Why do male athletes get more attention than female ones?

Hi Rachel , reckon it's because men are lazt sods, and watch sport on TV at venues while the partner is or was doing stuff for kids etc And blokes value what blokes do and will watch male sport in huge numbers. We also generally dismiss women's sport. That said, I reckon I've got the most Matildas stories in Australia on me wee blog and podcasts. Come look and listen! Scroll to archive Matilda. to respond to others on here: Whilst the Matildas World Cup record is impressive, the need for a strong Televised National League will assist the game but how much the mainstream media will cover it....don't hold your breath. Heather Garriock Denmark, Kate Gill and Lisa De Vanna Sweden, Caitlin Munoz, Collette McCallum Sarah Walsh, USA are some of the Matildas now playing for overseas clubs. But they ain't earning big money. The FFA have been "sorting out" men's football. The growth of football is and will be in the women's game over the next ten years. It will move closer to Netball as the number one sport for women, it may even overtake it. Once the FFA and others realise "the value" of the female base and put enery and resources to suppoting the women's game, and growing it, you will then see increased coverage. If not in mainstream media, althought the FEd Govt $32 mill and it's TV Component will help this, then coverage through internet sites and the like will enable fans of women's football to get more info. My blog and podcast is a good example. Come the revolution my blog/podcast on Matildas will be irrelevant. Until then, you can always get coverage there.

Women have their place and I support their right to play any sport they wish. I do object to the feminist view that the we should be coerced into watching women exercise their right to play their sport of choice. Those sporting contests that grab people's attention will be a success. Any Australia V NZ, SA or England netball game will be watched because it is a great contest not because it is femmos fighting the war of the sexes. If men wanted to watch a bunch of girls playing sport they would all be South Sydney league fans. Respectfully Hatchet

Sheek, everyone else was poncing about the point and you just walk in there and say it - I love it. Let me put it this way - the other night we saw Matt Dunning with a face full of blood and that was ok. We've seen it a thousand other times in rugby and other contact sports. Think Back-Door Benny Elias smearing blood all over his mother's cheek. Deep down we love it. It shows his commitment and how tough the game can be. But there is no way I would feel comfortable watching Liz Ellis in the same condition. Honestly if i saw a beautiful women like that bleeding profusely all over the place i would turn the tele off. It wouldn't feel right. They didn't make the movie 'million dollar baby' about a women boxer for nothing - if it was about a bloke do you think it would have moved us in the same way? The truth is that sportswomen will always tread a fine line between sport and glamour because in 99% of cases men are more interested in sports than women. And that, to borrow a line from Ron Burgundy, is a scientific fact.

Hello, this is Sheek forever somewhere in the cosmos.......... Anyone for rugby? I'm going to be sexist here Rachael. When I watch women's sport I'm still thinking if so & so looks attractive or not. It doesn't matter if guys don't rate in the looks department. As long as they think themselves tough, that's important. Right or wrong, looks are tied up with women's sport, with their whole persona. Call me shallow, but honest. Look at tennis, & now golf. Being good only gets you so far. Being good & attractive gets you much further. Being attractive only (Anna K) still gets you further than being simply good. But it's a good time to be a woman. You have come so far, have so many more opportunities, & who knows, in another 50-100 years, guys might no longer be judgmental about women's looks on the sporting field. But would you women be really happy with that? BTW, where can I still get a nude calender shot of Amy Taylor. Only joking.....well, maybe not!

No Mea Culpa required, except for calling me Sheek - that bloke knows too much about rugby union to be me!

Sheek You've put me in my place with the statistics on the Matildas, which are very impressive. Which puts me in the 'yeah, but it's just women's sport,' I suppose. Mea culpa. mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

You can't get much more drama than a nude calendar shoot - but I reckon the Matilda's fell into a cliche there and it didn't work for them. As for performing better than their male counterparts, the blokes have been to one world cup where they barely scored a goal, another world cup where they did well to make the Quarters. The Matildas have been at every world cup since 1995 also making it to the Quarters in 2007. The Matildas are ranked 12th, the Socceroos 43rd. And key members of the Matildas such as the captain are playing in fully professional leagues, just like the men. I'm not putting all of this in to show you up Spiro, but to highlight that in every one of the statistics that I've just mentioned (aside from the number of female players in top leagues) there is room to diminish the fact by saying "yeah, but it's just women's sport") and I reckon that's what most editors do.

I remember when I was younger interviewing Karen Mould, the coach of the champion Randwick Boys' High rugby side. The article was declined to be published by my school newspaper (girls' school) because it was about a boys' sports side. The article though was all about Karen showing that women can do anything, if they have a professional approach and don't think too much about their gender! But then the paper was being run by this freaky art teacher who didn't care two hoots about sport. :( Spiro is right, a lot of sports coverage is about success. And when what sells news is drama, celebrity and notoriety... well some sports do need to up the ante to get a good look-in.

And backing up Zac's point about Netball Australia not helping The Roar to provide a good coverage of the new ANZ Netball Championship is the fact that many (most?) female sports writers want to write about the big ticket male-dominated sports. A lot of the writing of senior female sports journalists revolves around how hard it is for them to cover a male sport. Dr Johnson was a master of common sense. He was once asked by Boswell: 'Who is superior, a man or a woman?' Dr Johnson replied: 'Which man, which woman?' Cathy Freeman received more publicity and press adulation than other (male) athletes of her era because she was Australia's only gold Olympic medalist in athletics in her era. When the Matildas start achieving what their male counterparts have achieved, then they might start getting more coverage, too.

