The landscape of sports business continues its transformation with more women participating as industry leaders as they transition from the pitch to the boardroom. Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is focused on leveraging the growing international excitement and investment in women’s sports. WBC’s extensive network of corporate sponsors, organizational partners, and champions is a vehicle to advance women in the business of sports, and recognize women trailblazers leading the way for the next generation of executives in their field.
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The Game Plan
- Establish recognition platforms that recognize and celebrate women leaders in sports business who demonstrate exceptional leadership, business acumen, and commitment to advancing women in the workplace.
- Leverage the established WBC community to connect our powerful network with high-level stakeholders in the sports industry, fostering innovations that ensure women’s representation at every decision-making table.
- Build an Athlete Business Academy to equip and empower women athletes as they embark on business endeavors following their athletic careers.
- Share collective research, best practices, and stories that support athlete advancement and demonstrate how athletic success translates to women’s leadership in business.
2025 - Featured and Integrated Events
2024 - Inaugural Event
Recent Research
Women CEOs in America – Field to Fortune: Athletics and Women CEO Leadership
In the 2025 version of our annual report, we share our newest approach to contextualizing the importance of reinforcing many pipelines for women to ascend to the CEO role. In addition to reporting on the trends for women’s CEO leadership across the business landscape, this year’s report theme is “Field to Fortune: Athletics and Women CEO Leadership,” offering new analysis that builds on existing research to explore the connection between women’s executive leadership and athletic participation as a pathway to CEO leadership.
Athlete Business Academy - Launching 2026
In Fall 2025, WBC convenes five roundtables of athletes, sports, business, and advocacy leaders across the United States to set the foundation for the Athlete Business Academy — a national initiative designed to bridge the gap between athletic excellence and executive leadership by establishing concrete pipelines, translating skills and experiences, and connect companies to an unleveraged and ambitious talent pool.
This transformative initiative will address the current disparity of women in executive roles and create pathways to business leadership. The Academy will:
- Equip women athletes in translating and applying their tactical, operational, and strategic mastery in sports fields into executive business roles across industries.
- Empower a new era of women leaders to get results by driving growth, innovation, and operational excellence.
Core Program Pillars
- Curriculum Design – Business acumen, leadership, and flexible modules (in-person, virtual, hybrid)
- Mentorship & Externships – 1:1 mentoring, fellowships, and direct industry workforce placements
- Corporate & League Partnerships – Collaboration with employers, leagues, and universities to bolster talent pipeline