Women’s sports are making history. But the progress making headlines at the professional level isn’t reaching every level of the pipeline behind it.
The inaugural WSF Sport Report™ 2026 is the first annual benchmark to examine the state of girls’ and women’s sports across the full pipeline. It measures participation rates, the barriers that push girls out, how girls’ sense of belonging in sport changes with age, and what industry leaders say is driving — and threatening — progress at the collegiate, professional, and elite levels.
What the data reveals is a study in contrasts: girls who want to play but can’t access the game, a professional level breaking through in ways that didn’t exist five years ago, and a college level where more experts say conditions got worse this year than better.
The findings are both a reason for optimism and a clear mandate for action.
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The WSF Sport Report draws on two original research initiatives: a nationally representative YouGov survey of more than 6k Americans-comprised of 3,065 children ages 8–18 and their parents- and a separate survey of 60 senior leaders across the women’s sports industry. Together, they trace a single pipeline — from the 8-year-old girl deciding whether sport is for her, to the professional athlete negotiating for fair pay. The report is designed to release annually, creating a consistent benchmark the field can return to each year.
