Have you been paying attention to women's sports recently? If not, you're missing out–the business of women's sports is booming! Read on to learn more about 3 of the main business trends that are responsible for this growth.
Pay equity for women coaches
Dawn Staley is currently a big name in college basketball, and is a great example of the rapidly increasing growth towards pay equity in college coaches. She excelled in the sport herself; playing for the University of Virginia then moving on to play for the WNBA, and eventually making it as far as representing team USA in the 1996 Olympics. More recently, she has led the University of South Carolina women's basketball team to two national championships, and probably will gain a couple more in the future. Staley is currently the highest paid NCAA women's college basketball coach, earning just under $3 million a year. While the pay gap is still clearly existent, Staley is one of the coaches helping pave the way in the right direction.
Related: Rate your Coaches, Facilities, and Campus Visits
Increasing Recognition
In general, women's sports globally are rapidly increasing in the amount of viewers and revenue. More and more people are viewing, attending, and investing in women's sports. For example, the 2022 Women's March Madness Championship was the most watched game since 2004, averaging 4.85 million viewers. Earlier this year, FC Barcelona set a world attendance record for women's soccer with an impressive 91,000 in attendance at the championship league semi final. There have also been reports of high profile investments in professional women's sports teams such as Washington Spirit and Angel City FC and this trend doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Related: Girl Power: The Top 5 NIL Earners in Women's College Sports
More Female Athletes
The amount of female participation in sports has been increasing over the past 50 years, and today close to 50% of women worldwide are interested in sports. According to a recent report, women who participate in sporting activities at school have a 76% chance of remaining interested in the sport for the rest of their lives.
More and more people are paying attention and becoming fans of female athletes, and more and more girls are taking interest in playing and/or watching sports. There is still a prominent gap between male and female sports in general, though it is slowly but surely shrinking. The future for women's sports is looking bright!
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* Originally published on September 16, 2022, by Sammie Grant
