Media and Women’s Sport

Media coverage in sport is beneficial for both the sport and the media. They have a special relationship with one another. Media helps sport in the fact that it covers an event so people can watch it and gain awareness and information a team or player. By covering sport, media helps generate money for the league, school, coaches, and possibly players (if college, the payment is in the form of scholarships). Sport helps media by providing an opportunity to get advertising and consumer interest. Sports create their own market with merchandise and sponsors. For example, in newspapers sports sections are about 25% of the content and they generate significant portions of the ad revenue. Sport provides sponsors and viewership. Most of the revenue in media from sport comes from the coverage of men’s sports. This is because women’s sports are overlooked or forgotten by the media.

Women’s sports have been overlooked since sports have been reported in the media. Women haven’t had equal opportunities to play sports and aren't thought of as being able to play well and being as competitive as men. Women have recently been given the equal chance of participating in sport, thanks to Title 9, only to have their sport disregarded because they aren't as popular as men’s sports. Women may have equal opportunities to play sports now but the media tends to shy away from covering them. Whether it is college or professional sports, the media tends to treats women second best to men.

 It seems that for the media, it is not the competitive drama that sells women’s sports.  Rather, it is sex or sex appeal.  For example, Lindsey Vonn was the first American woman to win gold in the winter Olympics. Also, she was the first U.S. woman and second woman ever to win three consecutive world championships (Kane 1).  However, Sports’ Illustrated, one of the most important and most respected sports’ periodicals, emphasized her sex appeal rather than the importance of her success and her impact in the sport (Kane 1). While the article talked about Vonn's accomplishments, the magazine made sure to include photographs which emphasize her looks and sexuality (Kane 1). While sex does sell in the short term, showcasing women as “physically gifted, mentally tough, grace-under-pressure athletes” will bring the fan and consumer back in the future (Kane 4).

Since women’s sports are hardly covered in media, few people know who the star players are, who the teams are, or how competitive they are. The media tends not to broadcast women’s games as much as men’s, and if a game is televised it is at inopportune times when nobody is watching.

Women’s sports aren't even treated as second best in our society. Pro sports, men’s collegiate sports, and even male high school sports are more popular on television than most women’s sports. Media doesn't cover women’s sports because they aren't as popular as men’s. This is because there is such a poor relationship between women’s sports and money that the media doesn't want to waste their time covering something that people won’t pay money for. Many people don’t enjoy watching women’s sports because they aren't usually as fast paced as men’s, there is the stereotype that women lack the skill that men have, and there is a lack of knowledge about women’s sports so people don’t want to take the time to watch.

The media cater to public perception of male vs. female sports and in doing so foster the continuing bias against female sports.  A recent study found that the reporting of women’s sports was not reported as much as men’s in network sport’s news during early evening and late night television (Cooky 4).  Sport’s almost always led with the men’s sports story (Cooky 4).  More airtime was spent on out of season men’s sports than in season female sports (Cooky 4).  Television news and sport’s highlight shows do more than reflect fan interest.  “They also help generate and sustain enthusiasm for the sports they cover, thus becoming a key link in fans’ emotional connection to the agony and ecstasy of spectator sports” (Cooky 26).

There are certain instances in which the media does cover women’s sport. When a sporting event is big enough, media will cover it and try to advertise it to the public. A few examples include the women’s NCAA basketball tournament, the WNBA Finals, women’s Olympic sports, and usually any other championship game or tournament. It seems that the media is trying to expand the coverage of women sports. There are cable networks, like ESPN, who are covering more games, advertising more games, and promoting more teams than in the past.

I think that media should cover women’s sports just as much as men’s. People may not watch it as much at first, but I think that is due to the lack of knowledge and promotion of women’s sports. Fans will identify with local teams if they have exposure in the media. Promotion of the stars will work in women’s sports just like in men’s sports. An example is Jenny Finch, who did for women’s softball like what Michael Jordan did for basketball. Additional exposure would benefit both the media and women’s sports. Women’s sports would benefit because there would be more recognition about the sports, there stars, and their stories. The media would benefit because more interest translates into more dollars. Women’s sports can be as captivating, as competitive, as compelling, and just as profitable as men’s sports.

Works Cited

Cheryl Cooky, and Messner, Michael. GENDER IN TELEVISED SPORTS. 2010. Print. https://dornsifecms.usc.edu/assets/sites/80/docs/tvsports.pdf.

Kane, Mary Jo. "Sex Sells Sex, Not Women." Nation. 27 2011: n. page. Print. http://www.thenation.com/article/162390/sex-sells-sex-not-womens-sports