Maybe it goes to show that poor administration can happen in whatever sport, followed by whatever gender! Such a pity.

Rachael - The simple answer is $'s the numbers of men who will go and attend sporting functions is far more than women. Having said that I believe the best sport on television is NZ v Aust at netball. We try to never miss it. Is there a sexist element here? I don't think so professional sport is so money hungry that if Murdoch thought he could make a pile out of televising womens sport he would do it. I would love to see the numbers of people watching the Matilda's or our Netball team.

That's a real shame to hear - my girls both have branded netballs at home (Liz Ellis and Cath Cox) and are ripe for turning their attention from the football codes I make them sit through to their own code full of role models. They are lucky because we have Fox, but I would have thought Netball Australia would take every lead it could get. I

Can I weigh into this regarding the ANZ Netball Championship. We also agree this is a great development for women's sport and have tried to cover it as much as possible on The Roar. What I will say is that 90% of my calls and communications to Netball Australia's marketing and media department have gone unanswered. I've been very surprised by the lack of responsiveness from Netball Australia - in this competitive landscape, you'd think they'd do everything possible to get media coverage for their sport. So part of the issue is the media reach that some sports manage to get over others.

Certainly comparing men's and women's tennis at the moment certainly shows you how much more skilled and more entertaining the men's game is at the moment. One can argue though that it's more to do with the rise of players such Federer and Nadal, and that women's tennis lacks that real competitive spark at the moment than any real difference in the athletic values of the players. I get what you mean in terms best standards - as the Olympic motto is - citius altius fortius (higher, faster, stronger). Undoubtedly men will be all those, so really it's about public appreciation. But I find during the Olympics for example, that gender does not matter - the public will appreciate those who do their best and achieve their best. More than anything, it's about the spectacle of competition. I think women's sport can provide this, given a chance.

Dani E - I may have not stated my point as clearly as I meant to. I didn't necessarily mean that the quality of play was better from an aesthetic point of view. Often women's sport is more varied and graceful from the aesthetic point of view. A few years ago it was generally accepted that womens tennis was a better spectacle as it accommodated different styles whereas mens tennis was almost exclusively big hitting serve and volley (not so much these days as with Henin and Hingis now retired, big hitting dominates the womens game just as much). I simply meant that if it came down to a straight head to head competition men would win. Many people (and I should point out that I'm playing devils advocate here - it's not my opinion) will simply dismiss womens sport as second rate because the women simply wouldn't be able to win against their male counterparts. The spectacle may be better in womens sport, but there are those who view it like age-grade sport - ie, good but not the best embodiment of that sport available.

I think the new ANZ Netball Cup (Trans-tasman) will fundamentally change the sporting landscape in Australia. It is being packaged really well and well attended. I reckon it could be a major televised code in just a couple of years if they build slowly like the A-League.

Well, women's sports need media support to be able to broadcast regular competition or international games, but given that the media is not a particularly altruistic or community-minded vehicle, unless it's a big event like the Olympics pfft to that ever happening. I disagree somewhat with Jerry's statement that men are stronger and faster and generally more athletic, which results in a better sporting spectacle. I much prefer women's hockey to men's hockey due to the reliance on skill and teamwork - men's hockey has more massive hits, but that's the equivalent to playing 10 man rugby. I don't like men's basketball as women's basketball incorporates more teamwork. I do find it amazing how men are able to analyse sports to an nth degree, so automatically and spontaneously. I'm not sure if it's nature or nurture as I've not come across as many women with this tendency - but then I don't know as many women who are *into* sport as men are (and I hang out with a sporting crowd). So maybe then it's the same proportion of the female sports-watching population as it is of male variety. I read an article recently on the first woman to ever own a sporting franchise, who bought a Californian WNBA team. I was amazed that no other businesswoman had gone down this path before. At some point though, it would be great when gender is not an issue and a businesswoman can own a sporting team - male or female - without anyone batting an eyelid to her gender.

Rachael - Short answer, yes it is tied to the fact that only men were originally allowed to compete at the Olympics, along with good old fashioned sexism that has meant that mens sport has been played far longer at an elite level. There is a tradition and history there that most women's sport struggles to compete with. Really, the only womens sport that is as popular as the equivalent mens events would be tennis and the Olympics. I'm sure tennis has benefited hugely from the publicity garnered by the battle of the sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and both grand slam tennis and the Olympics benefit from having men and women competing side by side to some degree. Another factor, and it may sound a tad sexist to say it, is simply that when it comes down to it most mens sport is simply better in terms of the quality of play and athleticism. It can't be ignored that men are stronger and faster genetically. Add to that the fact that (partially due to traditional gender roles) young boys are generally more into sport than young girls and you can add better skill sets to the list of advantages men have over women. The WNBA for instance is a great spectacle and the women are tremendous athletes but they can't compare to the freakish ability on display in the NBA. I don't think it's a coincidence that the most popular local women's sport in NZ & Aus is one that is not a popular participation sport for men.