It’s undeniable that 2024 has started off with a BANG for women’s sports. It seems like every week we’re hearing about record-breaking news, whether it’s related to attendances and viewership, player salaries and transfer fees, or sponsorships and media rights.
I am the first to admit that it feels truly amazing to just pause, sit in this moment in time, and take it all in, but it’s also important for those of us in the women’s sports sector to stay focused and continue working to ensure this momentum carries us into even bigger milestones.
Here are, in my opinion, the key areas that will be make-or-break in our quest for gender equality in sport in the coming years:
1. Thinking outside of the box
Repeat after me: The women’s game does not need to mirror the men’s.
How to make it: Get creative like Molson Coors and the PWHL did with their See My Name campaign. Such a simple change from the men’s game, but one that is also incredibly impactful when it comes to amplifying female athletes.
How to break it: Continuing to use viewership as THE metric for a sport’s worth.
As Emily Olsen, The Athletic’s senior editor of soccer, mentioned during her panel at SportsPro Live last month, it’s essential to consider the unparalleled engagement of women’s sports fans alongside the viewership numbers. For example, Emily noted that The Athletic’s women’s sports newsletter consistently outperforms their other newsletters with regards to open rate, regardless of what time of day it’s sent out.
What’s more is that a report by The Collective at Wasserman and RBC found that, compared to fans of men’s sports, fans of women’s sports are 54 per cent more aware of sponsors and 45 per cent more willing to consider or purchase from sponsor brands.
2. Securing more airtime
I’m a firm believer in the great Billie Jean King’s motto “If you can see it, you can be it.” And while I’m seeing a lot more women’s sports on TV than I did growing up, it’s still not enough.
How to make it: Leverage storytelling like Midge Purce and Alexis Ohanian are via their upcoming sports reality series ‘The Offseason’, which will tell the story of 11 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) players living together during their offseason in Miami.
It’s no secret that the gap in traditional media coverage of men’s and women’s sports has meant that women’s sports have been forced to rely more heavily on social media. The silver lining of this is that fans of women’s sports tend to be much more interested in the off-field/court/track lives of their favourite athletes, which provides infinite storylines for series and films.
How to break it: Not giving the Women’s NCAA title game a primetime slot
You didn’t have to be Joe Pompliano to predict that the women’s NCAA title game would top the men’s in viewership this year. Even average Joes (and Janes) saw that writing on the wall. Seems like it was just ESPN who failed to nail this prediction…
3. Supporting grassroots programmes
Call me biased, but as the founder of the first grassroots girls soccer programme in Southern Spain, FutboLISTAS, I don’t think we will ever fully address the gender equality gap in sports without increasing the support of youth recreational sports.
More girls playing sports in their youth will naturally lead to a stronger talent pool that will later go pro, as well as building a pipeline of future female season ticket holders, merch consumers, coaches, club staff, club owners, etc.
How to make it: Capitalise on historic achievements like the Lionesses did following their Euro 2022 victory by fighting to ensure future Lionesses have equal opportunity and access to play in schools. THAT is what we call a legacy.
How to break it: Focus only on competitive youth sports aimed at developing future pro players.
There are infinite studies that prove that playing sports helps individuals develop leadership skills. For example, ESPNW and EY found that 94 per cent of businesswomen in leadership positions played sports growing up. Based on stats like that, I would argue that equal access to sport at the youth level will not only help us achieve gender equality in sport, but also broader gender equality across the globe.
A special shoutout to programmes that aim to prove sport can help girls achieve their dreams both on and off the field/court/track, such as Formula E’s FIA Girls on Track programme and the Drone Racing League (DRL)’s Women Taking Flight initiative.
🗣️ "It's just the beginning!"
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 8, 2023
England captain Leah Williamson and Lotte Wubben-Moy respond to the government's pledge to offer girls equal access to football 🦁⤵️ pic.twitter.com/v4xnt1G9LR
4. Bridging the financial gap
Comparing women’s sports revenue vs men’s sports revenue isn’t an apples to apples comparison, considering that the men’s game in most sports has been invested in and properly marketed for literally decades longer.
How to make it: Realise investing in women’s sports is good business like Alexis Ohanian and his VC firm Seven Seven Six have proven via:
- Co-founding Angel City FC (now ranked the most valuable club in the NWSL)
- The launch of the 776 Invitational (an international meet that will pay out the largest prize pool on record for a women-only track event)
- Franchise plans for the Sports Bra (the nation’s first women’s sports bar)
- Keeping receipts on the non-believers in women’s sports
I won’t even apologise for mentioning Ohanian twice in this piece because he’s arguably (or can we just say undoubtedly at this point?) women’s sports’ biggest male ally.
How to break it: Treating women’s sports’ media rights as a BOGO sale or a packaged deal like the NCAA’s recent all-encompassing contract for 40 different championships.
One need look no further than last year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup (WWC) to see how these strategies can distort the actual value of the rights. Instead of giving them away for free with the men’s rights like it has historically, Fifa made the decision to sell the WWC broadcast and partnership rights on their own for the first time in 2023.
Though there is still plenty to question when it comes to the governing body’s sales strategy, the results from the unbundling speak for themselves: not only did the WWC break even for the first time in history with $570M generated in revenue, but the competition also “generated the second-highest income of any sport” globally.
5. Believing women. Protecting women.
I’ve saved the most important for last, hoping it sticks with everyone reading. The reality is that we will never reach gender equality in sport until female athletes are believed, supported, and safe.
How to make it: Recognise how important players’ unions are to protecting athletes and provide them with the resources they need like Ally Financial did via the extension of its sponsorship of the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) through 2027. This bold investment will increase the NWSLPA’s ability ‘to further its progress in improving professional standards, player safety, pay and benefits, as well as broadening access to opportunities and resources for players on and off the field’.
How to break it: Neglecting to believe and protect women who speak out about abuse, as far too many sports clubs and governing bodies have done throughout history. Some recent examples include:
- The FBI’s failure to properly investigate claims made by hundreds of women regarding the sexual abuse perpetrated by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
- The decision by the Spanish Football Federation, in the wake of a historic 2023 WWC win which saw a forced kiss broadcast on international television, to defend former president Luis Rubiales via the issuing of insincere, staged apologies, threatening legal action, and obligating players on strike to report for national team duty instead of defending Jenni Hermoso.
- The alarming statistic revealed in the handbook, “Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in Sport”, published by UN Women, UNESCO, and the Global Spotlight Initiative in 2023, which states that 21 per cent of women and girls globally ‘have suffered sexual abuse in a sporting environment during childhood’, which is nearly double the rate of their male counterparts.
In conclusion, though it might feel strange initially, we can hold space for two opposing truths at once – and in the case of women’s sports, we must acknowledge:
1. We’ve come a LONG way when it comes to closing the gender equality gap in sports
2. We still have a LONG way to go to eliminate the gender equality gap in sports
We’re on the right path, and the actions taken in these coming years will be make-or-break.
