Soccer, skiing, gymnastics, tennis. All four sports are represented among the top five most marketable female athletes of the year, but how about the rest of the list?
SportsPro recently released its 50 most marketable athletes of 2023. The list, presented in conjunction with NorthStar Solutions Group, touches 13 sports and 26 nationalities. And with a record 23 spots on this year’s version — including half of the top eight — female athletes are starting to gain more representation. So let’s break down the most marketable female athletes of the last year.
But before we dive in, a quick word on how these marketability scores came about from the ones who put the list together themselves:
“Athletes are ranked according to their ‘Marketability Score,’ which is split into three distinct scoring components: Brand Strength, Total Addressable Market, and Economics. These weighted scores have been added together to generate an overall Marketability Score out of 100, with each athlete assigned a proportionate score in relation to the top performer for each metric.”
To be considered for the list, an athlete must have been active during the companies’ evaluation period from June 15, 2022-Aug. 20, 2023. From there, marketability scores were calculated through various qualitative and quantitative drivers, all of which are “weighted and comprised of comprehensive mathematical and statistical formulas pulling from multiple primary and secondary data sources.”
So, who are we to argue with math? Without further ado, let’s jump into the most marketable female athletes of 2023.
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1. Alex Morgan (No. 3 overall)
Nationality: American
Age: 34
Sport: Soccer
Marketability Score: 92.32
2. Megan Rapinoe (No. 5 overall)
Nationality: American
Age: 38
Sport: Soccer
Marketability Score: 90.14
3. Mikaela Shiffrin (No. 6 overall)
Nationality: American
Age: 28
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Marketability Score: 89.91
4. Simone Biles (No. 8 overall)
Nationality: American
Age: 26
Sport: Gymnastics
Marketability Score: 89.48
5. Coco Gauff (No. 12 overall)
Nationality: American
Age: 19
Sport: Tennis
Marketability Score: 87.95
6. Naomi Osaka (No. 14 overall)
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 25
Sport: Tennis
Marketability Score: 84.98
7. Lucy Bronze (No. 15 overall)
Nationality: British
Age: 31
Sport: Soccer
Marketability Score: 83.34
8. Leah Williamson (No. 17 overall)
Nationality: British
Age: 26
Sport: Soccer
Marketability Score: 81.63
9. Aryna Sabalenka (No. 18 overall)
Nationality: Belarusian
Age: 25
Sport: Tennis
Marketability Score: 81.60
10. Angel Reese (No. 19 overall)
Nationality: American
Age: 21
Sport: Basketball
Marketability Score: 80.56
11. Emma Raducanu
12. Beth Mead
13. Alexia Putellas
14. Olivia Dunne
15. Smriti Mandhana
16. Valentina Shevchenko
17. Petra Kvitova
18. Chloe Kim
19. Mapi Leon
20. Sam Kerr
21. Eileen Gu
22. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
23. Ons Jabeur
