iHeartMedia and Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment Launch Women’s Sports Audio Network – The First-Ever Audio Platform Dedicated to Women’s Sports

America’s #1 audio company iHeartMedia and Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment today announced a new partnership to launch the Women’s Sports Audio Network (WSAN), the first-ever audio platform dedicated exclusively to women’s sports. As a net-new audio platform dedicated to exploring and celebrating women’s sports competitions, including athletes’ stories on and off the field, WSAN is a free, ad-supported network that will include podcasts, daily sports reports, spotlights and audio vignettes, social content, promotion and industry event presence, and will be available across iHeartMedia’s broadcast, digital and podcast platforms and everywhere podcasts are heard.

The launch of the first-ever women’s sports audio network comes at a time when investment and viewership numbers for women’s sports are on the rise. This year, elite women’s sports are currently expected to become a $1 billion industry, representing a 300% increase in just three years, while in the US, women's sports still only receive 15% of media coverage.

By launching a network dedicated to delivering what fans want most – more access to the athletes, the influencers, the stories and the daily conversation around all things women sports – iHeartMedia and Deep Blue aim to amplify well-known and new influential female sports athletes and relevant programming to millions of listeners nationwide, and also unlock access to inventory and opportunities for brands to engage in an emerging market across various sports and communities. In a recent Deloitte report, research found that for every dollar spent in women’s sports, more than seven dollars was generated in “customer value for that organization.”

Women’s sports extends much further than the popular NCAA tournament and World Cup; The Women’s Sports Audio Network is designed to offer talent and programming year-round with the launch of new daily shows focused on a wide range of sports and commentary from a variety of talent, including leading sports media personality Sarah Spain and WNBA Legend, three-time Olympic gold medalist, Sheryl Swoopes, with more talent to be announced in the coming weeks.

This new partnership with Deep Blue, which is led by agency veteran Laura Correnti as Founder and CEO and WNBA Legend Sue Bird as Chief Strategy Officer, reinforces iHeartMedia’s commitment to accelerate growth in women’s sports by driving equity in coverage, representation, and access to women’s sports every day, everywhere in America through the power of iHeart’s mass reach.