The Sexist Nature of Sports Broadcasting



Credit: Barry Gossage / Getty Images

The industry of sports has sadly been built around the dominant ideology that men are viewed as superior to women. 

Take even something as small as the language choices that some coaches and athletes use. "You throw like a girl" has been a common phrase used in football and baseball for decades, and it is only now beginning to be phased out. Some colleges even continue to use sexist language in their team names, such as Alcorn State University’s “Braves” and “Lady Braves.” Given how the industry of sports views showing feminine traits as being “inferior,” the addition of “lady” onto the school mascot also labels the team as inferior to their male counterparts. 

Additionally, this ideology has been commonly seen throughout the business of broadcasting sports. Aside from the typical job of being a reporter or co-host, the first female play-by-play announcer was Gayle Sierens in 1987, and she was only able to announce for a single game before her broadcasting company refused to put her back on air in that role (Mead, 2010). Since then, only a handful of other women have been able to call a sporting event in the booth, such as Elizabeth Mowins, Pam Ward, and Cassie Campbell. Otherwise, the occupation has been dominated by men. 

Sellnow (2018) describes that while women are treated as equals in many different facets of life, many aspects of second-wave feminism are still being sought after today. For instance, Sellnow (2018) states that “on average, women today still earn 77 cents to every dollar earned by their male counterparts” (p. 142). The “glass ceiling” is also very evident in sports broadcasting, as many broadcasting corporations still elect to promote men to be play-by-play and color commentary announcers instead of promoting their equally qualified candidates who identify as women. 

Because of the sexist comments and language, as well as the difference in hiring purposes between men and women in sports broadcasting, the evidence of the ongoing pursuit of equality between men and women is still incredibly evident in the business of sports. While women continue to get more and more opportunities in sports broadcasting, many changes still need to be made before equality can be achieved in the industry. 

Given the inequalities in this occupation, it can be assumed that other similar areas have been or are currently in similar situations. Aside from sports broadcasting, what other areas of sports or televised entertainment have you seen gender inequalities in?


References

Mead, D. (2010). Twelve Women Who Pioneered the Era of Female Sports Broadcasters. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/440556-twelve-women-who-pioneered-the-era-of-female-sports-broadcasters

Sellnow, D. D. (2018). The rhetorical power of popular culture: considering mediated texts (3rd Ed). Sage Publications. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2024 at 11:47 AM

    You bring up some really compelling points about the barriers that continue to exist for women in the sports broadcasting world. It’s exciting to see the progress, but also frustrating to see issues like the wage gap still exist for women in the sports industry. Holly Rowe, an ESPN broadcaster who does commentary for the Utah Jazz (along with covering many other sports), comes to mind as a woman in sports broadcasting who has contributed to cracking the glass ceiling. I enjoy watching Holly’s reporting and the way she approaches her job in a male dominated industry. Beyond broadcasting, recent examples draw attention to the unequal treatment of women in the sports industry. For example, women’s teams participating in the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament in 2021 drew attention to the differences in the women’s facilities and accommodations in comparison to their male counterparts in a series of viral videos that made national news. That simple example demonstrates the progress that still needs to be made to ensure gender equality in sports. There is also reason to be hopeful when we consider what may be an even harder glass ceiling to shatter -- coaching in professional sports. For example, there are currently 15 female NBA coaches and 6 active female coaches in the NFL. Becky Hammon, who now coaches the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs and is the second female ever to coach an NBA team. I hope we continue to see greater inclusion of women in coaching roles typically dominated by men.

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