Women’s Sports Reach Turning Point as Global Growth Accelerates Despite Persistent Inequality

A new overview of global trends in women’s sports highlights both the extraordinary momentum toward gender equality and the structural barriers that still remain.

Women's sports are experiencing an unprecedented global transformation, with record-breaking audiences, rising investment, growing media coverage, and historic gains in participation reshaping the future of sport worldwide. Yet despite remarkable progress, major inequalities in pay, leadership representation, safety, and working conditions continue to affect women and girls across the sporting world.

A new overview of global trends in women's sports highlights both the extraordinary momentum toward gender equality and the structural barriers that still remain. From the first gender-parity Olympic Games in Paris to the rapid commercial growth of women's football, basketball, rugby, and cricket, female athletes are increasingly transforming global sports culture on and off the field.

Girls' Participation in Sport Linked to Long-Term Success

Experts increasingly view sports participation as a powerful tool for empowering girls and improving long-term social and economic outcomes.

According to the report:

• Girls who participate in sports develop stronger self-esteem, confidence, resilience, and teamwork skills

• They are more likely to stay in school longer

• They tend to delay pregnancy

• They often secure better employment opportunities later in life

One striking statistic highlighted in the report shows that:

• 80 percent of female Fortune 500 CEOs played sports during their formative years

The findings underscore the important role sport can play in leadership development and personal growth.

Global public support for girls' participation in sports also appears strong.

Research cited in the report found that:

• 92 percent of people surveyed worldwide believe it is important for girls to play sports growing up

• 61 percent consider it "very important"

Girls Continue Dropping Out of Sports at Higher Rates

Despite the widely recognized benefits, girls continue to leave organized sports at significantly higher rates than boys.

By age 14:

• Girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys

The report attributes this gap to factors including:

• Social expectations

• Lack of investment in girls' sports programmes

• Unequal access to opportunities

• Limited institutional support

Experts warn that these early dropouts can reduce future opportunities for leadership, education, and career development.

Women's Sports Audiences Exploding Worldwide

Women's sports have experienced extraordinary growth in global audiences over the past several years.

According to the report:

• Around 50 percent of the global population followed women's sports in 2024

• This was up from 45 percent in 2022

In the United States alone:

• Audiences consumed 46 billion minutes of women's sports coverage in 2025

Women's football is expected to become one of the world's biggest sports within the next decade.

The report projects:

• Women's football could attract more than 800 million fans globally by 2030

Record Crowds and Broadcast Milestones

Several women's sporting events have recently drawn massive audiences comparable to major men's competitions.

Among the major milestones:

• More than 82,000 fans attended the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham in the UK

• The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup India 2025 final attracted 185 million viewers, matching the audience of the men's T20 Cricket World Cup final in 2024

Previously:

• The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 became the most watched women's sporting event in history with nearly 2 billion global viewers

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) also significantly expanded its television presence in 2026 with record broadcast agreements and increased prime-time exposure.

Media Representation Improving but Gaps Remain

Media visibility for women's sports has increased substantially, although disparities persist.

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games:

• Approximately 35 female commentators were hired by Olympic Broadcasting Services

• Female commentators accounted for nearly 40 percent of all commentators

• This represented an 80 percent increase compared with Tokyo 2020

Social media engagement around women's sports has also continued growing steadily.

The report noted:

• Online discussion of women's sports reached 18.5 percent of total sports conversations in 2022

Women athletes are also increasingly viewed as influential role models.

According to the findings:

• 88 percent of people consider professional women athletes impactful role models for young women

Progress Toward Equal Pay Continues

Women's sports have seen several important breakthroughs regarding equal pay and prize money.

Tennis remains one of the leading examples.

All four Grand Slam tournaments now offer equal prize money following decades of advocacy led by figures such as Billie Jean King, who founded the Women's Tennis Association in 1973.

Several national football federations — including Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Brazil — have also committed to equal pay for men's and women's national teams.

In the United States:

• The US Women's National Soccer Team secured a landmark equal pay settlement in 2022

• The agreement included $22 million in compensation for past discrimination

Other sports have also introduced equal prize structures, including:

• Surfing

• Squash

• Professional tennis

Massive Pay Gaps Still Persist

Despite progress, the report makes clear that major financial inequalities remain across women's sports.

Examples highlighted include:

• The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup awarded $150 million in prize money

• This remained only about one-third of the $440 million awarded at the men's 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar

In basketball:

• The average NBA player in 2024 earned roughly 80 times more than the average WNBA player

The report also noted that:

• No women appeared among Forbes Magazine's 50 highest-paid athletes in 2025

Women athletes continue to face:

• Fewer sponsorship opportunities

• Less media airtime

• Unequal playing conditions

• Lower professional salaries

Violence and Abuse in Women's Sports Remain Major Concern

The report also highlights widespread concerns regarding violence, harassment, and abuse against women and girls in sports.

Women in sport continue to face abuse in multiple roles, including as:

• Athletes

• Coaches

• Referees

• Reporters

• Therapists

• Fans

Research cited in the report found:

• Nearly 21 percent of professional women athletes experienced sexual abuse as children in sport

• This is almost double the rate reported among male athletes

The report references several major abuse scandals across sports such as gymnastics, swimming, football, basketball, and figure skating.

One widely publicized example involved the unwanted kiss incident during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup celebrations, which triggered global outrage and broader conversations about sexism and abuse in women's sports.

Online Abuse Increasingly Severe

Women athletes also continue to face significant abuse online.

According to studies cited:

• 85 percent of online abuse during the Tokyo Olympics targeted women

• Black female athletes faced particularly high levels of abuse

A later World Athletics study found:

• 40 percent of abusive social media posts during the Oregon22 championships involved sexualized abuse directed overwhelmingly at women

In response, organizations such as the International Olympic Committee have begun implementing cyber abuse protection services for athletes.

Women Still Underrepresented in Sports Leadership

While participation and visibility have grown, women remain significantly underrepresented in coaching and leadership positions.

Key findings include:

• Only 13 percent of coaches at Tokyo 2020 were women

• Women make up just 5 percent of registered football coaches globally according to FIFA

• Women held only around 32 percent of executive positions across international sports federations in 2026

The International Olympic Committee has made notable progress:

• 41 percent of IOC members are now women

• Gender-equal representation on IOC commissions has been achieved

FIFA has also increased female representation within its member associations and governance structures in recent years.

Momentum Toward Equality Continues

Despite ongoing inequalities, the report suggests that women's sports are entering a new era of global growth and visibility.

Rising audiences, increased commercial investment, stronger institutional commitments, and greater public support are helping reshape perceptions of women's athletics worldwide.

Advocates argue that continued investment in equal opportunities, leadership representation, safety protections, and fair compensation will be essential to sustaining this momentum and ensuring that women and girls can fully benefit from participation in sport.