(Written) The Role of Gender in Sports Broadcasting: Academic Analysis

The broadcasting of live sport is one of the most lucrative television genres today, with traditional broadcasters and emerging streaming services paying exorbitant sums to sports leagues for the right to broadcast the worlds’ most popular sports. The following essay will focus on the significance that gender plays within the broadcast presentation of live sports on television. I will be specifically analysing the roles, representations and portrayals of females within this genre of live television. The goal of undertaking this analysis is for the purpose of being able to factually determine if female presenters, analysts and journalists are given equal treatment when compared to their male counterparts, by both the media and the audience. I will use two specific case study examples of females in sports media as the basis for this analysis. I will explore how widely accepted gender-based academia matches up to the realities faced by females within this genre of television, and what wider conclusions can be drawn from any potential inequalities that exist.

Before analysing the individual portrayal of female broadcasters within this genre of television, it is first necessary to look at the wider sporting landscape to understand how historical gender disparities within sport as a whole may have filtered through to the broadcasting element of live sport.

There is much discussion around pay inequalities that exist for female athletes, and the lack of parity when compared to males. A notable example of this is the USA women’s football team, who have recently won a long running legal dispute with the USA Soccer governing body, in which they have been seeking for the right to equal pay with the men’s team. After years of court battles, they have successfully legally proven how there has been rampant gender based discrimination within American soccer. The women’s team have successfully reached a twenty-four million dollar settlement with the governing body, and a promise for equal pay from this point forward.

Another issue is the marketing and positioning of female sports on television, which often contribute to negatively impact the perceived importance of female sporting competition. According to Hardin “The world of sports is a man’s world” (74). It is no secret that male sports dominate the television broadcast landscape, and that female sports are often presented as a second rate version compared to their male equivalents. Organista and Mazur explain that “Women’s sports in general are perceived as less important and thus are trivialized and marginalized” (1113). Male sporting events are generally presented in prime time TV slots and are advertised heavily prior to broadcast, while equivalent female events are on less prominent television networks, with less advertising and attention, which ultimately means they attract a smaller audience and the athletes therefore get paid less. Even when female sports are covered by the media, it is often for reasons outside of the actual sporting event taking place. Boczek explains that “When women are reported on, it is often regarding their private lives and considered soft news, while men’s sports performance and abilities are the focus” (3). The issues that exist within the actual sports themselves are separate from the topic being dealt with in this essay, but this evidence of gender discrimination within the sporting world is important context to be aware of when considering the potential gender inequalities that exist within the medium of sports broadcasting, as the two sides are undoubtedly closely linked.

A central component to consider before analysing individual case study examples is the global numeric representation of females within sports media. There is much statistical evidence that exists about the lack of women within this genre compared to the number of males. Karin Boczek analysed the results of a study done on female representation in sports media in the UK, conducted by Franks and O’Neill (2016), stating that “Their results show that in general the visibility of male sports journalists outnumbered that of female sports journalists at a ratio of just over 43:1 (only 2.3% were women)” (2). This is a confounding statistic that confirms the underrepresentation of females in the role of analyst or expert within sports media compared to the number of males.

Males are overwhelmingly presented as the voice of knowledge when it comes to analysing the intricate, tactical nuance of sport, and are tasked with delivering this information to the audience. Females are instead generally positioned in the role of host or reporter, in which they ask questions to the male expert, or serve as the intermediary between two male analysts in a debate. This role of host does not provide an opportunity for a female to voice their opinion or provide expertise on the sport being presented. There are of course a minority of females that are positioned in the role of analyst in a large male sporting event, but these women face many huge hurdles in order to gain credibility compared to their male counterparts (which will be discussed later in a case study example).

There are a vast number of former professional female athletes that are extremely well qualified to be given analysts jobs, but are instead generally overlooked, with broadcasters instead opting to employ former male athletes. As discussed earlier, there is an inherently biased portrayal that male sports are superior to female sports, and this clearly filters through when looking at the number of male experts and analysts within sports media in comparison to the number of females in these same roles.

