Different take on coverage of women's sports

[Mr. X]

http://american.com/archive/2010/august/take-back-the-sports-page

 

[rpmmutant]

Two things came to mind after reading that article.
Women's golf and tennis get about equal treatment on television through the Golf Channel and the Tennis Channel. Women's tennis might be the only sport that has more appeal than its male counterpart. But even men's golf on the Golf Channel attracts a bigger audience than women's golf. TV media has no obligation to treat men and women's sports equally. They have an obligation to show and cover sports that interest people.
Secondly, Danica Patrick is one of the most interesting stories in auto racing. She gets attention from media and fans. She's polarizing, sympathetic and attracts a crowd. It has everything to do with her gender. But it makes me wonder why other women drivers don't have the same appeal. The one who comes to mind in particular is Ashley Force. She should be as popular, perhaps even more popular than Danica because Ashley is an actual contender to win races and championships. It might be the sport, NHRA and drag racing. It is nowhere near the media monster that NASCAR is and probably why Danica has cornered the market on women in auto racing.

 

[I Should Coco]

I don't think the WNBA is the place to look if you want to see equal coverage/interest between men and women playing the same sport. The game is played differently from men's basketball and it's not during "basketball season," it's during the summer.

Probably the area women's sports comes closest to men, in terms of coverage, is during the Olympics. In fact, with the fascination (and high ratings) that accompany figure skating and gymnastics, women's events might get MORE coverage than men's during the Olympics.

 

[HanSenSE]

Made it through four paragraphs. When I realized it was all the media's fault that the WUSA was underfunded and overextended and the WBL was bigfooted by the NBA, I closed the tabs. Yawwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnn.

 

[crimsonace]

Secondly, Danica Patrick is one of the most interesting stories in auto racing. She gets attention from media and fans. She's polarizing, sympathetic and attracts a crowd. It has everything to do with her gender. But it makes me wonder why other women drivers don't have the same appeal. The one who comes to mind in particular is Ashley Force. She should be as popular, perhaps even more popular than Danica because Ashley is an actual contender to win races and championships. It might be the sport, NHRA and drag racing. It is nowhere near the media monster that NASCAR is and probably why Danica has cornered the market on women in auto racing.

Danica had that market cornered long before NASCAR was interested in her.

There were a few attempts at trying to get female drivers to climb up the ladder (Sarah Fisher even ran a season in Winston West), but none could generate the appeal of Danica, so NASCAR just went out and recruited her directly.

 

[Gomer]

Made it through four paragraphs. When I realized it was all the media's fault that the WUSA was underfunded and overextended and the WBL was bigfooted by the NBA, I closed the tabs. Yawwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnn.

You didn't read far enough. They buried the lede.

 

[imjustagirl]

Wait a second, did someone just call Danica sympathetic?

 

[crusoes]

They didn't call her a consistent winner, that's for sure.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

I'm sorry, I'm almost crying in laughter at the "Breast Cancer launches WNBA Awareness Month" line.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

I can answer the Ashley/Danica question with (IMO) good authority and personal experience to back it up:

Danica is marketed as a hot chick that drives a race car (with minimal results), does FHM photo shoots and Godaddy ads and is a whiny little *****.

Ashley is marketed as a winning driver that happens to be smokin' damn hot, pitches Castrol in her firesuit and is about as nice as any person you could meet.

As for Sarah Fisher, while she may or may not be a nice person, she looks like a toadstool and can't drive much better.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Coverage of women's professional teams has evaporated because the teams themselves have evaporated. And if anybody wants to start a women's only publication and pay me to pump up the WNBA and women's college sports then where do I sign? Otherwise keep quiet.

 

[zebracoy]

Totally should have used a pie chart instead of a bar graph.

 

[tapintoamerica]

Good story. Everybody has civil rights. Federal law says women and men should get a comparable chance at sports participation. But until the First Amendment gets repealed, the news media have no obligation to join in.

 

[HanSenSE]

Good story. Everybody has civil rights. Federal law says women and men should get a comparable chance at sports participation. But until the First Amendment gets repealed, the news media have no obligation to join in.

No more phone calls please ... WE HAVE A WINNER!

 

[schiezainc]

But if more women are playing sports, who's doing the dishes?

 

[Stitch]

But if more women are playing sports, who's doing the dishes?

Can't believe you're married.

Women's sports won't get equal coverage unless readers and advertisers demand it. I don't see too many ads geared to women in the sports section, but have seen plenty of adult bookstore ads in some sports sections.

 

[schiezainc]

But if more women are playing sports, who's doing the dishes?

Can't believe you're married.

Women's sports won't get equal coverage unless readers and advertisers demand it. I don't see too many ads geared to women in the sports section, but have seen plenty of adult bookstore ads in some sports sections.

I'm actually a big softy in the real world.

That being said, it's a shame women's sports haven't caught on more. I know at the high school level, at least, it's often FAR superior to the other sex. Especially in soccer, volleyball, swimming and most forms of track and field.

 

[lesboulez]

Women's sports won't get equal coverage unless readers and advertisers demand it. I don't see too many ads geared to women in the sports section, but have seen plenty of adult bookstore ads in some sports sections.
[/quote]

i don't see any ads period in sports sections...

 

[ringer]

Women's sports won't get equal coverage unless readers and advertisers demand it.

I disagree. It has to come from the top down. Have you ever tried to "demand coverage?" Fans of the Tour de France, World Cup ski racing, and world class track meets have been trying for years. Unless an editor or a producer fights for it, forget it. Even when the US has athletes who are the best in the world and the public begs for coverage, it falls on deaf ears. The universal reply is: "Oh, no one will watch/read, so we're not going to cover it." It's completely defeatist.

When someone in a position of power champions these sports, however, you can get some great sports sections. Neil Amdur at the NYT was one of those champions. He dared to widen the lens and he made his section a decent representation of the sports world. But that was 6-8 years ago. Now photos and graphics take up most of what little newshole remains.

 

[BillyT]

*****
According to the report, coverage of women’s professional teams has “nearly evaporated” and a “deepening silence” has enveloped women’s professional soccer, basketball, golf, field hockey, and softball
*****

Other than basketball and golf, all of those sports have coverage issues, whether they are male or female.

1. The WPL has been back for one year, maybe two? It has not had the time to crank up and, besides, men's professional soccer is still not getting consistent national coverage.

2. WNBA? In pockets (say Connecticut), the coverage is better than the NBA because there are no local NBA teams. It's televised, and it seems to me that the coverage has gotten better over the years.

3. In my experience, when there's space for more than a roundup, men's golf gets a separate story and the women lead the roundup over any other tours. There are times the women get more coverage than the men.

4. Professional field hockey? Certainly not on a national level. Heck, the NHL gets short shrift in non-hockey cities.

5. Professional softball? Is there a national league? If there is, don't even try to tell me interest approached even a wooden-bat college baseball league.

When it comes to high schools, I think that with the exception of football, most papers balance their coverage well, and in some places -- usually because of success -- the women get more coverage.