University Sport Business Assignment: Media Coverage of Women's Sports

This report delves into the contemporary issue of media coverage in sports, specifically focusing on the disparity between the coverage of men's and women's sports. The analysis highlights the significant imbalance, with women's sports receiving a drastically lower percentage of media attention despite the substantial participation of women in sports. The report examines the impact of this underrepresentation, emphasizing how media influences public perception and perpetuates gender inequality. It provides statistics, examples of successful women's leagues, and discusses challenges such as pay gaps and unequal access to resources. The report argues for the importance of equitable media coverage to celebrate the achievements of female athletes, promote respect, and foster gender equality within the sports industry. It references several academic sources to support its arguments and advocates for increased media attention to address existing inequalities. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for media to play a pivotal role in highlighting the issues and successes of women in sports.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SPORTS BUSINESS
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SPORTS BUSINESS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SPORTS BUSINESS
Background
Gender equality in sports has gained real momentum in recent days. There have been a
number of changes in terms of disabled athletes, sexual orientation discrimination and race
(Turpeinen &Hakamäki, 2018). Women are highly appreciated in the field of sports now. This
discussion provides a snapshot of whether women should get an equitable amount of media
coverage or not in relation to men's sport.
Media is a very important form of communication (Caple, 2017). Whether or not people
are involved in sports, they are aware of them because of media. From newsletter to global
television coverage, media is the most powerful medium and has a number of influences. It helps
in changing the perception of people. The inspiring pictures of Paralympic games change our
perception of disabled people.
Assessment
Media plays an important role in conveying messages and revealing truths and issues.
Men's sports have always been widely marketed and highlighted by media, unlike women's
sports. Statistics tells that 40% of sports participants are women, yet women’s sport receive only
4% of media coverage (UNESCO, 2020). According to the Women’s Sports Foundation reports
there are zero stories on women’s basket ball as compared to 60 stories on men’s. Equal
importance should also be given to the women who play such a diversified role. They act as a
mother in a family and a flexible worthy player of the country at the same time, without
sacrificing any responsibilities (Jang, 2017).
Countries like England and Australia are already having fully functional women's leagues
that are covered by media. The Football Association Women’s Super League is one such

2CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SPORTS BUSINESS
example in England. It started since 2010 and has gained huge importance in the recent years.
This event is broadcasted internationally for free. BBC Sport airs one game per weekend and BT
sports also broadcasts a number of matches. ICC Cricket is already renowned and is hosting
cricket events for women. It has now equal importance like the ICC Men’s Cricket Leagues.
Until and unless the equal focus is given by media on women, people will be unaware of their
problem and issues and women can never get the opportunity in sports. Kate Jenkins, the sex
discrimination commissioner for Australian Human Rights correctly outlined the six major
challenges to gender equality in sports, out of which equal pay and support from media and
sponsors are the most concerning one. A pay gap is generally harmful for women’s economic
security. Equal pay helps in making a woman independent in life. The disparity in the pay does
not only affect the spending power of women but also penalizes their security after retirement.
All players irrespective of gender need to balance their work and require a great deal of
flexibility. Most women are deprived of better facilities in sports (O'Brien, 2018). Male athletes
get 179 million dollars more in athletic scholarships as compared to the females. The colleges
and other institutions spend only 24% of the athletic operating budget, 33% of scholarship
budgets and 16% of recruiting budgets on female sports (Boninger, 2018). Unless media is
interfering and highlighting such issues, this will never be known by the public. Thus the equal
focus should be given by media on women to celebrate effort and success and to promote respect
irrespective of gender.

3CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SPORTS BUSINESS
References
Boninger, N. (2018). Antitrust and the NCAA: Sexual Equality in Collegiate Athletics as a
Procompetitive Justification for NCAA Compensation Restrictions. UCLA L. Rev., 65,
754.
Caple, H. (2017). Visual media. The Routledge Handbook of Language and Media, 230.
Jang, I. (2017). SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS: A CASE STUDY OF
NCAA DIVISION I CONFERENCES’FACEBOOK PAGES.
O'Brien, T. (2018). Learn how rising negligence claims impact athletics departments. College
Athletics and the Law, 14(12), 1-3.
Turpeinen, S., & Hakamäki, M. (2018). Sport and Equality; An overview of the current status of
gender equality in sports and physical activity.
UNESCO. (2020). Gender Equality in Sports Media. Retrieved 14 March 2020, from
https://en.unesco.org/themes/gender-equality-sports-media