Key Takeaways:
- Women’s fanwear market gap: Despite roughly 72% of women identifying as avid sports fans, 66% say sports organizations don’t understand or appeal to them—and 79% say they’d buy more merch if better options existed.
- Fashion-forward fanwear brands: DannijoPro, founded by Danielle Snyder Shorenstein and Jodie Snyder Morel, offers NBA-licensed crocheted, bedazzled, and cropped fanwear priced from ~$100 to $400.
- Women’s sports revenue jump: Global women’s sports revenue has grown 340% since 2022 and is projected to exceed $3 billion in 2026, per Deloitte’s annual Game Changers report.
For years, the women’s section of any stadium merch store told the same story: a few pink tees, some scaled-down jerseys and a couple of hats nobody really wanted to wear. Now that’s changing fast, and the brands leading the way are proving that female fans are one of the most valuable and underserved consumer segments in the entire sports merchandise market.
Front Office Sports described the women’s sports merch market as one of “scarce supply” as recently as 2024. But the desert is blooming. Entrepreneurs, retailers, and major brands are waking up to a simple truth: if you build stylish, well-fitted, licensed fanwear for women, they will buy it.
How a DIY Project Turned into a Movement
The origin of DannijoPro is the kind of story that many sports fans can probably relate to. In 2021, Danielle Snyder Shorenstein couldn’t find anything she wanted to wear to a Golden State Warriors game. So she made her own outfit. When other fans started asking where she got it, the business case became obvious.
Snyder Shorenstein, alongside her sister Jodie Snyder Morel—the team behind the New York fashion label Dannijo—turned that spark into DannijoPro, a licensed fanwear brand built on the premise that game-day apparel should feel like fashion. The brand now sells crocheted, bedazzled, and cropped pieces, all featuring official NBA team logos and names through a recent licensing deal. Prices run from approximately $100 to $400+.
Two years after its launch, DannijoPro has collaborated with Gap and Revolve, moving its product well beyond boutique channels and into mainstream distribution. The brand is now sold at multiple stadiums across the country. At Madison Square Garden alone, DannijoPro sales are up 150% year over year, according to The New York Times. Celebrities and players’ partners from Brooke Shields to Ayesha Curry have been spotted in the pieces.
Why Were Stadium Stores Failing Female Fans?
The short answer: they were designing for a fan who didn’t exist. The “shrink it and pink it” approach—scaling down men’s apparel and adding pastel colors—treated women’s taste as a single, easily satisfied variable. It wasn’t. Women who care about sports also care about fit, fabrication, and style. A stiff cotton tee three sizes too large does none of those things.
A 2025 study from The Collective found that 66% of women said sports organizations don’t understand or appeal to them. A separate Klarna survey found that 79% of female sports fans would buy more merchandise if better options were available, and 28% specifically said they struggled to find styles they liked.
The brands winning now are the ones that took those numbers seriously. Texture matters—knit, chambray, and subtle embellishment create a silhouette that works outside the arena. Fit matters. Official licensing matters, because fans want to represent their teams, not just wear vaguely sporty clothing. The formula isn’t complicated. It just required someone to actually try.
The Numbers Say There’s Real Money Here
According to Deloitte’s annual Game Changers report, global women’s sports revenue has increased 340% since 2022 and is projected to exceed $3 billion in 2026—the first time the market will cross that threshold. In 2025, revenues reached $2.41 billion, surpassing Deloitte’s own projection of $2.35 billion. North America accounts for a projected 54% of that market share.
McKinsey’s analysis adds further weight. US women’s sports revenue grew at 4.5 times the rate of men’s sports between 2022 and 2024, and the firm projects the sector could generate at least $2.5 billion in value for US rights holders alone by 2030—a 250% increase from $1 billion in 2024.
Gameday revenue, which includes merchandise, accounts for 30% of total women’s sports revenue, per Deloitte. That slice will grow with the fandom as female fans demand products worth buying. Retailers and teams that move now are positioning themselves ahead of a wave that’s essentially already at our doorstep.
How Do Brands Turn Fandom Into Fashion?
The playbook is emerging, and DannijoPro has written several pages of it. Three things separate the brands getting traction from those still offering pink hoodies.
First: design specifically for women. That means proportions, fabrication, and aesthetics built from scratch—not adapted from a men’s template. DannijoPro’s crocheted sweaters and cropped bombers look like something you’d find in a boutique, not a gift shop.
Second: secure official licensing. Fans want to represent their teams. Without licensed logos and team names, a brand is selling sportswear, not fanwear. The NBA licensing deal underpinning DannijoPro’s entire catalog makes the product meaningful to buyers and provides real legitimacy for the brand.
Third: distribute through channels women already trust. DannijoPro’s partnerships with Gap and Revolve were also distribution strategies. Reaching female consumers where they already shop is more effective than asking them to seek out a new destination.
Not Every Fan Wants a $300 Sweatshirt
Premium licensed fanwear is thriving, but demand spans every price point. DannijoPro’s bomber jackets run close to $400. That’s not accessible to every fan—and it doesn’t need to be.
Social media has normalized a parallel culture of DIY and upcycling in the sports fan community. Fans knit team scarves, crochet logo patches, and customize vintage tees. According to The New York Times, fans knitting their own sports swag has become a genuine trend, one that shows both the creativity of the community and the gaps still left by mainstream retail.
For retailers and teams, this signals a real merch opportunity. Offer collectible statement pieces at the high end. Offer well-designed, properly fitted basics at accessible price points. Don’t treat the two as competing strategies—they serve different moments for the same fan.
The Merch Gap Is Closing. Get In Now.
Women’s fanwear has moved from afterthought to opportunity. Brands like DannijoPro demonstrated that stylish, licensed apparel for female sports fans sells out, often at a commercial scale. There is still clear, unmet demand. The only question left is which brands and retailers will move fast enough to capture it.