The summer of 2019 was something of a watershed moment for women’s sport, as the FIFA Women?s World Cup took center stage in France.
The teams that competed captured the imagination of sports fans everywhere. The action lived up to the hype, and the USA eventually came out the victors. This led to a debate around the need for sports clubs and governing bodies to invest more in women’s sport, in order to develop what could in the future be a highly profitable additional arrow to the sector’s bow.
Flash forward a few months and suddenly the very existence of women’s professional sport appears to be at stake, with football clubs singling out women’s teams as something they can cut to make savings, and women’s sports organizations in general losing funding all over the globe.
Here is why it is more necessary than ever that professional women’s sport be protected and why the EU should make it a priority.
Surfing is one of the few sports investing heavily in its female tour
Some Examples of Sports Getting it Right and Benefiting as a Result
Perhaps the best places to look for reasons as to why women’s sport should be protected, and indeed invested in, are those sports where this is already happening, often with beneficial results for the sports’ governing, athletes and fans alike.
Surfing is one sport where you would perhaps least expect parity between the sexes, known for a toxic streak embedded deep within the sport, because of which women were once seen as good for being bikini models and little else besides.
However, in recent years all that has changed, with the WSL (World Surf League) making it compulsory that each of its championship tour stops cater for male and female competitors, and that prize money is equal. There is still a long way to go in the sport, but so far it is leading the way, and benefiting from increased sponsorship deals and brand reach as a result.
It’s not just extreme sports like surfing that are shining a light for women’s sport, with tennis also breaking free of its traditionalist shackles to make noises about the ATP and WTA tours uniting. Such a super tour would no doubt generate enormous interest and boost audience numbers at all tour stops rather than just the grand slam tournaments. Although the measure hasn’t been brought in yet, with the likes of Andy Murray and Roger Federer pushing the idea, it has every chance of coming to fruition.
Now is not the time to set women’s sport back decades
Soccer ? Where the Battle Will Be Won and Lost
Despite having earned their nation yet another World Cup triumph, unlike anything their male counterparts have ever come close to doing, the US women’s team were under attack on all sides, from politicians to commentators, who derided their requests for equal pay and the promotion of their professional leagues.
This same battle is currently being fought by their European counterparts who, having proved they play an exciting brand of soccer at the continent’s 5-star spectacle in France, expected their leagues and profiles to grow rather than shrink.
Unfortunately, a report from Fifpro shows that many players are already struggling to make ends meet, despite being at the pinnacle of their sport, with many rich clubs like Barcelona failing to provide even the most basic of support for players they have under contract, while male players continue to prosper. These current financial issues are already compounded by the fact that women’s teams often never get to use their club’s main stadium and are even officiated by amateur referees.
With soccer being the undoubted go-to sport for women in the largest economy in the world (US), it seems such a wasted opportunity for European clubs not to be making themselves the hub for women’s football.
Why Women’s Professional Sport Matters
Simply put, many sports are running at half capacity, with huge economic losses being incurred every year by many not taking advantage of the burgeoning women’s sports market. With women more active and engaged with sport than ever before, now is the time to invest in their teams and grassroots projects, a move which will undoubtedly pay dividends down the line. Just ask the head honchos in charge of tennis and surfing.
If something is not done soon, the sport’s risk losing yet another generation of potential super star players and teams.
