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In a sign that ESPN and other networks may choose to devote airtime to new sports, the American sports cable channel Added pickleball to the lineup.
pickle ballracquetball of our time, Crossfit without tattoos or supplements. A sport that repurposes abandoned tennis courts as ping-pong coliseumsAt this point, even professional sports are scarce, but there are broadcast deals here.
Details: CBS Sports will air 12 hours of games and highlights, and ESPN will air 8 hours of games and highlights. Hours of action and recaps on ESPN2 and 200 hours of coverage on streaming platforms.
But what about women’s sports?
Full disclosure, I don’t care about pickleball. And I’m actually generous with new leagues with broadcast deals and additional exposure. LIV Golf also announced a broadcast deal with The CW Network. After the usual sports outlet passed.
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The point here is that sports networks often promote young sports leagues. As long as those leagues are men’s leagues. In fact, the most notable thing about pickleball is that the Association of Pickleball Professionals has a women’s division.
“But Jane,” you might say.
By the way, wait till I hear how many girls play soccer in this country.The S. Women’s National Team vs. New Zealand match was not broadcast on traditional sports networks and aired on HBO Max.
“In a pickleball celebrity owner! ”
The National Women’s Soccer League line-up is shown — Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Natalie Portman, Sarah Spain, Mia Hamm… Women are investing in their game like never before.
slow to accept coverage women’s sports
American sports broadcasters have been slow to embrace women’s sports coverage. Even though they aired, the network hasn’t built a line of programming on those properties. and after the game Show or weekly roundup. Despite being one of the better networks at this point, ESPN does not have a network dedicated to women’s sports. A program repeated in a network. This her WNBA or her NFL insider of women’s tennis. Also, some studies have found that women’s sports are rarely included in traditional sports her outlet. estimated from 4 up to 6 percentGiven that, U.S. Women have dominated tennis for 20 years, but instead of covering individuals like Serena, Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka, they missed an opportunity to cover the WTA as a sport. and those who came before.
So, as public relations officer Kathleen Schmidt tweeted on Monday:
Pickleball may have all the success, but this announcement is further proof that traditional sports networks are gatekeepers who effectively underestimate women’s sports. let’s play baseball MLB has her average 50s fans. The structure of sports coverage remains the same, but the audience continues to age and shrink. Meanwhile, look at women’s basketball, both professional and college. It has young fans and may have more viewers.
“Incremental progress seems to get a lot of attention,” he said. athletic Bill Shea writing about the business of sports. “We are still in the growth stage A period that probably should have been experienced many years ago. ”
The truth is that the majority of pickleball deals are on ESPN’s streaming platform. Many streaming numbers aren’t published, and there’s no standard way to record them, so it’s not clear what the comparable audiences are across platforms and leagues.
“We are in such chaotic times when it comes to sports coverage with cord cutting,” Shea said.
the audience is there
Over the past decade, women’s interest in sports has grown rapidly. U.S. Women’s football regularly outperforms men’s matches at the World Cup. Serena Williams can draw 4.8 million viewers to the US.S. Open, NCAA women’s tournament about the same size spectators at the final. These are strong audiences in an era of fragmented audiences, and they’re getting better every year.
But even before poker hit television, women’s sports were still waiting.cornhole, beer pong…broadcast sports is more about not disturbing the young male audience than it is about actually broadcasting sports.
Women in sports audiences are on the rise and now make up 47% of the NFL audience. in the meantime, Sports talk radio ratings do not include women in the audience.
Pickleballs please. Have your day Now that you have the platform, do us all a favor and put some of those women’s games in the premiere window.S. Successful opening. Sports organizations such as the NCAA and FIFA Their own women’s division, they may be able to bypass network inertia.
In the meantime, I’m going to check out “Trash Talk, Site Phishing” Coverage this weekend on ESPN2.
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