Women's sport rising rapidly at all levels

Of all the injustices against women's sport over the last century, the plight of a child who become known as Yankee bat girl is hidden away deep at the back of the filing cabinet. But Gwen Goldman's story is by no means an insignificant event in women's decades-long fight for opportunity and recognition in the sporting arena.

Back in the sepia-tinted days of 1961, 10-year-old Goldman wrote to the New York Yankees to express her desire to carry out the duties of bat boy, the young individual who carries bats and hands them to players during a game. But her dreams were dashed when she received a response back from Ray Hamey, the renowned Yankees' general manager at the time.

"While we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys, and no doubt would be an attractive addition on the playing field, I am sure you can understand that in a game dominated by men a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout,” he wrote.

It was a predictable response from a sporting organisation who would go on to win the World Series later that season. Unfortunately, Hamey was no dinosaur of the time. That was indeed an outlook that would've been shared by many of his peers across baseball and other sports. The idea of popular women's sport was still years from blooming. And there was no real place for female representation within the men's game. Indeed, America was still coming to terms with the idea of civil rights for all citizens - the Civil Rights Act was only passed into law, after all, in 1964. A sign of the times.

But the story of Yankee bat girl serves as a appropriate starting point from which a journey for women's sport began. Goldman exemplified the attitude female sportspeople would need to exude in order to break through the multiple societal barriers that prevented women from prospering in sport. And although there were myriad reasons for proponents of women's sport to harbour negativity back in the 1960s, time has proved a great healer. In today's world, there is positivity abound for young women hoping to pursue sporting endeavours.

According to sports and entertainment intelligence platform SponsorUnited's latest Women in Sports Marketing Partnerships report, the number of sponsorship deals in women's sports is rising at a very exciting pace. That number has increased 22% over the last 12 months, with the LPGA and the WTA already having surpassed a total of over 1,000 sponsorship deals each. Other sports are quickly following suit.

There has undeniably been some lip service in relation to women's sport in recent decades and years, albeit with the good intentions of lifting female sportspeople to another level in the public consciousness. But brands will only go so far. They're willing to spend millions in women's sport today simply because it makes fiscal sense, not because it aligns with CSR targets. And in a world where broadcasting rights and sponsorship in the men's sport is surely becoming unsustainable in some quarters, more organisations will gradually begin turning to women's sport. It's quickly become a very lucrative pie from which every business wants a slice.

In some cases, women's sports are proving more attractive to brands. For example, while the Irish national women's football team have had their own jersey sponsor for a while, the FAI struggled to find a sponsor for the men's side.

Businesses will inevitably always invest where there's public interest and global revenue generated by elite women's sport is expected to reach the €1 billion mark for the very first time over the coming year, as per a report from Deloitte. That would represent an increase of almost 100% since 2022. That revenue is coming via multiple avenues too, with commercial revenue expected to make up 55% of revenue, broadcast reviews accounting for 27% and match day revenues for 18%.

The data is only one positive element in this recent evolution of women's sport. There has also never been as many female role models for children. That's particularly to the fore in Ireland where female stars such as Katie Taylor, Rachael Blackmore and Rhasidat Adeleke are at times more idolised than their male counterparts. More to the point, arguably most of Ireland's medal hopes at this year's Olympic Games in Paris are female.

Society has come an incredibly long way since the early 1960s. Not only are women now playing a role in men's sport, female sports is now at an elite level that is attracting businesses, spectators and young girls. And while there is always room for improvement, there are phenomenally sound foundations in place from which further rapid growth can be attained.

Back in 2021, Goldman was finally afforded the opportunity to realise her dream when the Yankees invited her to Yankee Stadium to spend a full day with the team ahead of their game with the Los Angeles Angels. The 70-year-old honorary bat girl even got the throw out the first pitch from the mound in full Yankees attire. She even got locker with her name on it.

It was a nice symbolic gesture for the septuagenarian, who remained a die-hard Yankees fan despite her experiences as a child. But young girls today have greater dreams thanks to the place of women's sports in modern society. And it's earned every inch of the popularity, revenue and acclaim that comes its way. The challenge now is to balance growth and sustainability - a task that is every bit as difficult as everything that's gone before.