Women's sports hits record views but old problems still lurk in shadows
Womenʼs sports reached two billion viewers this year‚ yet research shows 89% of women in sports face workplace bias. Major investors bring hope while social-media hate and outdated attitudes remain common
The Welsh Rugby Union made a long-awaited move early Nov when it said sorry to its women players - but the apology came with strings attached. After spending 50-plus hours talking to players the union denied any sex-based bias (even though they gave women a three-hour window to sign contracts or miss the world cup)
Michele Kang and Alexis Ohanian are putting big money into womens sports: Kangs company invested $50-mil to help female athletes health while Ohanian made history with the biggest-ever prize pool for a womenʼs track meet. Still theres lots of work ahead - a recent study shows that 68% of male football fans have old-school views about women in sports
Who has more ovaries us or them?
The Spanish football scandal showed how deep these problems go. A new Netflix show called #SeAcabo tells the full story of what happened at last years World Cup final - but also shows years of bad treatment that came before. The film shows how Jorge Vilda the old coach would do weird things like check on players in their hotel rooms at night
Research by Dr Stacey Pope found some hard facts about todays sports world:
- 89% of women in sports faced work-place bias last year
- Only 30% of parents think sports matter for daughters vs 41% for sons
- Young men are just as likely as older ones to have anti-women views
Social-media makes everything harder says Tammy Beaumont cricket star: “Its getting worse not better - the bigger your profile gets the more hate you get. People comment on body type and looks which has no place in sport“
