Women's Basketball: Dramatic Discrepancies that Affects the Popularity

Abstract

Abstract

Background: In a world with many different sports, many people do not even know that women's basketball exists. Women's basketball has some of the most talented, hardworking, and athletic women, but they are not recognized for the work that they do. Many sports networks feature all the men's sports and spend many hours repeating and talking about the same topic, but women's sports get about 5 minutes if that much. Women's sports need more recognition and support. The exposure that the women's game needs will help expand the sponsorship, media, and economic support. Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the discrepancies that women basketball players face due to the lack of equity. Design and Methods: The research is literature-based that explains the treatment of women basketball players. Not only on the professional level but also the collegiate level. There have been many comparisons to show how differently the men at the professional and collegiate level get treated compared to the women on the professional and collegiate level. The research question is, In what ways has the dramatic discrepancy in media coverage of women's basketball affect its popularity? Results: The significance of this research was to show that the discrepancies of lack of media attention, sexualization, and wage gap all have an impact on how women basketball players are viewed. Conclusion: Women basketball players need more supports, more nationally televised games, and to have the same equal treatment as male basketball players. Keywords: wage gap, media attention, women's basketball, NCAA, WNBA, gender inequality