How The ESPNW Summit Is Shaping The Next Era Of Women’s Sports

The growth across leagues, audiences, and investments throughout women’s sport reflects years of advocacy, strategy, and persistence. The success the industry is currently experiencing is the result of intentional leadership and the collective work of those who believed in the potential of women’s sports long before the numbers caught up. Those shifts and momentum are exactly what each ESPNW Summit works to capture each year.

In just a few weeks, leaders across the industry will join forces in Ojai, California, for the 16th annual ESPNW Summit presented by Toyota. The agenda features figures from across sports, entertainment, business, and culture, including Elizabeth Banks, Ilona Maher, and Maren Morris, alongside executives, investors, and innovators working to shape what comes next. The event once again brings together people who believe in not just watching women’s sports grow but ensuring that the growth is sustainable.

To better understand the evolution of this year’s event and its role in shaping the broader movement, I connected with Rachel Epstein, Vice President of Live Sports and Audience Expansion at ESPN. Epstein oversees marketing for properties spanning the WNBA, NWSL, NCAA Championships, MLB, and F1, as well as ESPNW brands and experiences. She also leads the programming and development of ESPNW events, including the annual Women + Sport Summit. As she explained, “Every year, we aim to build an agenda that reflects the most timely, relevant topics swirling around women in sports, along with a healthy dose of inspiration and entertainment.”

Harnessing An Evolving Industry

The Summit’s focus has evolved alongside the rise of women’s sports. In its early years, conversations often centered on access and advocacy. Today, the agenda reflects a different landscape where women’s sports are continuing to build on historic audience growth, driving new investments, and reshaping the entire sport industry market. “Over the past 16 years, the ESPNW Summit has created a community and experience that has been a true catalyst of progress and change for women in sports,” Epstein said. “It’s no longer about creating momentum and laying the groundwork, it’s about harnessing and building upon the unmatched growth we’re experiencing.”

That evolution means the discussions now extend well beyond equality into topics such as expansion, sponsorship, institutional investment, athlete branding, and cultural influence. In that way, it seems that the Summit has become an annual pulse check for the industry, where data meets dialogue and the business case for women’s sports becomes increasingly undeniable.

A defining feature of this year’s program is its cross-industry collaboration. “Women’s sports today are both part of culture and in many ways shaping culture,” Epstein said. “When we bring together leaders from entertainment, fashion, and business, we’re simply reflecting that growing intersection.” That blend of fields mirrors the new ways women’s sport leagues are connecting with new audiences. “The WNBA and fashion are inexorably tied and that has played an important role in the League’s growth,” she explained. “More and more venture capital is flowing into women’s sports [so] let’s examine and discuss how that will shape the future.” The Summit exemplifies how that strategy extends beyond screens and into shared spaces that drive authentic connection.

Honoring The Builders

The timing of this year’s Summit feels especially significant. Record-breaking viewership across women’s basketball, the NWSL, and global soccer has coincided with unprecedented levels of sponsorship investment. Sponsor engagement this year sends a very clear message that women’s sports are smart business. Toyota returns for its thirteenth year as presenting sponsor, joined by adidas, Eli Lilly, Google Pixel, and McDonald’s. Epstein said. “Across all of their important investment in the space, Summit included, [these sponsors] are sending a clear message that women’s sports are smart business.”

As women’s sports continue what Epstein describes as an “up-and-to-the-right” trajectory, the Summit remains one of the few spaces where leaders can reflect, strategize, and connect. “We’re in a stretch of unprecedented growth rooted in years of advocacy and hard work by so many leaders and trailblazers who have long understood the potential,” she said. “The Summit celebrates and honors that foundation, while convening to unpack and learn from the successes and the challenges, and then together chart the path for continued change and growth.”

Continued Momentum Through Accessibility

“I hope everyone, whether in person or streaming, leaves feeling energized by the progress we’ve made and inspired by what’s still possible,” Epstein said. “Whether you’re an athlete, executive, entrepreneur, or fan, our goal is for you to walk away with both insight and action: new perspectives, new connections, and new ideas to help advance women in sports.” Accessibility remains central. Epstein and her team continue to expand the reach of the Summit’s livestream to ensure anyone can tune in. This year, fitness and broadcast personality Jess Sims will host the digital experience, which remains free and open to all.

For close to two decades, the ESPNW Summit has provided a space where the business of women’s sport meets the personal mission to expand opportunity, visibility, and voice. And all these years later, as women’s sports reach new heights in both cultural relevance and commercial investment, the Summit feels more important than ever. The Summit will run from October 28 through October 30 and virtual attendance is free. For more about how to register and a closer look at the full agenda of speakers, you can head to the ESPNW Summit website.