In September the Red Roses won the World Cup. More fully, England won the Women’s Rugby Union World Cup. The tournament was held in England, and England were the favourites, so the result wasn’t a great surprise. Nevertheless, it did lead to a great deal of celebration and excitement at the victory, but also at what it showed about the growing interest in women’s spectator sport. The final was the most-watched rugby match on TV this year. There has been a lot of fuss about the likely ‘legacy’ of the success, with more people watching and, in particular, more women and girls playing rugby at the grassroots level.
For a variety of reasons: lacking confidence, having fewer opportunities at school, or spending more time on family responsibilities, for example, women and girls are on the whole less involved in sport and physical activity than men and boys are, hence Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign.
The most obvious example of the increased interest is football, where England’s national team, known as the Lionesses, have twice won the European Championship, and most professional clubs now have women’s teams too. London City Lionesses aren’t linked to another club, but formed as a breakaway from Millwall Lionesses.
There has, of course, long been a media interest in women’s sports, but this has been primarily in individual events such as athletics, gymnastics, swimming and tennis. For whatever reason, team sports have lagged behind, with the possible exception of hockey and netball. Only in the last couple of decades have team sports attracted more attention.
Twelve years ago no women’s national cricket team had professional contracts, and England players had to fly economy class to major tournaments. This year the fifty-over Women’s World Cup was played in India, with a total prize money of nearly $14m (which was more than that for the most recent corresponding men’s World Cup).
A specific indicator of the growing interest in women’s sport is in advertising, where many brands have begun to focus more on sports adverts that deal with products aimed at women, from perfume and jewellery to shampoo. And women athletes now appear more often in the adverts, something that sportsmen, especially athletes and footballers, have been doing for some time. Last year’s Paris Olympics was a good example of more woman-focused advertising. Nike, for instance, has increased its spending on marketing in order to compete with ‘upstart’ rivals. And it’s not just advertising, as broadcasting rights for women’s sports have become more valuable too.
It’s good to see more people, whatever their age and gender, participating actively in sport but, as so often, there are other interests at stake too.
Paul Bennett
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