Women's sports coverage reaches new heights, but has a long way to go

Published November 21, 2023 at 6:40 AM CST

Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States, shouts out as she celebrates with her gold medal for winning the women's 100 meters during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. (Ashley Landis/AP)

In a bumper year for women’s sports, even more good news came out recently: More women’s sports are available to watch than ever before.

New research from Wasserman found that 15% of all sports coverage in the U.S. is focused on women’s sports. It is likely helped by the fact that some of the world’s biggest new sports stars are women — from new 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson to U.S. Tennis Open Champion Coco Gauff and Simone Biles’ continued excellence in gymnastics.

While this is good news, there is still a lot of room for growth, both in the quality and quantity of sport.

Shira Springer is a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and writes for the Sports Business Journal about women in sports. She joins host Robin Young to unpack the research and where women’s sport needs to go next.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.