Locker room talk has a price tag
I’m pissed.
Admittedly, I probably spend a lot of time ticked off, but I rarely bring it to the internet, let alone to my professional corner of the internet.
But here we are – I’m irate about the US Men’s hockey team and “locker room talk”.
Yes – there is the Trump part of this but frankly, I find his comments unsurprising and just more of the same. Do not confuse this with not being gutted that the President of the United States doesn’t give a damn about women as real human beings who deserve respect. As a coping mechanism, I just can no longer be shocked by anything that man does.
But what I am gutted about is all of the other men.
I adore sports. I love rooting for my hometown Denver Nuggets and I proudly wear my Seattle Storm sweatshirt in any city that I visit. I tear up watching athletes as their dreams come true, or even more so as they experience real heartbreak. I have profound respect for anyone who commits to the physical and mental challenges of performing at their best. So to see these men, who celebrated the women’s gold medal and who showed real vulnerability by celebrating their win with little kids who had lost their dad, throw it all away because of the inability to refrain from laughing at a sexist joke pisses me off.
In the US, women control or influence at least 85% of consumer spending resulting in a purchasing power estimated at over $10 trillion annually.
Women have revitalized brick and mortar book stores. For years data has shown that female readers make up 80% of worldwide fiction sales and now with our purchasing power (and an assist from #BookTok) book stores are confident enough to (re)open their doors. There were 422 independent bookstore openings across the US in 2025 and Barnes & Noble has opened more stores in 2025 that it opened collectively from 2009- 2019.
With all of this interest in reading, Reese Witherspoon started a book clubhighlighting stories about women, by female authors that, in less than 5 years, grew into a $900 million dollar company that produces female-driven narratives across film and television. Reese’s picks spend weeks on best sellers lists and shows win Emmys. Centering women pays off.
We are seeing tremendous growth of women supporting women’s sports, with Nielsen reporting that by 2030 60% of women’s soccer fans globally will be female. This growth is offering lucrative brand sponsorship opportunities. For example Coach, recently became the official handbag partner of the WNBA – where WNBA fans are 44% more likely to make a purchase from a brand sponsor than the general population.
Black women account for an estimated $340 billion or more in annual spending – a figure that has only grown since Nielsen first tracked it – making them the largest and most influential group of Black consumers.
The takeaway? Women have money, and will spend it. That spending is reshaping communities. This power should not be ignored. Or I suppose it can be at your own peril. The NHL was already seeing a spike in ticket sales as a result of the absolute phenomenon that is Heated Rivalry. But one “funny” joke in the locker room likely just risked the opportunity to grow their fan – aka advertising – base.
For us on campaigns, we cannot ignore this information. We already know that women fuel democratic wins across the county – but as we build media plans let’s remember women are repeatedly left out of advertisements and 91% of women feel misunderstood in advertising. Knowing this information, we have the opportunity to make more impactful campaign messages for a group that we already know is paying attention.
Consider this my halftime speech – let me know how we can help your campaign this year.
– Breann
