If anyone is looking forward to a day when sports will stop being big business, they have a long wait ahead of them. Yet, it is on the rare occasion that women audiences and stakeholders are put into consideration when drawing up budgets. The figures suggest things ought to be different.

14 million
Females account for more than a third of 14 million-plus people that tune into major events like the NBA Finals, World Series, Daytona 500, and Stanley Cup Finals.

File: Serena

45.9%
In 2011, of the Super Bowl’s 45.9%, 111 million viewers were women. 50 million women were cheering on the Steelers or Packers. The NFL shop online puts out an entire line of female-targeted merchandise for every team.

5.2 million
5.2 million women tuned into the Women’s World Cup final between Japan and the U.S.  (compared to 8.3 million men), making it the fifth-most viewed sporting event among females. The U.S. quarterfinal match against Brazil also squeezes onto the top ten list, just head of both the men’s and women’s Wimbledon finals, with 1.2 million female viewers

2.4 million
The recent U.S. Open Women’s final , won by Samantha Stosur over Serena Williams, had slightly more male viewers (2.7 million) than female (2.4 million). Women’s soccer, though, proved no different than men’s baseball, hockey or hoops – all rely on a solid female audience of 30% or so to complement a viewership that’s predominantly male.

70%
The only top ten female-viewed sport that actually has an overwhelmingly female audience is figure skating: about 70% of the 3.9 million viewers drawn to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last January.

Source: Forbes; Nielson