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The delayed 2020/21 Women鈥檚 FA Cup final is finally taking place. Two London rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea, and some of the best players in the world make this a sporting event worthy of a grand stage such as Wembley Stadium. The timing of the final, December 5, is significant and ironic, as on the Football Association banned women鈥檚 football.
The ban was because sports were believed to be . Fifty years on from the end of this ban, women鈥檚 football is now where it belongs, at the 鈥溾��.
This is just one of many significant developments in women鈥檚 sport that have happened recently.
In summer 2021, English cricket鈥檚 new Hundred tournament attracted for a women鈥檚 cricket event ever, with a total attendance at the games of 267,000. The opening game of the American women鈥檚 soccer Challenge Cup, meanwhile, became the most-watched match in league history with 572,000 viewers, a on the previous record. And in England, a 鈥溾�� was struck with broadcasters to show Women鈥檚 Super League football matches on free-to-air and subscription services.
It鈥檚 been claimed that interest in . However, there are concerns regarding the due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More needs to be done to assure its future.
The need for caution
We key governance aspects of women鈥檚 sport and, while we agree there has been much improvement, our also suggests that areas of and more needs to be done by governing bodies, organisations and policymakers. While women鈥檚 sport is currently popular, changes are needed for its success to be sustained.
For instance, when men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 sports are governed by the same organisation, the decisions made typically prioritise men鈥檚 sport. Recent accusations of highlight the issues when sports are run by 鈥� they make decisions that benefit themselves and those that resemble them (men).
This is an issue that has worsened over time. Historically, many women鈥檚 sports were governed separately and run wholly or mainly by women 鈥� for example, the Women鈥檚 Football Association was in charge of English women鈥檚 football until the Football Association took over in 1992, and the Women鈥檚 Cricket Association ran women鈥檚 cricket when the England and Wales Cricket Board gained control. But since the 1990s, women鈥檚 sport has typically been run by men with little knowledge of women鈥檚 sport, who tend to .
This privileging of men鈥檚 sport was particularly the case . The exception to this was in North America where women鈥檚 football has its own governing body, and where during the pandemic, women鈥檚 football was prioritised 鈥� a new tournament introduced and new commercial partners found. In other countries, women鈥檚 sport was simply cancelled.
Another area of concern is that sports media coverage, which is now the way most people , continues to be dominated by men鈥檚 sports. This pattern is not helped when those who talk and write about sport remain predominantly men. Our shows that when women have greater involvement in sports journalism there鈥檚 greater coverage of women鈥檚 sport. The challenge is breaking into the 鈥渂oys鈥� club鈥� of sports journalism.
We also found that women鈥檚 sport is both under-valued and under-sold. Women鈥檚 sport often receives . As a result, spectators see it as less exciting and less spectacular than men鈥檚 sport.
This also found that women鈥檚 games are often scheduled in the middle of the workday or early on weekdays, rather than primetime slots on weekday evenings or weekend afternoons. This scheduling creates problems because spectators are often not able to attend when games are during work hours or when children鈥檚 sport is taking place.
Women鈥檚 sport is often only accessible on pay-TV, limiting the potential audience. Recent research shows that when matches are moved onto free-to-air channels, the sky is the limit. for the Women鈥檚 Sport Trust recently showed that the broadcast audience of women鈥檚 sport in the UK has grown from 46.8 million in 2019 to 51.1 million in 2021. Much of this increase comes from new coverage of women鈥檚 cricket and women鈥檚 football, and gender-parity in Olympic coverage.
A roadmap for sustained success
So, while the future of women鈥檚 sport looks bright, inequalities remain. We propose a five-point 鈥渞oadmap鈥� detailing the changes that are needed for the success of women鈥檚 sport to be sustained:
鈥� Ensure that the governance of women鈥檚 sport has women in visible leadership positions, to prioritise it and ensure that any decisions support the interests of women鈥檚 sport. Otherwise, if men run both men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 sport they will continue to prioritise the male version
鈥� The sports media workforce needs greater diversity. Although we focus on gender here, sports media is dominated by white men
鈥� The marketing and presentation of women鈥檚 sport need to be on a par with men鈥檚 sport. While men鈥檚 sport has greater investment in these areas it will continue to be seen as superior to women鈥檚 sport. There needs to be unity in how sports clubs communicate with fans about their men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams
鈥� Women鈥檚 sport needs consistent prime time scheduling (as seen with women鈥檚 football in England this season), rather than during the day when the majority of fans are at work and cannot attend
鈥� Coverage of women鈥檚 sport needs to be on free-to-air television 鈥� if it is not, awareness of it will drop.
If these points can be addressed, we believe that women鈥檚 sport will continue to thrive, not just now, but well into the future.
, Deputy Head Of Department in Department of Sport & Event Management, ; , Senior Lecturer in Sports Management, , and ,听
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