For decades, women have fought for a place in sports media. Today, they’re more visible than ever — on sidelines, in locker rooms and anchoring major broadcasts watched by millions.
But recent controversies have highlighted a reality that has persisted for decades: Visibility doesn’t always mean acceptance or equal opportunity. Many women in sports media still face harassment, scrutiny and discrimination that their male counterparts often don’t.
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Recent controversies
Earlier this year, a Callaway and Good Good advertisement featured a male golfer tackling a woman to the ground so he could take her driver.
Then, there was the controversy in Texas when Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning laughed at an AI video of his coach slapping ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe. And after that? Sydney Sweeney was featured nude in a new advertisement for a sports betting company, drawing backlash from many women in sports.
All three incidents unfolded within weeks of each other, drawing renewed attention to a persistent issue: How women are perceived, judged and treated in the world of sports.
Female sports reporters: The history and statistics
When sports television began airing in the 1940s, men dominated the medium. For decades, that imbalance helped establish sports broadcasting as a largely male space — where women would later have to work to enter and, in many cases, prove they belonged.
It wasn’t until 1975 that a woman had a prominent role in network sports broadcasting. Phyllis George was hired in 1975 as a co-host for CBS Sports’ “The NFL Today.” That same year, Jeannie Morris became the first woman to nationally cover a Super Bowl.
Since then, hundreds of women have moved into the industry, expanding their presence on a historically male medium.
According to Zippia, an online database that analyzed 30 million profiles in the United States, more than 7,000 sports reporters worked across the U.S. in 2021. Of those, 20.9% were women, and they, on average, made 98% of what men earned in the same field.
The female-to-male sports reporter ratio was highest in the decade ending in 2021, peaking at 21% in 2017.
Proving their worth
But even with the rise in women in sports media, issues still persist — and they’re issues that have been around for decades.
One of those issues is credibility. Ashley Washburn, a Wisconsin sports reporter, told Straight Arrow the path hasn’t been easy, and proving herself has been one of the difficulties she’s faced throughout her career.
“As a woman, I realized that was something that took a lot longer for me than some of my other counterparts that would come in because you kind of had to prove that one, you knew what you were talking about, and then secondly, even earn the respect of some of the people you were working with daily.”
She described walking into locker rooms and not having the respect of even some of her colleagues in the industry.
“It’s like, ‘what does a girl have to do to prove that I know what I am talking about?’” Washburn said.
Even with accolades in her corner, like a Midwest Emmy for best sports reporting, Washburn still experiences criticism from viewers who don’t believe she has the credibility needed to do her job.
“I just screenshotted something before we came on,” Washburn said. “It’s so funny that it’s 2026 and these are still things that people still have the audacity to comment on.”
She went on to read a comment on a recent Instagram post where she recapped the Green Bay Packers’ Week 1 game.
“I just love it when someone that literally can not and never has played a sport gives us their thoughts on that sport,” the comment read. “Obviously she’s just reciting someone else’s thoughts and passing them off as hers. That’s sad.”
Washburn noted that many male sports reporters cover teams and sports at the highest level despite never having played that sport, and are still very good at their jobs.
“As a woman, you can earn all the accolades,” Washburn said. “But it doesn’t matter what you do. It’s still sometimes going to be a little more difficult or be met with resistance because you are a woman that’s covering a male-dominated sport.”
Sexualizing women
The other major difficulty women like Washburn face? Objectification.
Washburn said there are still days when she’s getting ready to go into work, and looks at herself in the mirror, and has to ask herself, “How are people going to perceive me when I walk into this locker room?”
“How can I still be respectful and not draw attention towards me, still by myself, but also have the talk of the day be what I am saying post-game and not what I am wearing on TV,” Washburn said. “Is that something men are thinking about before they go to work? No, not necessarily.”
“There are a lot of things we as women have to think about every single day… like how am I going to be perceived for saying this, wearing this, doing this, telling this story?”
Breaking female sports reporters down to simply what they’re wearing and how they look is nothing new.
While Washburn thinks it’s getting better, there is still work to be done.
“There are a lot of women still being hyper sexualized just for breaking down a recap of the game, and it’s like, come on guys, you aren’t doing that for the male reporters in the market, so why is it ok to do that,” Washburn said. “I am just a girl trying to do her job; those aren’t the kinds of things I want to deal with walking into a locker room.”
Maintaining hope for the future
Recent controversies left Washburn feeling like the industry had taken five steps forward, only to take two steps back.
“I know that people like to be funny in this age of AI,” Washburn said, referring to the recent AI clip of Rowe being slapped. “But what if that was your daughter? You’d feel differently about it. It’s just so disappointing.”
Yet Washburn still wants young women to feel hopeful about the future.
“I just hope that when you hear these stories, for young women, please keep pursuing this field,” Washburn said. “There’s so much that women add to the sport… We can look at stories and players and storylines in such a different light than men, and I think that’s what we bring to the table that men can’t sometimes.”
Round out your reading
- Lawyer says 57 Cornell frat members were in the group chat. Could their silence be a crime?
- Florida county discovers mysterious Flock cameras with no obvious owner.
- Off Script: They won their primaries on one message. Now it’s disappearing.
- Some question whether a popular affordable housing policy is making the nation’s home shortage worse.
- Kelvin wave incoming: Why the US should care.
