Women’s sports gain increased respect and status in 2024
Rugby player Ilona Maher, who garnered attention during the 2024 Paris Games for being ferocious in helping lead the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team to its first-ever Olympic medal and wearing bright red lipstick on the pitch while doing it, showed her range beyond the athletic arena by being the runner-up on this season’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
The 28-year-old Maher became one of 2024’s symbols of the diversity of female athletes. She has been widely embraced as a voice for body positivity and understanding that women can be both strong and feminine.
Respect for women’s sports shone brightly during the Olympic Games, whether it was the U.S. garnering first-ever medals, like rugby, returning to the medal podium, like soccer, or continuing dominance in track and field.
“People hadn’t paid attention to women’s rugby before in the U.S.,” said Martine Charles, president and CEO of Marc Global Communications. Charles noted Michele Kang’s $4 million commitment to the USA Rugby women’s sevens team. Kang also pledged $30 million over the next five years to advance the women’s and girls’ programs of U.S. Soccer.
Female athletes have gone from being the butt of jokes to the ones having the last laugh. It was hilarious when Caitlin Clark handed Michael Che that apron on “Saturday Night Live” and told him to grow some respect. Many WNBA games across the country sold out as fans embraced this incredible league filled with basketball talent. The WNBA is growing. Next year we will see the launch of the Golden State Valkyries, and teams in Toronto and Portland will tip off in 2026.
“The thing that has also been interesting is the expansion of the number of pro leagues for women,” said Charles. “That has been interesting in terms of looking at real change and opportunity.”
Two new professional leagues debuted in 2024 — the Professional Women’s Hockey League and Pro Volleyball Federation, both of which recently held their drafts — and January 2025 will see the launch of Unrivaled, a 3×3 basketball league founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. The league’s six teams will play in Miami, and New York Liberty legend Teresa Weatherspoon will coach Vinyl BC.
“When you look at the growth and fandom that we’re actually capturing and seeing in women’s sports for the first time, it has been a phenomenal, tremendous, amazing transformative year,” said Charles. “Part of sports has always been a marriage of sports and culture, and you see that more and more.”
University of South Carolina head basketball coach Dawn Staley, one of the world’s most prominent advocates for not only women’s sports, but social justice and equity, guided the program to a remarkable 38-0 record and NCAA Division I national championship. It was the third title for the Gamecocks in its program’s history. Staley also won her third straight Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
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