There is substantial evidence that the lack of females in these “expert” positions is primarily due to broadcasters believing that the general sports audience find male experts more credible than female ones- even if the female is just as qualified as the male. An extensive study conducted by Michael Mudrick on the perceptions of male and female analysts confirms that this “lack of credibility” is the central reason for why women find it much harder to establish themselves in these roles. Mudrick concluded that, “Findings from this study established that the endorsement of gender-role stereotypes and sexist attitudes is related to lower perceived credibility of a female sportscaster” (8). He continues, explaining that the findings from the report “Help to explain why women are often denigrated for lacking competence in sport media, through explicit and implicit bias” (8). According to Mudrick “As long as sport remains a sexist entity and is gender typed as masculine, women in the media will continue to face biases. These findings reinforce the perception that masculinity is an important component to perceptions regarding credibility in sportscasting” (9). These predetermined societal biases are the reason that this sexist notion exists in the first place, and feeds directly into the gender based academic theory of hegemonic masculinity.

Erin Andrews is an American sports journalist, who works as a sideline reporter and analyst for television network Fox, as part of their broadcast presentation of the National Football League (NFL). Andrews is a key on-screen figure during the broadcast of important games, in which her primary role is to inform the audience about major breaking news relating to the contest, both before and during the game. Andrews is a very credible reporter, and the information she sources from anonymous figures within NFL teams is critical to the overall story of the game.

However, despite her dependable track record and ability to break big stories, she has constantly faced many gender related hurdles since gaining a prominent position on live television more than a decade ago. Andrews has provided many testimonials on how she has been discriminated against due to her gender by the audience, media and broadcasters. These issues range from attempts to diminish her credibility by focusing on her physical appearance, being the target of stalkers, and discrepancies in her treatment by her employer compared to her male counterparts.

In 2008 Andrews was the victim of a stalking incidence, in which 46 year old Michael David Barrett booked a hotel room beside the room Andrews was staying in. He proceeded to drill a hole in the wall between the two rooms and secretly recorded her in a state of undress. A year later, the video surfaced on the internet and quickly spread throughout online forums and websites, and eventually was promoted by prominent online publications. There was a level of condemnation of the incident from the mainstream media, but Andrews has been a constant target of online and in-person abuse since the video surfaced. In the 2016 court case regarding the incident, Andrews explained the targeted abuse she still gets today during her professional life about the incident, and the sexual objectification and resulting mental struggles she faces. Andrews was quoted as saying “Either I get a tweet or somebody makes a comment in the paper or somebody sends me a still video to my Twitter or someone screams it at me in the stands and I’m right back to this. I feel so embarrassed and I am so ashamed” (The Washington Post).

This attempt to humiliate Andrews despite the fact that she was an innocent victim of a stalking attack, is a pertinent example of the hegemonic masculine culture that often exists within sports and sports broadcasting. Chambers explains how this type of behavior fits into the classic hegemonic structure, and the purpose this serves, explaining that “A major problem is male innuendo, or worse, explicit sexual objectification used to undermine women’s confidence and discredit their professionalism” (100). This sexual objectification isn’t limited to women who are struggling to make it in the industry, but also is targeted at women in positions of power within the media. Chambers explains “Even when women who have reached senior positions and achieved high levels of career success have been subjected to misogynistic comments and implications that they offered sex, flirted or flaunted themselves in order to obtain a story to compromise their expertise” (100). Andrews is a typical example of a woman who has earned her success through her ability to expertly report on sports, yet she is still the target of a campaign to discredit her legitimacy through attacks on her character and her physical appearance.

This sexual objectification of Andrews is not only limited to the audience, but also from her own Fox television colleagues. In 2021 Andrews conducted a pre-taped interview with a prominent NFL player, and when it ended, the broadcast went back to the studio analysts for a discussion based around the interview that was just shown. One of the analysts (former NFL player Terry Bradshaw) first commented on Andrews’ personal appearance rather than the content of the interview, stating that “You’ve got your cowboy boots on, and your shirt on, you’re looking good, that was nice” (New York Post). This normalisation of sexual objectification on television, serves to legitimise the behaviour of some within the general sports audience who often abuse female reporters on social media by focusing on their appearance. Custers and McNallie explain that because “Messages of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity are pervasive in sports programming, it is expected that heavy viewers of sports programming are more likely to develop a worldview that supports sexism and sexual objectification” (817). This hegemonic masculine culture is not only limited to focusing on female reporters sexual appeal and objectification of their bodies, but is often targeted directly at their sexuality.

