March 1 is Equal Play Day: as of today, women’s sports are invisible
• A new study has shown that only around 19 percent of all sports reporting in Austria is dedicated to women’s sports.
• With the Equal Play initiative, win2day is drawing attention to the imbalance in the visibility of women’s and men’s sport and focuses on measures to reduce this discrepancy.
• More visibility for women’s sports means more sponsorship, more professionalisation, more young talent.
Equal Play Day marks the day of the year equivalent to, statistically speaking, no more women’s sports being shown on domestic media for the remainder of the year, based on women’s sports only receiving 19 percent of sports coverage: in 2024, this is March 1. The initiator win2day, the Austrian Lotteries online gaming site, is drawing attention to this imbalance by organising the first Equal Play Day. This particular date is calculated on the basis of a new study by MediaAffairs. This reputable provider of high-quality media market analyses examined around 13,000 images in domestic print media and around 1,200 sports broadcasts on Austrian TV stations over a period of one year. The Equal Play Initiative and the results of a study on equal rights in Austrian sports were presented at a press conference with sports and media representatives today.
The existing imbalance in the public presence of women’s and men’s sports has a clear impact on the career opportunities of female athletes. Increased media visibility for female athletes improves opportunities for lucrative sponsorship contracts. More money in turn increases opportunities for professionalisation. Visible female athletes also become role models for girls and young women. These female role models are essential and inspire young generations to discover competitive sports for themselves. For sports in general, this means more young talents joining the pool, which in turn completes the circle of increasing professionalisation. During a press conference at the Haus des Sports today, Erwin van Lambaart (Director General of Austrian Lotteries), Georg Wawer (Managing Director of win2day), Maria Pernegger (author of the study & Managing Director of MediaAffairs) spoke with sports representatives Tina Pesendorfer (Austria’s best wheelchair tennis player), Viktoria Schnaderbeck (former national football team captain & founder of the sports marketing agency PRO-SPECTIVE) and Lisa Zderadicka (national basketball player) about the importance of sponsorship and increasing the visibility of women’s sports.
Outside of seasonal highlights, the share of women’s sports drops below 10 percent
In the print media examined in the study, around 83 percent of sports coverage in 2023 was devoted to male athletes and only 17 percent to female athletes. Seasonal fluctuations are particularly noticeable: in winter, female athletes receive over a third of the total coverage thanks to the Alpine Ski World Cup. Similar positive effects were only seen during the Women’s Football World Cup in the summer of 2023, with the opposite trend during the rest of the year, when the share of reporting on female athletes often drops below 10 percent.
The situation is similar for the TV broadcasters that were analysed, where the presence of female athletes is slightly higher (21.3 percent) than in the print sector. Here too, skiing and major events such as the Women’s Football World Cup lead to greater visibility.
Equal Play Day initiator win2day as a pioneer for equal rights in sports
Given this imbalance, win2day, the Austrian Lotteries online gaming site, has been campaigning for equal opportunities in domestic women’s, men’s and disabled sports since 2022. win2day supports national teams, top leagues and major events in ice hockey, basketball, beach volleyball, tennis, American football and table tennis. In this context, win2day specifically promotes the professionalisation of women’s sports and disabled sports, the development of national teams, the provision of high-quality equipment for teams and, in particular, access to sporting events for the general public.
Georg Wawer, Managing Director at win2day had this to say about the Equal Play initiative: “At win2day, we stand for fair play and equality – we practice this attitude in our work all year round. Our sponsorship creates real prospects for men’s, women’s and disabled sports teams in Austria. We’re on the right track, but there’s still plenty to do.” Wawer continued: “By introducing Equal Play Day every year, we draw the public’s attention to the imbalance in the visibility of men’s, women’s and disabled sports. You can’t be what you can’t see – that’s why we want to create tangible opportunities and role models for Austria’s young athletes.”
Austrian Lotteries’ long-standing commitment should also be seen in this context. They have been the most important financier of popular and elite sports in Austria for decades. Director General Erwin van Lambaart: “Our commitment to sports in Austria is intended to ensure that Austrian athletes have the best possible training conditions, receive a sound education and are subsequently able to deliver top performances at international competitions. Still, sports also require equal visibility and female role models that young people can emulate.” See also here.
“Buzzwords such as diversity and gender equality also apply to sports – this requires a fundamental rethink. Despite the alarming status quo, we have also seen positive developments in recent years,” says Maria Pernegger, author of the study and Managing Director of MediaAffairs. “Pioneers in sports, media and business are increasingly focusing on women and diversity. This improves visibility and leads to an erosion of prevalent stereotypes. A good example is women’s football, which has been held back for a long time,” she added.
About the study
The study analysed (moving) images in the period between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023 to determine the presence of female athletes in selected Austrian TV and print media. Both the number of images as well as the relative volume of the reporting (image size in print media, duration of report on TV) were taken into account. The analysis comprised almost 13,000 images in print media and approx. 1,200 TV sports broadcasts.
More information about the Equal Play initiative can be found here: www.equal-play-day.at