{"id":214702,"date":"2024-05-29T07:30:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T11:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=214702"},"modified":"2024-05-28T11:15:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:15:59","slug":"to-celebrate-the-womens-sports-moment-look-to-the-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/05\/to-celebrate-the-womens-sports-moment-look-to-the-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"To Celebrate the Women\u2019s Sports Moment, Look to the Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: This article about experiences of women who work in women’s sport teams and leagues by Risa Isard, E. Nicole Melton, and Katie Sveinson was originally featured<\/a> in Sports Business Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark\u2019s\u00a0$28 million deal with Nike<\/a> is setting history \u2014 again. While the many recently broken records across women’s sport are worth celebrating, there’s a chance the industry is so caught up in the moment that we’re at risk of forgetting how we got here.<\/p>\n

This is important for growing fan communities to consider, and even more critical for today\u2019s business leaders. Overlooking what\u2019s come before the current moment threatens to alienate key stakeholders — especially women\u2019s sport employees, many of whom are experiencing this record-setting time through a unique lens.<\/p>\n

Our recent research provides insights into the experiences of the workers who\u2019ve dedicated themselves to growing women\u2019s sport and the steps leaders can take to continue the progress of the movement. Over the past three-and-a-half years, we interviewed employees working for women\u2019s sport teams and leagues. We heard from people across the gender spectrum, nearly 40% of whom were people of color and nearly one-third of whom identified as LGBTQ+.\u00a0Respondents ranged from 24-57 and spanned departments and hierarchies.<\/p>\n

Despite these differences, their experiences working in women\u2019s sport were remarkably similar: the joy in recent developments is juxtaposed against the pain of decades of disregard and mistreatment.<\/p>\n

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Their experiences working in women\u2019s sport were remarkably similar: the joy in recent developments is juxtaposed against the pain of decades of disregard and mistreatment. — Risa F. Isard, E. Nicole Melton, and Katie Sveinson<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In one breath, employees would rattle off enthusiasm for recent records broken: attendance, viewership, valuation, media rights, sales, and expansion fees. In the next, they shared frustrations about recent and historic experiences with limited media coverage, disrespect from prospective partners, being deprioritized by venues, poor pay and treatment for athletes, and more. Notably, they also shared stories of the ridicule they personally faced for working in women\u2019s sport — times they were cursed out on the job when making calls on behalf of the organization, and times off the job when friends and family disparaged their career choices.<\/p>\n

The research illustrates a sports industry turning point, with visible progress and growing respect contrasted with a traumatic past for workers that cannot be erased with a few (or many) records.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why industry leaders celebrating during this moment in time must also embrace the movement \u2014 the path to getting here and the path ahead.<\/p>\n

Educate Yourself on Women\u2019s Sport\u2019s Canon<\/h3>\n

Leaders who want to celebrate today\u2019s wins have to know why these wins matter \u2014 and why they didn\u2019t happen sooner. Seek out the history, in all its nuances.<\/p>\n

Apply a mindset to understand and learn, expanding your horizons to include foundational knowledge of the community that has built and sustained women\u2019s sport for decades. Leaders who do will be better equipped to take part in and contribute to the movement.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways to learn is simply to listen to the stories told by those who have been part of the movement. Listen to the athletes, front office employees, agents, journalists, and fans who have devoted themselves to women\u2019s sport for the past years and decades. All these people have stories to tell, and many share them publicly. Following new voices on social media, consuming message boards, and reading think pieces by those who have paved this path can help fill in the backstory.<\/p>\n

Commit to Creating Tomorrow While Celebrating Today<\/h3>\n

The movement is also about the future. Indeed, employees we spoke with see this moment as a \u201ctipping point\u201d \u2014 not as a final destination. Chances are, if you are reading this piece, you also understand that the narrative around women\u2019s sport is shifting, not shifted. For all of the recent growth, disparities still remain, in athlete\u00a0salaries<\/a>,\u00a0media rights<\/a>, facility access, employee compensation, and more.<\/p>\n

Mia Hamm, who a quarter-of-a-century ago led our country through its last women\u2019s sport awakening, said, \u201cTake your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don\u2019t settle for them.\u201d Indeed, we have so much farther to go.<\/p>\n

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Leaders should recognize this and make a commitment to the women\u2019s sport movement, signing on for long-term investments to continually propel the game so that today\u2019s records are just tomorrow\u2019s benchmark. — Risa F. Isard, E. Nicole Melton, and Katie Sveinson<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Leaders should recognize this and make a commitment to the women\u2019s sport movement, signing on for long-term investments to continually propel the game so that today\u2019s records are just tomorrow\u2019s benchmarks. Media companies should\u00a0invest in full-time positions<\/a>, hiring beat writers for the women\u2019s sport teams and staffing journalists who came up through the women\u2019s game, in addition to creating expanded content. Brands should spend intentionally, building partnerships with women\u2019s teams, athletes, and players\u2019 associations, along with making concentrated ad buys that support media coverage. Innovators can find gaps and double down in creating something new, like this\u00a0new women\u2019s track invitational<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tell the Whole Story<\/h3>\n

Sport loves underdogs, and there may be no bigger upset than the one women\u2019s sport has recently achieved. The underdog story acknowledges what athletes, employees, and fans have been through, while celebrating that even decades of corporate disinvestment and seemingly impenetrable stereotypes couldn\u2019t keep down the force that is women\u2019s sport. It\u2019s precisely this confidence \u2014 the belief derived from overcoming, paired with an authentic recognition \u2014 that will advance women\u2019s sport.<\/p>\n

WNBA legend Nneka Ogwumike said it best<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019re at a very pivotal moment for the history of our league\u2026 I love to see all the new fans. I would implore upon them to do their homework on the history just so that they can better understand things, because we have people that are working hard in the front office, in the offices of these teams, we have all these players that have been around for a long time that played with OGs who are no longer playing that we\u2019re standing on the backs of.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all that so many in the industry have given, women\u2019s sport deserves nothing less than the latest records and attention of the day. It also still deserves so much more.<\/p>\n

Risa F. Isard (@RisaLovesSports<\/a>) is an\u00a0assistant professor at the\u00a0University of Connecticut; E. Nicole Melton (@Doc_Melton<\/a>)\u00a0is a professor at the\u00a0University of Massachusetts; and\u00a0Katie Sveinson (@KatieSveinson<\/a>)\u00a0is an assistant professor at the\u00a0University of Massachusetts. This piece is crafted in partnership with The Collective Think Tank: a global consortium of academic minds and industry leaders focused on gender parity and improving diversity. The collaboration is led by The Collective, Wasserman\u2019s women-focused division.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent research provides insights into the experiences of the workers who\u2019ve dedicated themselves to growing women\u2019s sport and the steps leaders can take to continue the progress of the movement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":214735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2427,1855,2076],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1879],"class_list":["post-214702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-educational-leadership","category-neag","category-research"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 18:05:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214702"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214757,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214702\/revisions\/214757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/214735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214702"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=214702"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=214702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}