MEDIA COVERAGE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

By: Jacob Sweet

The last time you watched any sports network, what was being shown?

Sports websites, where are the women's’ sports?

Who won the 2015 Women’s Volleyball Championship in Division I?

Think about this

The Problem

Media coverage of women’s sports in the United States remains at an incredibly low amount.

“It’s much more difficult to build a huge and impassioned fan base when potential fans cannot consistently see women’s sports and female athletes in the media.”

Janet S. FinkChair of Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport ManagementUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

42% of intercollegiate athletes are women

More than 3.3m girls participate in HS sports

Women make up 58% of participants at running events

So what is the issue?

Statistics

The Issue 40% of athletes are women, but only 4% receive

media coverage

LA network affiliate, only 3.2% of airtime to women’s sports (down 5% from ‘89)

SportsCenter devotes just 2% of airtime to women’s sports (2014) (1.6% in ‘09)

Coverage of men’s big 3 (baseball, basketball, football) coverage percent, 74.5%

Why should you care? Women athletes make an exceedingly

less amount of money than male athletes

Sports shape young people, young women deserve those role models like young men

It is more important than how they are presented on covers of magazines

Detailed Solutions Increase news and highlight airtime that is devoted to women’s sports

Develop storylines throughout a season or a year

We have so high enthusiasm for men’s coverage, use that for women’s

TV contracts – exposure for both men’s and women’s sports should be the goal

We need to focus on a commitment to non-sexist communications (publications and writings)

More coverage during the offseason

I challenge you To make a point to be a fan of the WNBA,

college softball, basketball, etc.

To become a fan of a certain team and follow them

To look up scores and take an interest in special stories

To care as much as we care for our men’s sports

“We hear it all the time, women’s sports aren’t popular so why show them, that’s why they aren’t popular because our sports networks don’t make them a priority like men’s sports, but we can change that by just being more invested.”

Jacob W. Sweet

Manchester University

Check these out!

Works Cited Fink, Janet S. "Sponsorship for Women's Sports Presents

Untapped Opportunity." - SportsBusiness Daily. Sportsbusinessjournal.com, 2 Nov. 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Good, Andrew. "When It Comes to Women in Sports, TV News Tunes out." When It Comes to Women in Sports, TV News Tunes out. USC News, 5 June 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Kroh, Kiley. "SportsCenter’s Shameful Coverage Of Women’s Sports." ThinkProgress RSS. ThinkProgress, 12 June 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Lopiano, Donna A., Dr. "Sports Management Resources." Media Coverage of Women's Sports Is Important. Sports Management Resources, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.