Good morning, Broadsheet readers! An NFL star’s commencement speech tells women to be homemakers, magician David Copperfield is accused of sexual misconduct, and a new study finds that brands are getting a return on their investment in female athletes. Have a thoughtful Thursday!
– Slam dunk. Brands are investing in female athletes like never before, from Skims’ recent campaign with WNBA players like recently-retired Candace Parker and rookie Cameron Brink to Caitlin Clark’s $28 million eight-year Nike deal. Even the WNBA pregame tunnel is now a fashion show where luxury brands can showcase their designs on players including A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
Those brands are getting a return on their investment, according to a new report. Parity, a platform that connects female athletes with brands, conducted a study in partnership with SurveyMonkey. They found people are 2.3 times more likely to purchase a product when it’s endorsed by a female athlete, compared to another kind of influencer, Fortune is the first to report. For people who identify as fans of women’s sports—even watching just a few times a year—that goes up to 2.8 times more likely.
Parity CEO Leela Srinivasan hypothesizes that people’s admiration of female athletes—and their understanding of the obstacles women face to forge careers in sports—make these players effective marketers compared to both male athletes and influencers across entertainment and culture. Fifty-seven percent of people trust that female athletes believe in the product they promote, compared to 50% for male athletes. Eighty-eight percent see female athletes as role models. In some markets, the effect is even more pronounced. In Germany, women’s sports fans are five times more likely to purchase a product endorsed by a female athlete compared to anyone else.
“Trust and authenticity are everything in marketing,” she says. “Combine these signals—role model status, overcoming obstacles to succeed, and trustworthiness—and it’s not surprising that women athletes have a strong influence on purchasing behavior.”
From longtime athletic sponsors like Nike that are investing more in women players to brands like Skims and Glossier getting into sports for the first time, this data is a sign their choices will pay off.
“With the odds historically stacked against them, people admire professional women athletes,” Srinivasan says, “because they have to work even harder to make it in the sporting world.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
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- Diversity on the docket. Judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday appeared skeptical of rules that require companies listed on the Nasdaq to have at least one woman on their board of directors or to give a reason why they don’t. The judges questioned whether such disclosures are important in helping investors make informed decisions. Bloomberg Law
- Copperfield accused. Sixteen women have accused magician David Copperfield of sexual misconduct spanning from the 1980s to 2014. More than half of the women say they were minors at the time of the alleged misconduct, and some say they were drugged. Copperfield denies the accusations, and his lawyers claim that he “never acted inappropriately with anyone, let alone anyone underage.” The Guardian
- Power up. In August, a school district in Oakland, Calif., will debut a fleet of Zum electric school buses that will transfer unused energy back to the grid. The news is a milestone in the development of vehicle-to-grid technology that Zum, led by CEO and cofounder Ritu Narayanwhich, will be the first to put into practice. Zum reached a valuation of more than $1 billion earlier this year.
- Return to the runway. Victoria's Secret is bringing back its fashion show, five years after it shut down the affair amid backlash over the brand's sexualization of women. WWD
- A new standard. Seven venture firms and organizations are launching the Diversity Data Alliance, which aims to standardize how diversity data is collected throughout the startup ecosystem. TechCrunch
- Fumbling the message. Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is facing blowback for a commencement speech he delivered at Benedectine College in which he told female graduates that a woman’s most important role is as a homemaker. “My beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he said. AP
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Reddit appointed Jyoti Vaidee to vice president of ads product. Mozilla Foundation announced the Markup CEO Nabiha Syed as its new executive director.
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