sport. We've had another record-breaking year. Attendances and commercial revenues are growing and that’s hugely exciting,” said Miwa Sykes, Lead Consultant at global sports marketing agency Two Circles.
“We’ve seen three major trends that are helping to supercharge this growth. The first is around starting to build habits in women’s sports. We’ve gone through the phase of saying women's sports is really inspiring to prove the demand and the audience. The second part is really about not replicating what we do for men’s sport. We do a lot of work with audience data and whilst there is a lot of overlap in people who watch men’s and women’s sports, there’s also a huge new audience that we're tapping into.
“The final point is around driving commercial growth. We are seeing this in a few different ways and the major one is unbundling sponsorship. It comes back to the point that there is huge value in women’s sport as a standalone product. Women's sport has a really exciting future ahead”, Miwa continued.
Annie Hale, HR Director at Manchester United, gave a fascinating insight on how the club approached building the right culture, structures, and diversity within the organisation. “We set up our women's team only about five years ago now and finished second in the league and reached the FA Cup Final this season. We are really proud of the team and there’s been a lot of work in that now to set that up to where it is today,” said Hale.
Hale stressed the importance of providing equality in terms of facilities and services to the two teams: “We've actually redesigned the operating models so that we mirror the men’s team now. The women are now based at Carrington - where the men train - they eat there, they have the same nutritionists and medical teams, we’ve developed an academy, and we’ve put £1m extra funding into the team for next year. We are just so happy to have everyone in the same place.”
CMS - an official partner of Lancashire Cricket since 2022 - last week announced it had further increased its support for the Thunder. Geraldine Ryan, a Partner at the International law firm, said: “When we had the initial conversation my colleague and I said: “Why on earth wouldn’t we do this?” We can't be talking in our own business about the importance of recognising the contribution of females at all levels and in all roles, and then not do the same in terms of sport.
“The women’s game has flourished in recent years, but there is still a lot of work to be done, particularly around encouraging more girls from different backgrounds into the game. CMS is committed to diversity and inclusion, not just within the firm but across society.”
Manchester-based sports travel experiences provider Sportbreaks.com, made history in 2021 when they became the Thunder’s first standalone sponsor with their logo proudly displayed on the front of the team’s playing shirts. Amanda Brandariz, Head of Sportsbreaks.com, joined the panel and discussed why the organisation partners with Lancashire Cricket.
“We firmly believe that sport should be accessible to everybody. Our motto is ‘For fans, by fans’ and we want everybody else across the whole world to feel that way, that they can be a fan and sport doesn't have to be male orientated. From a spectator point of view, and also in terms of participation, we’ve really got to try and change people’s perception. We hope that Sportbreaks.com’s contribution will help get more eyes on women and girls’ sport and provide more opportunity,” said Amanda.
In the second panel discussion that took place as part of the Empower Play initiative at Emirates Old Trafford on May 25, industry leaders shared their on the drive for equity in elite performance.
Hosted again by Daniel Gidney and featuring representatives from the Sale Sharks, Thunder, the Lancashire Cricket Foundation, and specialist sport and wellbeing GP Dr. Sally Harris, the second of two panels - took a closer look at the issue of providing equity in women’s sport.
“It’s not quite as established [as male sports] and the money coming in is nowhere near the same, but we have to recognise that it's not just something you can switch on overnight. I’m proud of the fact that out of all of the women’s teams in this country, Lancashire is the only one that pays our part-time players to train,” began Gidney.
Vicky Irwin, a player for Sale Sharks Women who also operates as the Brand and Community Manager at the club, highlighted the financial dilemma that many female athletes face. “I would like to dedicate more time to being an athlete, but it's a struggle. It’s vitally important to show the pathway because it is there. Turning pro involves things I never dreamed of. So, I think we have to get sponsors and if we can get more investment in the game, we’re more valuable as athletes and as a game.”
The drive for equal pay in men and women’s sports was under the spotlight and Jen Barden, Cricket Development Manager for the Lancashire Cricket Foundation, gave a fascinating insight on the journey she has seen women’s cricket go on since she got involved in the sport. “Ultimately, we need to get to that point [equal pay]. But there's still a long way to go as to. We're on a long journey to that due to some of the barriers that are in place,” said Barden.
“The game is moving on at such a quick pace as well. Five or 10 years ago, from where cricket was and women's sport was, it has moved on almost too fast for everyone to keep up with at the moment, so I think we will see that happen quicker than anyone thought.”
Thunder bowler and broadcaster, Phoebe Graham, also joined the panel and when asked about the similarities and differences in salaries and funding in men and women’s cricket, she said: “I think men's and women's sports essentially need to work as their own commercial entities and business models. But what does need to be fundamental is that basic rights are in place, like the girls at Lancs who pay to play, that's so important.”
Doctor Sally Harris provided a medical perspective on performance. She has worked with countless elite sportspeople and understands the importance of nutrition, strength, and conditioning as non-negotiables. Harris concluded the panel discussing the specific challenges women overcome in elite sports compared to their male counterparts.
“I think there's lots of similarities in that all athletes are committed, dedicated, and they're wired differently to the rest of us. But female athletes do have a really tough time to be able to make a career out of sport, compared to the men.”
"There are some other big differences between men and women athletes and the main ones, possibly menstruation and fertility. The Lionesses changed the colour of their shorts. It seems so obvious doesn't it really, ‘we'll change the colour to avoid any embarrassment of menstrual loss’."
If you would like to support the Empower Play campaign and help fund women and girls cricket initiatives across the county via the Lancashire Cricket Foundation, please click here.
To find out more about women and girls’ cricket across Lancashire, including how to find a club, please click here.