One of the main challenges facing Women’s sport is the vicious cycle of media coverage, fan interest and sponsorship. It is difficult to attract any of the three without all of the three and while nobody would argue that women’s or indeed any branch of sport has an inalienable right to coverage, analysis from around the world show that less than 5% of mainstream media coverage being devoted to Women must in so many ways fall short of a fair mark.
The beauty of the new media landscape in which we now exist though is that the shortfall can start to be tackled by women in sport themselves, along with their supporters.
In Ireland the Irish Times now dedicates space every week to areas of Women’s sport that are genuine in that they are not just about women playing sport but about the sports themselves. Genuine news coverage and analysis that is not just lip service.
That was borne out of genuine interest and the long term association with to Irish Times Sports Women of the Year and of the Month features.
TG4 has been a strong advocate through coverage of the Women’s Rugby World Cup and Ladies Football among others while despite criticism in some circles RTÉ has also been a strong advocate through coverage of the RBS 6 Nations tournament and especially through extensive news coverage on radio. Setanta Sports shows the Republic of Ireland soccer internationals in a deal supported by Continental Tyres. Even new entrant Irish TV has dedicated a six programme series around Camogie, recognising the value of covering sport that is seen by some as on the margins.
In the online world things are also much stronger now than they have been. Sportswomen.ie is a dedicated and consistent supporter of genuine news and interest highlighting the achievements of women in sport, and last month Fair Game, a new podcast kicked off hosted by Emily Glen and Elaine Buckley where issues including media coverage and grassroots development can be given space and time for discussion.
Extratime.ie, the site devoted to soccer in Ireland and run on a strong volunteer basis is a strong advocate of the Women’s National League giving consistent and quality coverage to the matches and the players.
In our small way we have been long term advocates of the need to promote and support Women’s sport until such time as we can drop the phrase Women’s and see that there is genuine parity as there is in terms of access to the vote, state services, education and so many more areas of our national life.
Our Women in Sport group drawn from interested members of the Sport for Business community will gather again in the coming weeks to consider ways in which the promotion of women’s talent and ability to play sport can be highlighted.
For the past two years we have highlighted the Women in sport and business who have the power to influence how sport is seen as being a human endeavour rather than just a man’s preoccupation.
Today we launch the 2016 search for this year’s 50 most influential women in Irish sport. Let us know who you believe should be on the list after taking a look at who made last year’s.
