EA SPORTS: Our Continued Efforts to Champion Women in Sports & Gaming

March is Women’s History Month, where we celebrate the contributions and achievements of the incredible women at EA SPORTS and beyond. 

This month, we’re also reflecting on our progress and ongoing focus on fostering women’s representation, inclusion, and belonging in our games, communities, and within the sports and tech industries. 

Read on to learn more about our most recent commitments and investments.

WE’RE INCREASING REPRESENTATION WITHIN OUR GAMES

Our latest EA SPORTS FC™ 24 National Women’s Soccer League Kit.

Sarah Nurse, EA SPORTS NHL’s first woman cover star in franchise history.

With more than 250 million players engaging in EA SPORTS games globally, we want our fans of all genders, ethnicities, backgrounds, and abilities to see themselves and the sports they love represented authentically – as well as play with their favorite athletes in our games. That’s why we’re continually striving for greater inclusivity in our experiences.

Our efforts include:

• A world first integration of women’s and men’s teams together in EA SPORTS FC™ 24 Ultimate Team™, welcoming players from six women’s competitions to the player pool. This marked the biggest addition ever introduced in Ultimate Team in a single year – and fans responded. In the first 24 days of EA SPORTS FC™ 24 alone, players put 739 million women’s football player items in their starting XIs in online Ultimate Team matches, with 357 million online Ultimate Team squads featuring one or more women’s player items in their starting lineup.
• The use of SAPIEN character technology in EA SPORTS FC™ 24, which transforms the way players look and move and played a critical role in developing accurate and authentic movements among our women athletes.
• Introducing the ability for IIHF Women’s National Team members to play alongside men in the same Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) squad, with equal rating scales, for the first time ever in EA SPORTS NHL 23 – as well as former hockey champion Cheryl Pounder becoming the franchise’s first female color commentator in EA SPORTS NHL 24.
• The ability to play as a female athlete, create a female golfer, and compete at one of the LPGA Tour’s five major championships in EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™.
• Additional efforts like Team Canada’s Sarah Nurse and Chelsea FC player Sam Kerr as EA SPORTS NHL 23’s and EA SPORTS FIFA 23’s first women cover stars (respectively) in franchise history, having Valentina Shevchenko on the cover for EA SPORTS™ UFC® 5, incorporating women characters into our Face of the Franchise story mode in EA SPORTS Madden 23, and more!

WE’RE INVESTING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

A look at our inaugural EA SPORTS Women’s Football Summit in 2022.

Field the Future participants pose with Raiders’ defensive end Maxx Crosby.

In addition to representation in our games, we’re also committed to advancing women in real-world sports. “At EA SPORTS, we’re passionate about driving participation and expanding access for women to succeed in sports,” says Andrea Hopelain, GM/SVP, EA SPORTS Publishing. “We have one of the most engaged audiences in the sports industry, and therefore recognize the important role we play as change makers in increasing representation and creating tangible opportunities for the next generation of women around the world.”

Some of our recent investments in women’s sports include:

• Making several commitments to women’s football at our first EA SPORTS Women’s Football Summit – including creating an Accelerator Fund that we kick-started with an $ 11M investment; a multi-year partnership with the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) to include the League in-game and support UEFA’s football marketing platform that seeks to encourage more girls and women to play football; and Pave the Path, a global internship designed to pave pathways into women's football for the next generation of off-pitch talent.
• Our latest announcement of a new EA SPORTS FC™ sponsorship deal with UEFA to become title partners of their annual week-long Women In Football Leadership Programme (WFLP) – supported by the IMD Business School – aimed at advancing the careers of women capable of influencing the football industry, both today and in the future.
• Kicking off our second annual EA SPORTS Madden NFL Field the Future event – in partnership with Microsoft, Nike, DICK’s Sporting Goods, the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, and TOGETHXR – with a charity livestream to support Got Her Back, a nonprofit working  to empower female athletes worldwide and through visibility, education, and mentorship.

We are also honored to have been nominated for Football Business of the Year and Best Fan Engagement at the upcoming Women’s Football Awards, based on our work over the past year to make the world of football more inclusive for women, as well as how we interact and get fans of the women’s game better involved. Stay tuned for the award announcement on May 30!

WE’RE CHAMPIONING INCLUSION IN THE COMMUNITIES WHERE WE LIVE, WORK, & PLAY

Natali Altshuler moderates a women's panel at EA Vancouver.

A participant from our 2022 Get in the Game STEAM Camp.

We continue to create access and opportunity in STEAM education for women through our global partnerships, as well as foster inclusion within our studios to build a true sense of belonging within our organization.

We’ve taken action by:

• Encouraging students – particularly women and non-binary students – to get in the game with our annual STEAM Camp based out of our EA Orlando studio, which uses video games to connect and engage students interested in pursuing careers in STEAM or related fields.
• Strengthening our partnerships with community organizations like Canada Learning Code (CLC), where our most recent investment helped equip CLC with funding for critical initiatives – including powering its British Columbia-based chapters to deliver Ladies Learning Code workshops.
• Holding internal and external events that help aspiring women in tech and gaming engage with our women leaders and learn about career opportunities at EA SPORTS – including our most recent Women in Tech event with University of British Columbia’s Computer Science program.
• Our EA SPORTS DEI Committee and business unit-level DEI councils – which help shape our goals and align with our overarching strategy – as well as seven EA-wide Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), including the Women’s Ultimate Team ERG, that unite people around a common affinity or shared experience.
• Investing in STEAM education with experiences that close opportunity gaps and bring STEAM skills to life to empower the next generation of innovators and creative problem-solvers.

…and more!

Paving the way for women in STEAM is a key focus for Natali Altshuler, SVP, Head of Operations, EA SPORTS. “Women bring their unique experiences and perspectives to the table, and their participation is crucial to innovation in our industry. I’m inspired by our continued focus on driving greater inclusion and belonging, as well as creating opportunities for women’s growth and development in STEAM across our communities.”

While we are still on the journey to foster true inclusion, we are grateful for the women at EA SPORTS who are pushing the bounds of sports entertainment and building the world’s best sports games. We are also proud to continue on the path to encouraging women’s representation in the sports, gaming, and STEAM industries to help build a more inclusive world for all. 

Learn more about how we’re advancing women in sports, as well as our commitment to inclusion all year round, and get in the game with us today.