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By Neal Cummins
We’re two weeks out from the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup and, a few low-level activations aside, there’s a notable silence from the sponsorship industry in Ireland.
Apart from Energia – who will be rolling out a Women’s World Cup support campaign – brands are missing a moment to truly get behind the women’s game, despite the clear evidence of its potential to inspire, grow, transform the sport and contribute to positive change.
Women’s rugby has faced constant challenges in Ireland – underfunding, inequality in access to resources, lack of visibility and inadequate support structures. Despite the tireless efforts of players, the women’s game continues to operate in the shadow of its male counterpart, both in exposure and in commercial investment.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup should be a rallying point. Yet to date, for the most part, brands have been absent from the conversation. This is more than a missed marketing opportunity – it’s a failure to play an important role in driving Irish sport towards equity and inclusivity. An important role that can have huge commercial benefits for your business.
Brands have the power to create a platform for women’s rugby – giving it appropriate visibility, while aligning themselves with a movement for positive societal change. Sponsorship is not charity. It’s a partnership that, when executed authentically, creates powerful shared value.
What women’s sport can offer brand partners is invaluable. An open gateway to an under-served but highly engaged audience, a chance to build genuine brand affinity through meaningful connections, opportunities to showcase their own brand values and what they stand for, and an opportunity to tell stories that resonate.
We don’t have to look far to see how transformative brand investment in women’s sport can be. When Sky stepped in as title sponsor of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team, it wasn’t just a sponsorship – it was a commitment to elevate the team’s visibility, telling their stories while pushing for greater equality in sport.
The partnership became a catalyst for increased visibility, leading to record attendances and television viewership. In turn, it led to record participation numbers of young girls playing football in Ireland. The partnership has been an enormous success for Sky – creating deep roots for the brand in the Irish market and driving year-on-year growth in brand affinity scores.
Similarly, SoftCo’s long-term partnership with the Irish Women’s Hockey Team played a pivotal role in their journey to the 2018 World Cup Final – a moment that captured the nation’s imagination and demonstrated the inspiring power of women’s sport. The sponsorship didn’t just provide financial support, it created a platform to celebrate the team’s success and push for the growth of hockey in Ireland. It also blew up SoftCo’s brand awareness scores, making the brand an almost household name.
These examples prove that when commercial partners believe in their partnerships and invest and activate with purpose, the impact is enormous – for the sport, for the athletes and for the sponsors themselves.
Supporting women’s rugby is not a box-ticking exercise and treating it as such is a waste of your marketing budget. It should be treated as a strategic investment and a marketing and communications platform, that meaningfully connects your brand with existing and potential customers. It allows you to engage audiences on a different level and align with their beliefs, their values and their passions.
Women’s rugby in Ireland should be flourishing. Yet, for some reason, brands continue to sit on the sidelines. Our men’s international team has been hovering around the World No. 1 spot for over a decade and commercial investment has played an important role in their success.
Another Women’s Rugby World Cup is upon us and it should be seen as the catalyst for a new era of support and investment in the women’s game. Any brand that realises and capitalises on its potential, will be given the opportunity to transform its business and brand sentiment.
If commercial partners wait until trophies are lifted to recognise the value of women’s rugby, they will have missed the chance to be the spark that ignites growth. Now is the time to act. Let’s see the TV ads, the billboards, the digital marketing and bus T-sides.
Neal Cummins is Director of Communications at Navy Blue Sports, Ireland’s only Communications, Talent Management and Sponsorship Agency.
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