Women’s Sports Is Soaring, 3 Ally Actions To Make It Sustainable

The surge in interest in women’s sports this year is heartening, and with the right allyship, we could experience even greater interest. In my interview with Tracy Ellis-Ward, senior vice president, diversity, equity and inclusion at Pacers Sports and Entertainment, she underscored the long history of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). “It’s important to remember that the WNBA has been around for only 28 years. The NBA has had a 50 year head start given it was founded in 1946. This year we saw a new generation of fans supporting the game with the rookies lifting the game.”

In the 2024 season, WNBA attendance increased by nearly 50% year over year across all franchises, and there was a 170% increase in television viewership. Ellis-Ward hopes this momentum continues, and she urges, “We need to get out of the narrative of comparing women’s basketball to men’s basketball. We need to let women shape their own narrative around the future of women’s basketball.”

We also need more allies to join in the support of women’s sports, on and off the court (or other sports’ domains). Here are a few ways you can be a better ally to help make women sports more sustainable:

1. Promote women’s sports earlier.
2. Advocate for players.
3. Curb racial division.

Ally Action #1: Promote Women’s Sports Earlier

Sadly, girls’ participation in sports typically drops off around age 12 or 13. Ellis-Ward suggests, “We need to get more involved in grade schools, and we need more women coaches in all areas of girls’ sports. We have to find new ways to keep girls engaged by normalizing it is okay to be fit, to run and to sweat. There is an old narrative about how girls should be, which is slowly changing.”

This is important because participation in sports is highly correlated to women serving in leadership roles later in life. According to Deloitte, 85% of women who play sports say it’s important to their career success. Challenging outdated stereotypes about girls’ expectations can help curb biases later in their sports careers.

Ally Action #2: Advocate for Players

Ellis-Ward Notices there’s a lot of harmful dialogue on social media and news outlets about women players. Unlike male athletes, women are often unnecessarily critiqued due to their appearance, personality or other distractions that are not imperative to their performance. Ellis-Ward notes, “Media plays a role in how we portray women. There is an oversexualization that we do not see in the men’s game. It’s very prescriptive in how women need to look and act, and [when]

women do not conform with the narrative, they are often portrayed negatively.”

It’s important to advocate for players not just when they’re achieving, but more importantly when they’re being challenged, to make women’s sports more sustainable.

Ally Action #3: Curb Racial Division

One troubling trend that occurred with the rise of women’s basketball in 2024 was women being pitted against each other, often across racial lines. The two star rookies—Caitlin Clark, who is white, and Angel Reese, who is Black—play different positions yet were compared against one another continuously throughout the season.

Ellis-Ward comments, “The racial headlines are very disappointing, and they are going to continue to try to be divisive. Players are facing a lot of negative noise and unnecessary comparison. I’ve never seen these types of comparisons on the men’s side ever.” This tug-of-war bias pitting women against each other instead of in support of one another is harmful, especially across racial lines. As Serena Williams has said, “The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up.”

Beyond women’s basketball, this year also saw a rise in the number of U.S. women at the Olympic level as well as advancing to prominent coaching positions in American football and hockey. As Ellis-Ward hopes, “Sports can be a great unifier, and [they] can also be divisive. It’s time to reframe the narrative about women’s sports.” Let’s all try to be better allies to leverage this positive momentum for future generations to come.