Men have been the center of sports for years, but we have recently made great strides to change this. Women’s sports are starting to be viewed as equal to – if not, at times, better than – men’s sports.To start, the NCAA March Madness tournament is one of the most-watched sports events; unfortunately, always in the men’s category. However, this changed during last year’s March Madness tournament. Iowa faced South Carolina in the final of the women’s tournament, a game that South Carolina ended up winning 87 to 75. This game had a viewership of 18.7 million viewers compared to the men’s final, which listed only 14.8 million viewers. This was a monumental achievement in women’s sports history. We have also seen increased viewership in the 2022 Women’s European Championship final. This final was played between the women’s national teams of England and Germany. It listed 365 million viewers globally,more than double the number of the 2017 championship (178 million) – that’s a 214% increase. England ended up winning this final 2-1, marking their third European Championship. England’s men’s national team has yet to win the European Championship.
Even though we have made great improvements, many people still view women’s sports as inferior to men’s. This is best exemplified in a recent study that showed only 15% of sports media covers women’s sports. Without coverage, these amazing players and their leagues lack the opportunity for growth. This lack of coverage may not seem impactful, but consider the fact that young athletes on the Viewpoint campus report being told,, “Girls aren’t even fast, boys are much faster”, “Women can’t be good at sports”, and “Women’s sports aren’t even real sports”. These comments are incredibly discouraging to young women athletes, often making them not want to play or express themselves through sports. This needs to change quickly because sports should be and are for everyone.
Many people in the world are starting to realize that women’s sports are just as competitive and interesting as men’s. Unfortunately, others still don’t value women’s sports the same as men’s – however, we remain hopeful in continuing to see improvement in the future.
