By Anthony Alford
This article was quite the interesting read. I like how it points out the problems that women sport have and how it offers realistic solutions on how to improve the image of women sports. But let’s not act like these changes will make these sports as popular as the “Big Three” (NFL, MLB, and NBA), college football, or men’s college basketball. The problem that all female sports have is the same issue that every sport that I did not just list including golf, tennis, swimming and others has; they do not appeal to the typical casual sports fan and that will not change anytime soon.
Casual fans think differently than we do. Unlike most of us, they do not watch Sportscenter or ESPN on a daily basis for a variety of different reasons. They watch very little (if any) regular season sporting events and they care very little about the game itself. For example, they will not watch a NFL regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens just because both defenses are the top defenses in the league. For many hardcore sports fans like me, that type of thinking is somewhat hard to understand honestly. But the more non-sports fans I met here in college, the more I began to understand the difference.
The typical casual sports fans care about the human interest story behind the game much more than the game itself. The Olympics are a perfect example of this. There is a story behind the Olympics that captures the attention of causal fans. While we hardcore fans complain about NBC type delaying a swimming or track event for primetime, it is perfectly convenient for causal fans to sit down with their families after dinner to watch an event because of the human interest element behind the game. Plus, the Olympics show that most Americans only care about “niche” sports every four years, not year-round. That is why NBC could air a live gold medal men’s basketball game at 10am on a Sunday morning and get big ratings solely from hardcore fans, but also type delay a gold medal women’s gymnastics event for primetime because of Gabby Douglas’ involvement.
The Ladies Day article suggests that this is a sexist issue. But other than big time sports that are covered daily on ESPN, there is no reason why a casual sports fan would watch the event. Remember, if there is no relevant human interest story behind the game or a notable player like Serena Williams or Tiger Woods involved, the casual fan will not watch. This will not change because the few times that causal fans actually watch ESPN, they are only likely to see the “Big Three,” College Football (power conferences only), or Men’s College Basketball (power conferences only). The only thing that women sports can do is appeal to their own hardcore fan base. If done correctly and consistently, then maybe it could expand.
By, Derek Miller
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I agree with the difference you presented regarding hardcore sports fans and casual fans. I am one of the hardcore sports fans who absolutely hated hearing the results of the Phelps races before they aired on television this past summer in the Olympics. I like what you said about the human interest element that casual sports fans are intrigued by. Now that I think about it, whenever I have a conversation with a casual sports fan about a sporting event it is rarely about the outcome of the game, and the conversation is more focused on the story behind it. The Super Bowl is always a highly watched sporting event, but since this year offers the HARBOWL (Jim and John Harbaugh) does this mean we can expect a record amount of casual sports fans tuning in because of the incredible human interest story? (Would love to hear what the rest of the class has to say) GREAT BLOG ANTHONY!
Hey Anthony, I am very pleased to see you post about this article because I find it very interesting myself. Although big American sports like Football and Baseball are not aired frequently in Malaysia, I have been watching sports ever since I can remember and have wondered why women’s sports are not being shown as regularly as men sports.
ReplyDeleteAs I grew older, I understood more about this issue and I totally agree with what you mentioned in your post. The main goal for sport broadcasting companies like Sportscenter and ESPN is to make money! This means that the larger the audience, the more money they will attain. People come up with tons of reasons why they don’t enjoy watching women’s sports, which makes it an issue because sport-broadcasting companies will never show women’s sports unless there is a larger audience.
In addition to that, Sportscenter and ESPN do not just broadcast in America but also other countries and because of that, it magnifies the issue. I can say that sport is taken more seriously in America than any other country in the world. In Malaysia, sport is just a past time activity, an extra thing to do. There are barely any scholarships given to athletes, only to best of the best athletes get scholarships. The system sort of discourage people to get involved in sports, at least in Malaysia. Imagine the size of the audience of sports fans from where I come from. Less than 8% from that group are women’s sport fans. Based of the statistics, it does not make sense for Sportscenter and ESPN to show women’s sports more frequently.
I disagree with The Ladies Day article that said that this is a sexist issue because these companies are doing what they are suppose to do to survive in the sports industry. Especially in the 21st century, the sports industry is so competitive and every decision they make is crucial. As much as I want women’s sports to be shown more often or maybe equal to men’s sports, it will be very difficult to make it happen.
- Marcus Kok
Taylor Redd
ReplyDeleteAnthony, solid post and I wanted to elaborate on the part where you said that female sports do not appeal to the typical casual sports fan. This is because our society wants to see athletes who perform at the highest level possible, and unfortunately in most sports that is men. Women’s professional leagues simply cannot survive for more than a few years because all the ratings go to the men’s leagues. Some prime examples are Women’s United Soccer Association, Ladies Pro Baseball, Women’s Professional Fastpitch, etc. With the WNBA being on life support thanks to ESPN, it will be surprising to me if any women’s professional league will emerge and dominate any portion of the market.
However, I also want to point out some positives in women’s sports. The WNBA has been around since 1997, and the LPGA has been going strong since 1950! Also, people love watching women play tennis because they have athletes that compete at such a high level (Williams sisters, Sharapova, Azarenka, etc.). I directly rate this kind of high intensity competitiveness to that of Kerri Walsh and Misty May on a beach volleyball court.
To sum up my comment I just think that women’s sports need to find their niche and not try and compete with dominant sport leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and MLB.