Female sports have been fighting an uphill battle for years, but in recent times, it has become clear that the efforts of top-class sportswomen and industry campaigners are taking effect. Now more than ever, women’s sports are being widely broadcast, earning headlines and, most importantly, audiences.
A lot of effort is being put into the campaign to create a level playing field for men and women in sports, which has resulted in more widespread changes in other industries. Striving for equality for decades, sports is one of the last areas to begin to move in line. However, the shifts in sports that we’ve seen so far are already reverberating in other industries.
Women gaining traction with the increased spotlight
In the UK, women’s international sports teams have had a fair following over the years. Now, however, with the main TV channels picking up and promoting matches, they’re gaining much more traction. It’s not just on TV, though, with all other aspects of sports engagement getting on board. One of the biggest to get involved is the bookies, with NordicBet odds running deep into markets for cricket, basketball, rugby, volleyball, and ice hockey. It’s all helping to reinforce the increasing presence of women’s sports.
Women’s cricket is one of the finest examples of this, with the women’s tournaments being promoted primarily through Sky Sports as they would the men’s game. In 2017, England put on a show in the World Cup final, leading to new ideas, such as the parity-driven upcoming tournament known as The Hundred, as well as the ICC considering unbundling men’s and women’s tournament TV rights due to the uptick in women’s cricket popularity.
Huge strides have also been made in the resurgent sport of boxing, which has been greatly helped by the rise of talented female boxers breaking through from the UK. Katie Taylor is the biggest star here. She’s headlined her own events and, on 14 November, was top of the bill of Matchroom Boxing’s female-stacked card of three women’s world title fights. Women’s football is also picking up, with the WSL being shown on the BBC and BT Sport, and the England rugby team is also featuring through premium sports channels.
Progress on the pitch paves the way elsewhere
Women’s sports coming to the fore and being respected at the same level as men’s sports is key for the overall progress of society. One of the ways in which it’s playing a key role is changing the image of women. The toy company Mattel has banked on its outdated, super-stereotypical creation of Barbie for decades. However, still being a go-to brand, they made changes to move forward, which included creating a Barbie of world champion sprinter Dina Asher-Smith.
One area that has proven to be very difficult to crack is men’s sport, particularly football, around the world. Sure, Sian Massey-Ellis is blazing a path for female officials in the Premier League and now in European football, but it’s been a struggle for anyone trying to manage a club. Shelley Kerr is the most notable on these shores, who took over Scottish fifth-tier side Stirling University six years ago.
In gaming, sports games are among the top-selling titles every year even though they change very little, if at all between each edition. One thing that has changed recently, though, has been the inclusion of women’s teams. The effort in FIFA is a rather shallow one, having some teams being playable for international games. In Cricket 19, however, you could play the whole Ashes mode as the men or women on either side and in NBA 2K21, the developers are bringing in a WNBA career mode for next-gen versions.
Progress is being made, and as the developments encourage other industries to change their approaches, women’s professional sport will only continue to grow.
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Tagged in Women's Sport