How Music Is Shaping Women’s Sports Content
When Caitlin Clark drilled a three in Nike’s Super Bowl spot “So Win,” the unmistakable riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” made the moment feel like a battle cry. A few months later, BIA’s “WE ON GO” shook the WNBA All-Star Game with its relentless beat and swaggering hook, transcending its role as a pre-game hype track to become the season’s defining anthem.
Music syncs have become essential to how women’s sports are packaged, promoted, and remembered, shaping fan perception worldwide. A great track can push a brand campaign into cultural conversation and bridge the “fame gap” that still exists between women and men on the world’s biggest stages.
What follows are some of the most notable syncs shaping the sound of women’s sports today, along with the broader role music plays in amplifying athlete visibility.
For Media Production Teams:
For ad execs, editors, music supervisors, and producers working on women’s sports programming and branded campaigns, the right music track heightens the visuals and resonates emotionally with audiences. At Universal Production Music, we offer an expansive sync catalog created for just these moments, including the tools, flexibility, licensing, and support professionals need.
Notable Music Syncs in Women’s Sports Campaigns
The right sync can give a broadcast campaign its signature sound or thread a consistent mood across a season’s coverage. These recent examples show the range of creative approaches that production teams are using to bring women’s sports content to life.
2025 WNBA AllStar Game, BIA’s “WE ON GO” and GloRilla
ESPN’s decision to use BIA’s “WE ON GO” for the 2025 season launch campaign set the tone before the first game tipped off. The track is built on a pounding trap beat and BIA’s clipped, swagger-heavy delivery, feeling urgent, brash, and built for highlight cuts. By the time it blasted through the All-Star Game introductions, the song had already become shorthand for the league’s push to frame itself as fast-paced, unapologetic, and firmly rooted in contemporary women-led hip hop.
Halftime extended that identity with GloRilla’s performance. Her gravel-toned voice and booming low-end production carried the same mix of toughness and charisma, connecting the league with an artist whose brand is confidence and dominance.
With these music choices, the WNBA positioned itself as belonging in the same conversation as the artists defining popular culture right now.
UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 Promo: Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll”
For its promo ahead of the Women’s Euro 2025, the BBC went with Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll,” a track built on grinding synths, a driving four-on-the-floor beat, and Karen O’s sharp, sneering vocal. The sound has the kind of edge more often associated with highlight reels for men’s football. Pairing that with handcrafted claymation sequences of soccer stars Lucy Bronze, Lauren James, and other players under the slogan “Names Will Be Made” flipped the expectation: women’s football could be introduced with the same snarling attitude and confrontational style usually reserved for its male counterparts.
The BBC used this sync track to help position the tournament as both creative and uncompromising, a statement that women’s football isn’t trying to “catch up” to men’s but is setting its own tone and visual language.
Nike Super Bowl 2025: “So Win”
Nike’s “So Win” Super Bowl ad built its impact around sound as much as image. Doechii’s narration comes in steady and commanding, her voice pulling the viewer in before handing the spotlight to the jagged guitar riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” Set against footage of athletes like Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, and Sha’Carri Richardson, the sync framed these players as larger-than-life figures. The track’s distorted guitars and pounding rhythm carry a sense of urgency and swagger, qualities that Nike used to amplify the stature of the women it was celebrating. The choice of Zeppelin gave the ad a sonic punch that matched the ambition of the spot, helping “So Win” rack up more than 66 million Instagram views in just one day and become Nike’s most-watched video to date.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: “Unity” Through Music
The official anthem of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was “Unity” which used sweeping strings and percussion to position women’s soccer as a global spectacle with historic weight. “Bring It On!” by BIA, Diarra Sylla, and Tones and I leaned into pounding drums and chant-like hooks, projecting toughness and urgency while also highlighting the international character of the competition through its trio of women artists from different regions.
In broadcasts and campaigns, “Do It Again” by Benee featuring Mallrat — with its breezy vocals, playful bass, and a sticky chorus — added a celebratory and approachable tone that invited new fans in and framed women’s soccer as both joyful and fierce.
