March is not only a month where sports fans from Seattle to Syosset and from Long Beach to Jones Beach embrace the madness.
It is also a time to reflect as it is indeed International Women’s History Month. It is a time to pay tribute to those trailblazing women who have fought for equality and equity, stood determined in the face of adversity and have overall made our world a better place.
The sporting realm is no exception. Anyone who knows anything about the history of sports that it is a field that, yes, brings waves of joy and pride but it also rife with sexism and racism due to the male powers that dominate it.
Those pillars of racism that have been part of sport since its inception are collapsing one by one. The male-dominant stranglehold that has permeated sports since its beginning is showing signs of loosening.
And it is because of those trailblazing women throughout history. Names such as Billie Jean King, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Cheryl Miller that paved the way for today’s great names of women’s sports including Claressa Shields, Alyssa Naeher and Dawn Staley.
All one has to do is take a look at this year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Remember in the build-up to this year’s rendition of March Madness that there was more intrigue about how the women’s tourney would unfold than the men’s?
Contrary to what many in the media want us to believe, there is no way one single player could be responsible for the rising tide that is lifting all of the ships. As great a player as Caitlin Clark is, even she would probably tell us that the women’s game being where it is today is not merely a testament to her heroics alone.
Angel Reese. Audi Crooks. Deja Kelly. Mackenzie Scott. Cotie McMahon. Hannah Hidalgo. MiLaysia Fulwiley. Madison Booker. Alissa Pili. Rickea Jackson. Zoe Brooks. Hannah Stuelke. JuJu Watkins. Paige Bueckers. Janiah Barker. Cameron Brink.
These current greats of the college game are blazing trails for the next group of greats that can be seen today in the high school and AAU realms. Not only are they once again proving that women’s players can be just as great (and even better) than their male counterparts, they are proving via NIL deals that women are a smart business investment as well.
Basketball experiencing its success is translating to the WNBA – in the form of expansion and a potential new television rights deal in 2025 that is sure to bring a windfall of money to the W.
The rising success of the women’s game not only applies to basketball. It applies to other sports as well. Games in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) continue to set records in terms of attendance. Not to mention interest being so sky-high in North America’s flagship women’s soccer league has led to a surge in talk about expansion.
In addition, interest in the Professional Women’s Hockey League is high. The PWHL currently has six teams – Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Minnesota and Boston. And while all of its franchises are currently sans nicknames, we are confident that is something that will be remedied. Even without more traditional nicknames, the PWHL is also seeing rising interest and the expansion talk may soon enter its conversation as well.
One can also see how women’s sports are on the rise with the interest there is in college volleyball as well as college softball. There are now professional women’s volleyball and softball leagues and the marquee names of those leagues will surely translate to even more interest, intrigue and excitement in those sports.
When we launched Beyond The W in 2014, the continuous talk around women’s sports used to be how to “grow the game.” Looking at where we were in the mid-2010s and where we are in 2024, it is safe to say that women’s sports are not only growing – but exploding at an exponential rate.
From the players, coaches, fans to media to ambassadors of the women’s game – give yourselves your much deserved bouquets of flowers as International Women’s History Month comes to a close.
In business terms, women’s sports is certainly experiencing a massive bull market. Stock is certainly high for the women’s game – let us elevate it to even greater heights. We are just getting started.
