Published: September 16, 2004
The Olympic torch has burned out, and our athletes are back in the United States. Women athletes everywhere smile contentedly—American female Olympians brought home nearly half of the medals for the United States. The marquee women's teams were the “Dream Teams,” winning gold in basketball, beach volleyball, soccer and softball. According to Orlando Sentinel Columnist Mike Bianchi, “the Olympics are the only sporting event in the world in which women get equal billing and exposure with men.” In the spirit of the Olympic Games, equality reigned supreme, and the women played on a level playing field and got the credit they deserved.
But did they?
There is no question that the Olympics Games are a two-week oasis in the midst of a historical lack of women's sports coverage—the only time in four years that women can tune into network TV and find other women competing. But is the coverage equal? To answer that question, we have to look at what made it onto TV. With 24 hours and no less than seven channels broadcasting, a good place to pinpoint is prime time on NBC—the channel most accessible and the hours when numbers are expected to spike and the nation is expected to tune in. On Saturday, August 14, the first full day of competition, nine men's events were aired during prime time on NBC and only four women's. On Saturday, August 28, the last full day of competition, seven men's events were aired during prime time on NBC and only two women's.
How about our nation's female heroes? Surely our Dream Teams saw prime time coverage? No such luck. The major women's marquee sports—basketball, soccer and softball—received no prime time airing whatsoever. All coverage of these teams was reduced to segments of snippets from the original airing. Softball's and basketball's gold-medal contests were both at 9 a.m. on the USA networks. The women's gold-medal soccer game aired at 2 p.m. on NBC. Even the star power of Hamm, the female answer to Michael Jordan in both notoriety and sponsorships, couldn't bring NBC to air more than a replay of shots on goal in prime time. Then again, the men did not receive any prime time for baseball, basketball or soccer either—but the United States did not even qualify in baseball or soccer. In basketball, though, the bronze-medal men's game aired on NBC during the afternoon, which was a more popular slot that the 9 a.m. USA airing that the gold-medal match-up for the women received. While the women did play first in the tournament, which could account for the earlier time slot, the women were put on a cable network.
These victories for the women were no surprise for those planning each nightly NBC prime time, either. The time delay from Athens was between seven and 10 hours for the continental United States, and the networks liberally edited most footage. Prime time became a showcase for contests with winning scores and uplifting conclusions. Regardless, women still were not given equal airing. The men's volleyball quarterfinal and semifinal games, which were American upsets, were featured in prime time, while every one of the gold-medal-winning women's softball team's games were played in the morning on NBC cable affiliates.
Of course, some argue, the medal count is a nice number to throw around, but don't more men compete in the Olympic Games? There is only one sport that excludes women—boxing. With the recent addition of softball and the inclusion of women in water polo, wrestling and other sports, there is practically equality in Olympic sports available to women and men. Within specific sports, there are disciplines that may exclude one gender, such as synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, but these favor the women. And in terms of participation, this year saw a staggering leap in female participants worldwide, with women representing 44% of all Olympic athletes.
That being said, the Olympic Games do offer the unique chance to see women play sports on television and read about them in the newspapers, which is a refreshing deviation from normal male-sport dominated programming. With national pride superseding all else, a whole nation, men and women, rallies behind its athletes, both men and women. The weekly television listings for women's sports (listed on www.WomensSportsFoundation.org) rarely feature major networks. Tennis and golf tend to offer the only regular prime-time or network sports coverage for women, while the WNBA finds a home on NBA-TV and the Pro Fastpitch games are broadcast by the YES network.
Want to see a change? One way to make a change in day-to-day coverage is to watch women's sports on television. Use our television listings on www.WomensSportsFoundation.org to check the TV listings of women's sports on your networks. If you see a network you don't have, call your cable company and expand your service. More importantly, write a litter to the television networks and cable channels, demanding to see more women's sports in the sea of men's coverage, and saluting them when you see quality coverage. Visit www.GeenaTakesAim.com to find sample letters and a searchable database of sports editors. Be proud of our Olympic athletes, but don't give up the fight for equality in women's sports. Maybe that Olympic afterglow we bask in now can help make the playing fields truly level for women's sports to come.