The presence of women is advancing in sports, but it is not reflected in the media. The results of the research "The Coverage Gap: a step towards ending audience disparity in women's sports", conducted by the global sports streaming platform DAZN and the organization promoting equality in the workplace, The Female Quotient, analyzed the coverage of this field in media and social networks in eight countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand).
The study reveals how the difference in treatment in terms of quality and quantity of women's sports prevents the creation and maintenance of audiences, which also limits brand investment and sponsorship.
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Thus, it has been noted that 66% of the population claims to be interested in at least one women's sport, and 64% say they do not watch women's sports and attribute it to three fundamental reasons:
- They do not know enough about the athletes and teams
- There are not as many opportunities to watch them because they are not offered in the media
- They do not know where they can watch the available matches.
On the other hand, it is estimated that there are currently 314 million people interested in women's football, representing 16% of the total population. "To take advantage of this growth potential and close the gap between fans who claim to be interested in women's sports and those who actually watch them, it is necessary to invest and give visibility to all those great stories behind the teams, the fans, and the athletes themselves, just as it is being done for men's sports," say from DAZN.
The streaming platform has partnered with UEFA and YouTube to allow fans from around the world to follow each of the Women's Champions League matches for free.