In an industry as influential as sports, gender inequality remains a prominent issue, with female athletes and contributors often overshadowed by their male counterparts. From media coverage to sponsorships, the disparity between men’s and women’s sports has yet to see substantial change.
According to a study done by USC/Purdue, 95 percent of television coverage and ESPN’s SportsCenter focused on men’s sports in 2019, leaving female athletes unrecognized and disregarded. Not only are female athletes being unrecognized, but female contributors of the sports industry: sports editors, commentators, athletes, reporters, coaches, and designers.
Sports entertainment exemplifies much lack of female representation within its industry, producing a more male dominated environment.
A study on sports media gender and racial report cards found that 91.5% of sports editors, 90.2% of assistant sports editors, 83.5% of columnists, 85% of reporters, and 83.3% of copy editors/designers were male employees.
With the sports industry being so diverse, the coverage of female representation has not dramatically increased or significantly changed over the years. The main counterpart of this issue includes the difference in treatment, attention, and recognition that female athletes get versus male athletes.
“Unless it is record breaking women such as Simone Biles or Alex Morgan, most women do not get enough credit for how much they put into their sports. I feel like this is because most of the time, as sad as it is, a vast majority of the population still believe that men are better at certain things,” said lacrosse player, Kenna Maguire (11).
Data from Brand Vision Insights, reveals that the top ten highest earning athletes of 2024 were all male athletes, including players like Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, and Lamar Jackson. Female athletes still continue to struggle and face the effects of fewer professional opportunities, fewer sponsorships, pay gaps, and unequal playing conditions.
Social media and technology has enabled the sports industry to flourish and contribute billions of dollars to the global economy. However, social media and most broadcasting channels do not showcase or give enough attention to female sports/athletes as much as they should.
“I feel like I see so much more coverage on the male counterparts of sports, and not enough representation for women,” said another lacrosse player, Teagan Acevado (11).
Most media and news focuses on football, men’s basketball, and baseball, leaving women’s sports such as softball, volleyball, soccer, ice hockey, and even wrestling unacknowledged in comparison to male leagues/divisions.
However, the WNBA has recently received media attention and recognition due to 23 year old professional women’s basketball standout player, Caitlyn Clark. Clark stirred commotion and attention towards women’s basketball, while playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes during her 4 years of collegiate basketball.
“I think the biggest spike I saw in media coverage would be the WNBA, but I don’t think there’s nearly enough proper coverage for women’s sports considering how far we have become as a community and society,” said Acevado.
Caitlyn Clark is not the only female athlete to encourage and bring attention to women’s leagues or divisions. Former professional athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel, and Sue Bird have founded the brand TOGETHXR, which elevates female athletes and women’s voices telling their stories. The brank works as a digital platform working to uplift the next generation of women in sports.
Efforts like the WNBA’s rise in visibility and initiatives such as TOGETHXR, emphasize the power of women supporting women in the industry, but there is still much more to be done. Despite significant progress made by individual athletes and organizations, the conversation about gender equality in sports is far from over.