Clare Balding is a British television presenter, notably working for many major sports broadcasters including BT Sport, BBC Sport and Channel 4. Balding has been a prominent public figure for many years and has been a frequent target of vile sexist abuse specifically aimed at her sexual orientation and her appearance. In 2010 The Times published an article discussing Balding’s BBC 4 show ‘Britain by Bike’, in which she was discovering the world of 1950’s cycling. The author of the article AA Gill described Balding as looking like a “Dyke on a bike” (The Guardian) and further stating that she appeared “Like a big lesbian” (The Guardian). Balding subsequently complained to the editor of The Times about the derogatory terms used to describe her appearance and the focus on her sexual orientation. Rather than apologising, the paper instead doubled down, issuing a mock apology where they once again referred to her by the term “big lesbian”. This mocking of a female, and in this case a member of the LGBTQ community, is an established and recognised gender practice by which males attempt to establish dominance and in turn minimise the threat to male hegemony by females through denigration and mocking. Connell explains that hegemonic masculine behaviour is “The configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of the patriarchy” (77). Balding has been a central target for this type of sexist and homophobic abuse for years, simply due to her success in the sports media industry.

In the book LGBT Athletes in the Sports Media, Dr. Philippa Velija detailed this specific incident and described Balding’s reaction to the article stating that she, “Responded to this incident by noting how women are disadvantaged as media personalities in a way that men are not. In doing so, she stresses how both gender and sexuality continue to affect women experiences in and outside of sporting contexts. These examples highlight the gendered nature of comments faced by women in sports media broadcasting” (Magrath 154). There have been numerous other incidents down through the years where prominent publications have gone out of their way to target Balding for her sexual orientation and her physical appearance when discussing her work as a broadcaster. It is fair for a media publication to be able to question how good a broadcaster is at their job, and how well they communicate often complex sporting nuance or ideas to an audience. However, this focus on sexuality and appearance clearly has no legitimate basis for discussion as relates to her ability to effectively carry out her job, and is thus only used to further cement male dominance in the industry.

In conclusion, having conducting this analysis on females within sports media through both statistical evidence and case study examples, there are a number of final key takeaways. First, there is clear evidence of gender inequality in terms of the number of females in prominent analyst and reporter positions on television compared to males. The number of hurdles thrown at women that want to enter the field is exponentially greater than males who want to enter the industry, and therefore the percentage of females in these roles is low. There are many clear examples of females (specifically former female athletes) that are as equally well qualified as any male candidate, but are yet largely overlooked for these roles. For females that do beat the odds and end up in prominent positions on television, they are held to much higher standards than males by both the media and the audience. Their ability to carry out the role is often marginalised with the focus instead being placed other non-relevant factors, such as their physical attractiveness and dress sense. The way media publications focus on these factors helps to legitimise the actions of those who abuse female reporters on social media, and further cements the hegemonic masculine culture that exits within sport. There are some factors that indicate that the sexist culture of sports is slowly changing, as women are getting more opportunities in more “traditional male roles” than in previous times. However, this rate of change is still far too slow, and the sexist treatment of women generally remains the same, specifically from an audience perspective.

Works Cited

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Chambers, Deborah, Linda Steiner, and Carole Fleming. Women and journalism. Routledge, 2004.

Connell, Raewyn. Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1987.

Crane, Andrew. “Terry Bradshaw Catching Heat for 'Cringey' Erin Andrews Comment.” New York Post, New York Post, 15 Oct. 2021, https://nypost.com/2021/10/15/terry-bradshaw-catching-heat-for-cringey-erin-andrews-comment/.

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Davies, Caroline. “Clare Balding Complains to Press Watchdog over 'Dyke' Jibe.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 July 2010, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/30/clare-balding-lesbian-complaint-gill.

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Magrath, Rory, and Philippa Velija. “Gender and Sexual Relations in British Sports Broadcasting: Beyond Clare Balding.” LGBT Athletes in the Sports Media, Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp. 147–181.

Mudrick, Michael, et al. “Pervasively Offside: An Examination of Sexism, Stereotypes, and Sportscaster Credibility.” Communication & Sport, vol. 5, no. 6, Dec. 2017, pp. 669–688, doi:10.1177/2167479516670642.

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