CONCACAF W Gold Cup 2024: Bosson’s “One in a Million”
A3’s “Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)”, with its brooding groove and bluesy grit, gave broadcasts a harder edge, presenting women’s soccer with the same toughness often attached to crime dramas and fight sports. At the other end of the spectrum, the Spanish-language anthem “Vamos”, performed live at the final, leaned into soaring vocals and crowd-call refrains, firmly tying women’s soccer to football culture across Latin America.
Other tracks rounded out the sound of the tournament across broadcasts and promos. Our Lady Peace’s “Run” connected the event to a familiar North American stadium-rock aesthetic, while the soaring pop chorus of Bosson’s “One in a Million” cast the players as inspirational figures and the tournament as an uplifting milestone.
Women’s Tennis Sets the Benchmark for Athlete Visibility and Pay Equity
Women’s tennis has been at the forefront of gender progress in sports for decades. From Billie Jean King’s fight for equal prize money to Serena Williams’ reign as a cultural icon, the sport has set benchmarks for athlete visibility, media coverage, and commercial power. No other women’s sport has consistently put its stars on front pages or secured them global endorsement deals the way tennis has.
Today, stars like Coco Gauff, Iga Świątek, and Naomi Osaka are among the most recognizable female athletes worldwide, regularly sharing equal time in the media spotlight and on TV broadcasts with male stars. The Grand Slams like Wimbledon and the US Open offer equal prize money, making tennis unique in professional sports.
Women tennis players are also considered elite global ambassadors, commanding multi-million-dollar deals with Nike, Louis Vuitton, Yonex, and beyond.
Music Syncs in Media Involving Women’s Tennis Players
Coco Gauff – New Balance
Set to Experience Unlimited’s “Hey You”, this upbeat ad highlighted Gauff’s drive and relatability, framing her as both accessible and aspirational.
Serena Williams – Lincoln Motor Company
The Killers’ “The Man” reinforced Serena’s image as a trailblazer and leader, aligning her athletic dominance with cultural empowerment.
Maria Sharapova – Nike “Pretty” (2006)
Set to “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story, this landmark, award-winning ad played on Sharapova’s celebrity image before cutting sharply to her serve, shifting focus from appearance to power and redefining how female athletes could be portrayed.
Discover Music for Women’s Sports by Mood, Genre, or Reference Track
Whether you're cutting highlight reels, producing docuseries, or scoring hype reels, Universal Production Music has a catalog that spans every genre, tempo, and mood. With 630,000+ global tracks and new music added weekly, you’ll always find fresh options.
Get Inspired by Playlists That Empower
We’re constantly curating playlists to reflect fresh trends in women’s sports and athlete-driven content. Listen to our stadium sports hype playlist to capture the grit and energy of game day. Want a slower simmer? Use songs from our big anthem playlist, with cinematic builds and emotive chords to score redemption arcs or trailblazing achievements. Our sports motivation and achievement collection delivers driving beats and cinematic builds that capture ambition and excellence.
These collections make it easy to discover a high quality track for your next production, and to keep up with the evolving sound of women’s sports in media.
Advanced Sync Tools for Production Teams
Music discovery shouldn’t slow down your production schedule. That’s why we offer intelligent tools designed for professionals. Our AI Similarity Search lets you upload a reference track and instantly find songs that match its rhythm, tone, or feel—ideal for when clients ask for “something like Sia & Labyrinth’s ‘Incredible’” or “something like Brittney Davis’ ‘Stand Up’.” Whether you're matching ethereal, emotional builds or hard-hitting, high-BPM energy, this tool helps you instantly surface sonically aligned tracks that bring the same impact. Need help finding a creative direction? Our in-house Music Direction Services connect you with experts who can handpick tracks that align with your project goals, sports themes, and desired tone.
The Future of Women’s Sports Storytelling
As the spotlight on women’s sports continues to expand, music becomes a key storytelling element. It sets the emotional tempo, signals moments of triumph, and connects athletes to audiences. With Universal Production Music, you can register to access a library of high quality tracks, or learn more about our licensing solutions to get started.
