The Televised Sports War

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The girls volleyball team tends to draw in a crowd, because of their success. “There is no favoring in men, it is just the way it has been, so people seem to like it more,” Fabbio ‘20. People tend to go to the sport that is the most successful in some aspects.

Kaleigh Whalen, Staff Writer

For years, people have been sitting in their homes on a cold February night, filled with family, friends and wings. This big event is for the Super Bowl. The NFL is one of the most televised leagues in the country. When was the last time there was a party of the WNBA finals?

The way our society has been built is to watch men’s sports. “I feel that if women were given the same and equal opportunities then they could become just as popular as men,” said Teresa DeMaio ‘20. We train ourselves to believe that men’s sports are more entertaining to watch solely because they are on TV more often. Men also get paid more than women. After the movement of trying to get women paid the same for the USA women’s professional soccer team, wages went up, but still not nearly as much as men have. Women work the same as men, if not, harder. According to Girls Soccer Network, “for the 2014 Men’s World Cup in Brazil, the winning team (Germany) took home a $35 million cash prize. A year later, when the U.S. women’s soccer team took home the title for the Women’s World Cup, the grand prize was just $2 million,” said Girls Soccer Network.

Men and women do share many sports, but some are more popular when it comes to high school. Some people believe boys lacrosse is more entertaining than women, because men have more freedom with their rules and it is more violent.

Although there are many sports that only have men’s team. “…like football, women don’t have football and it’s a very popular sport. If women’s sports were more advertised, more people would watch them,” said Meredith Yardley ‘20. With the lack of publicity womens sports receives, people tend to be less informed about the information of games. “I couldn’t name a single team or player in the WNBA,” said Meghan Veino ‘20. The reason people do not have any knowledge on women’s sports such as the WNBA is because no one watches it.

Another reason reason why men’s sports are more watched than women is because more men play professionally. “More guys play more sports than women. It is more popular and entertaining,” said Sal Fabbio ‘20. The opinion that men’s sports are more entertaining to watch is nationwide. What people do not realize is the fame that men’s sports get, is completely unfair to women. Men tend to become more motivated when they get to play professionally, because they get paid a lot more. On the other hand, most women are playing for the love of the game. Women go into the big leagues knowing the lack of equality, but refuse to protest because of their commitment towards the sport.

Some conflicts that come up often in high school include when two important games are at the same time on the same day. It then comes down to which one you like better. This is where controversy comes into play with equality in men and women’s sports.

The majority of the professional sports are shared with men and women. People prefer to watch men because they claim they are faster, stronger and more athletic. Many of the television channels do not highlight the strengths that women have within their sport. There are different movements, strategies, and techniques in women’s sports the people genuinely do not have knowledge on. “I think that people watch guys sports, because men have more to build and it is more competitive. Rules in women’s sports are tampered. It is more entertaining to watch men,” said Nik Direnzo ‘20. Society is more drawn towards violence and body contact sports. Therefore, the reason why TV channels do not want to publicize womens sports, is because they know people are more entertained and likely to watch men over women or violence over normal competition.

Women will continue to fight for equality in sports. We can not change the way society was built with being entertained by mens sports rather than women, but we can continue to fight for their rights to be forced into the professional league.