In the summer of 2005, the National Hockey League's player strike left ESPN with open timeslots, so it aired women's softball during primetime.
Three TV networks devoted to college sports now air games 24 hours a day: ESPNU, launched in March 2005; College Sports Television (CSTV), launched in February 2003; and Fox College Sports.
Because more airtime is available for college sports, women have a better chance at getting broadcast. In fact, the first game aired from CSTV was a live telecast of a women's basketball game between Notre Dame and University of Connecticut, according to CSTV's Web site.
Are women's collegiate sports becoming more popular? Tufts' Director of Athletics Bill Gehling explained that the increased number of women playing sports since Title IX, the 1972 federal law requiring equal funding for women's and men's sports programs in educational institutions, has created an improved scene for female athletes.
"The evolution of women's sports in general has been phenomenal [since Title IX]," Gehling said.
According to Gehling, the potential popularity increase for women's sports comes from several different possible reasons, one of which is the entertainment factor: "The quality of play in women's sports has improved dramatically [since Title IX], and so, as a result, it is more fun for people to watch," he said.
Tufts swimming coach Nancy Bigelow explained that since Title IX, she has noticed an increase in the number of women participating in swimming. "There are more females in all levels of sports than ever before because of Title IX," Bigelow said.
At Tufts, sports generally receive less attention than they might at other schools because of our Div. III status, senior Meekaelle Joseph explained. "I wish we had better teams, because it would create more school spirit," she said.
"If students go to any games, they're probably the big guys' sports teams," Joseph added.
Gehling said that most of the time, game attendance depends on how well a team is doing. "Our more successful women's teams are starting to draw fans ... in soccer and basketball, especially," he said.
Joseph agreed that game attendance is dependent on a sport's on-campus profile and success. "The only time I remember my friends going to games was when the basketball team was in a big tournament," she said.
Traditionally, men's sports have received more attention from spectators and the media, according to Julie Dobrow, Director of Tufts' Communication and Media Studies program.
"I think that far more money has been pumped into men's sports over the years than women's," Dobrow said. "Title IX started to change this, at least in terms of developing more equitable funding structures, but there's no rule that governs how much media coverage a given sport gets," she said.
But now that women have been playing sports their whole lives, it's not just a man's world anymore. "The women who are in their 20s and 30s now grew up playing sports, even if they didn't play in college," Gehling said. "Athletics is part of who they are."
One student who watches sports on TV said that he thinks some sports tend to get more coverage for women than others. "I think men's sports get more attention overall, but some women's sports get more," senior David Igbalajobi said. "For example, women's tennis seems more popular than men's, and women's soccer gets more hype than men's, I think," he said.
The role of media is important as well. "All you have to do is look at how professional sports teams are marketing themselves now," Gehling said. "They're marketing to women, not just men. A significant segment ... has been trying to attract the female fan, acknowledging the fact that there are way more women who are interested in the sport than ever before."
One difference that affects sports coverage on television is the increase of women working in the media, according to Dobrow.
"We are finally starting to get a few more women who are sports editors, and I think that as women move into more powerful management positions in sports media, we will start to see changes in the kinds of stories that are covered," Dobrow said.
Igbalajobi explained that although sports networks do cover women's sports, viewers have to search for games to watch them. "Men's teams have more sponsors and more advertising money, so the common viewer is more likely to end up watching those games," he said.
"Lots of women's sports don't have thriving franchises, so you watch the games because you're into it," Igbalajobi said. "You really have to be a fan to follow women's matches, I think."
