While viewership for women’s sports has seen double — if not triple — digit percentage increases in the past year, legends Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe say they’ve still been met with industry resistance despite the gained traction.
“We’ve all fought and clawed for so long to prove our value, saying we’re worth investing in … We were trying to tell people we had value, now we actually have the data — We actually have the numbers to prove it,” WNBA Champion Bird said at TheWrap’s “Second Half Champions: Women Redefining Success in Sports and Business presented by City National Bank” panel at TheGrill conference, alongside fellow panelist and Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin.
“We can walk in rooms and present that, and what’s been unexpected is most times you’re met with, ‘But is this real?’ or ‘Oh, great job, but is it going to keep going?’” Bird continued. “You already made us have to prove it — We did, and now you’re still doubting it.”
“It’s almost like the goalpost is moving,” Rapinoe deadpanned.
For Bird and Rapinoe, who together founded A Touch More, the inflexibility to welcome women’s sports into the mainstream fold reflects an established ecosystem of media coverage, which Bird said is already “balanced” for men’s sports, but has yet to be set up for women’s sports.
Without that media coverage balance, it’s easier for hot takes or speculation to make it into the mainstream narrative, Bird and Rapinoe explained, with Rapinoe calling out Stephen A. Smith for using his platform “irresponsibly” to “take a lot of time to put women down” as he pointed out the decline in viewership for games without basketball sensation Caitlin Clark.
For this reason, Rapinoe noted that she, Bird and Liukin are “uniquely positioned to enter that ecosystem,” as they each work to empower female athletes and draw attention to women’s sports in their entrepreneurial pursuits, which also enables the athletes to take back ownership of their identity, as well.
“I realized early on … I am the business, I’m the product — These people are making money off of me,” Rapinoe said. “I … [realized] that really quickly, and [tried] to find the areas as I grew and got smarter and learned more, like ‘Where can I take something back?’ And trying to honestly take everything back eventually.”
The process of taking back that power has its own barriers to entry, with Liukin recalling “it wasn’t until after the Olympics, until after I won, that … I was having conversations that didn’t include a triple twist dismount, what leotard I was wearing the next day or what pose I wanted on the Wheaties box.”
“We’re so proud of what we did in our field of play, but taking it to a whole different world can be a little daunting at times when you’re not in full control,” Liukin said. “If I didn’t win a competition, I knew that was on me. I’m gonna go back to the gym and work harder … but in a world where you’re putting yourself out there, and you’re putting your name and you’re attaching it to certain brands or companies … you don’t really have that full control.”
While getting a seat at the table might be intimidating for athletes who weren’t versed in the business side of things, Bird recalled a particularly memorable CBA negotiation where she had a lightbulb moment that she’s “actually the smartest person in the room.” “I think it comes back to having a confidence, because at times as athletes, we aren’t really treated that way,” she said.
With some businesses are just now catching onto the importance of women’s sports, Rapinoe predicted more endorsement through investment for female athletes are in the future, and pointed out the trend among younger athletes to build a “business sphere” around themselves, especially given the genuine connection with “real life issues” among women.
“Maternal health intersects with women’s sports — contraceptives, reproductive rights, racism, misogyny, sexism, women’s empowerment — all of it really authentically intersects with women’s sports in a way that’s very real,” Rapinoe said. “Our spaces are inclusive, our games are inclusive, and it’s different than men’s sports. That’s not to say one is necessarily better than the other, but it’s a brand new business opportunity.”
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