I love football. I really do. Football is wonderful to watch, even better to see replays of, and I’m pretty sure the only thing that can beat a football tailgate is Krzyzewskiville (and that’s debatable). I love walking into a stadium hours before kickoff, when it is only the grounds crew, and being overcome with the tremendous feeling of peace, serenity and excitement because in a few short hours battle is going to ensue. The only thing that can displace my game day euphoria and inner calm is the sight of PINK jerseys.
Part of me (a very small part) wants to thank the person who came up with this idea because they are making an effort to recognize the existence of the female football audience. The other part of me (the majority) dislikes everything about pink jerseys and more than anything wants to yell, “Be a fan wear the colors!”
At this point in time I would like to say two things:
1) I freely admit that I don’t know what team revenue looks like on pink jerseys, obviously if they sell like hot cakes more power to you.
2) I’m okay with babies and the 65+ crowd wearing pink jerseys- they’ve reached retirement they can do whatever they want.
I really could devote a nice long column to my hatred of pink jerseys, but I’ll spare you. The main issue for me with all of this pink jersey, and rhinestone, bedazzled attire is that I think the sport industry has the potential to miss the boat on the changing psychographics of female fans.
With this said I understand that I may not be the average or typical female sport fan but I do firmly believe that there are more women out there like me. I’d like to provide some examples:
Case 1) Friend A, is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan. Player stats, who needs to have a longer session with the team shrink, you name it she knows it. Yes, this friend grew up as an athlete and played in college but take a look at…
Case 2) Friend B, grew up doing musical theatre, did not play organized sports, and fanatically follows the San Diego Chargers. She practically lives on NFL.com and I was with her when she discovered the then new Jared Allen interviews regarding his now famous mullet- he will forever hold a special place in our hearts, mostly due to the hysterical laughter that ensued, but I digress.
These experiences have left me wondering if the market is really ready to capture this generation of committed female sport fans and their incomes. It is not a straight forward task- these are women who watch ‘Sex and The City’ or ‘Project Runway’ marathons and then plan their weekends around UFC fights, College or professional games. They are not a myth; they may be a minority, but their passion for their teams has an infinite potential to reach and convert other female fans. This potential is what I firmly believe needs exploring, and is why I have such an issue with pink jerseys.
For me, pink jerseys take women out of the role of fan or supporter and instead place them in the role of groupie. They do nothing to further the image or presence of women in sports or as serious sport fans. What it ultimately comes down to, is respect. When I click on “Shop 49er merchandise”, I don’t want the first thing I see to be the pink studded Reebok sweetheart jersey.
Yes, I’m a woman but please respect me for the fan I am. It takes me back to grade school when I would play basketball with the boys and would get guarded by the worst player because I was a girl. That quickly changed when I started to score and my team started to win. The point I’m making here is that female fans are just as competitive and strong willed as their male counterparts; but they are different, which is why the industry has not been able to zero in and effectively reach them.
I don’t think that the next generation of female fans will settle for a stereotype or a pink jersey. This new generation of female fans are competitors who have played on teams, cheered for teams and don’t view sports as a “guy thing”.
They need to be marketed to and reached, but they don’t need to be told what a female fan should look like. I’m reminded of the phrase “Real men wear pink” and I’d like to add to this that “Real sport fans wear team colors” and the last time I checked, pink was not one of them .
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