The world of women’s sports is undergoing a game-changing transformation, capturing unprecedented attention and recognition.
The Paris Olympics will be the most gender-equal in history. This milestone is a testament to the relentless efforts and remarkable achievements of women athletes who are breaking records, shattering stereotypes, and inspiring future generations.
Join us as we delve into the strides made toward gender equality on and off the field.
Girls and sport
Sport is a great enabler to teach girls the skills they need to advance in life. Girls who play sports develop self-esteem, confidence, resilience, and learn to work in teams. They tend to stay in school longer, delay pregnancy, and get better jobs.
Eighty per cent of female Fortune 500 CEOs played sports in their formative years, emphasizing the profound impact of early exposure to sports on women’s development and ability to reach their full potential.
Ninety-two per cent of global audiences surveyed by Parity Now agree it’s important for girls to play sports growing up, with 61 per cent deeming it “very important”.
Despite the evidence of clear benefits, by the age of 14 girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys due to several factors, such as social expectations, lack of investment in quality programmes, and more.
Media and women in sport
Women’s sports are currently experiencing an unprecedented surge in attention, attracting both dedicated fans and investors.
Approximately 35 female commentators have been hired by the Olympic Broadcasting Services for Paris 2024, raising the percentage of female commentators to nearly 40 per cent—a nearly 80 per cent increase compared to Tokyo 2020 and over 200 per cent from Rio 2016.
The Women’s National Basketball Association in the United States is airing prime-time in 2024 for a second consecutive year.
Women’s sports media coverage has tripled since 2019 after remaining stagnant for three decades at just 5 per cent to 16 per cent in 2022. If coverage trends continue at the current rate of growth, women’s share of coverage could reach 20 per cent by 2025.
Social media conversation around women's sports increased to 18.5 per cent in 2022, marking a 2.53 per cent average annual increase in share.
Women athletes wield significantly more influence compared to other types of influencers. Eighty-eight per cent regard pro women athletes as impactful role models for young women.
Audiences of female sports are booming. The FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 was the most viewed women’s sports event in history with a global audience of nearly 2 billion viewers.
The world record for the largest attendance for a women’s sports event was set in Lincoln, Nebraska on 30 August 2023, where 92,003 people packed a stadium to watch a volleyball doubleheader. The previous record of 91,648 was set on 20 April 2022 at Camp Nou in Spain when Barcelona's women's football players hosted Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
Seven out of 10 people now watch women’s sports. Almost 73 per cent say they watch women’s sports at least a few times a year – not too far behind the percentage who watch men’s sports with the same frequency (81 per cent).
Over half (54 per cent) of women’s sports fans only began watching within the last three years.
Pay, prize money, and sponsorship deals
In 1973, tennis led the way to equal prize money when Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Tennis Association. Today all four major tennis tournaments offer equal prize money.
Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Brazil are among a growing list of national football federations that have committed to equal pay for men’s and women’s national teams. In 2022, the US Women’s National Soccer Team secured a landmark equal pay settlement after a years-long legal battle that secured an equal pay rate in all games, including the World Cup, going forward. The settlement also included USD 22 million to compensate players for past discrimination.
In 2023 the Women's World Cup awarded $150 million in prize money, a 300 per cent increase over 2019, but still only about a third of the $440m the men got in Qatar 2022.
The World Surf League (WSL) announced in 2018 that it would award equal prize money to male and female athletes for every WSL-controlled event in the 2019 season and beyond.
The 2023 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Men's World Squash Championship awarded $500,000 in prize money to each gender, while the 2023 PSA Women's World Championship had a larger prize purse than the men's for the first time in the sport's history.
The number of sponsorship deals in women's professional sports has increased more than 22 per cent year on year according to Sports United’s latest data.
In 2024, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) superstar Caitlin Clark secured an unprecedented sponsorship deal as a brand ambassador for sporting goods giant Wilson. Clark penned an eight-year deal with Wilson in April 2024, and another with Nike for $28 million under which she will also receive her signature shoe.
Despite the many rapid gains, major gaps remain. Women athletes continue to struggle with fewer professional opportunities, a massive pay gap, fewer sponsorships, less airtime, and unequal playing conditions.
The No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark, is guaranteed a $76,000 salary in her first year. The 1 draft pick in the NBA gets $10 million.
There were no women among the 100 highest-paid athletes in the world in the Forbes Magazine's 2024 list.
A global sports salary survey conducted by Sporting Intelligence in 2017 showed that, among elite athletes, women earn on average only 1 per cent of what men earn.
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