Intercom

Historically women's sports and women athletes have received only 5% of media coverage and have had access to less than 1% of sport marketing dollars globally.  Recent studies however reveal that women's sports is experiencing unprecedented growth in viewership and investment.  As Deloitte Insights (2021) noted, women's sports represents an area of growth for the sports industry because of its ability to generate substantial TV audiences, to garner support from sponsors, and to draw millions of fans to events.  One study examining the interest in women's sports found 66% of viewers were interested in at least one women's sport, with that figure rising to 84% among sports fans.  In this panel discussion, we will be exploring barriers to women's sports media coverage, new ways of thinking about women's sports media coverage, how the lack of sports media coverage affects women's sports, and how to unlock opportunities for greater and better sports media coverage of women's sports.

Welcome & Introduction: 

• Amy Falkner,  Dean, Ithaca College Roy H. Park School of Communication

Moderator:

• Arla Davis, IC Sports Media '23

Panelists:

• Carol Stiff, former VP of Programming and Acquisitions, ESPN; President of the Board of Directors, Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame; and Chair, Women’s Sports Network Board of Advisors
• Deborah Stroman, Ph.D., CLU, Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research Program and Director, Carolina Sports Business Club; Entrepreneur, American Underground, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• Dunja Antunovic, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota