Are you doing all you can to #SeeHerInSports?

I'm excited for what we can do together -- as sports leagues, teams, broadcasters, advertisers and sponsors -- to change the game for women’s sports. 

84% of all sports fans – men and women – are interested in viewing women athletes and teams. And yet today, a meager 4% of sports broadcast coverage is focused on women’s sports.

Yes, you read that correctly. Four percent. That means advertising revenue for women’s sports leagues and teams is also paltry compared to men’s sports.

This raises three simple questions:

1. How do we increase the coverage and distribution of women’s sports?
2. What can be done to improve the visibility of women’s sports?
3. How do we improve the portrayal of women in sports?

To start addressing these questions, a few weeks ago I co-hosted with Anheuser-Busch’s Joao Chueiri and WWE’s Stephanie McMahon a momentous inaugural gathering organized by the Association of National Advertisers’ SeeHer movement. More than 60 companies and sports influencers came together from globally recognizable brands like the NBA, LPGA, MLS, NHL, CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, Turner, Twitch, Citi, PepsiCo, Walmart, my team at AT&T, and others – to discuss how we can #SeeHerInSports.

#SeeHerInSports is a timely and necessary extension of #SeeHer and its mission is to increase the percentage of accurate portrayals of women and girls in U.S. advertising and media by 20% by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. An ad in the June 26 USA TODAY special supplement on women’s sports is starting to let the world know about this industry-spanning effort (see ad below). 

As co-chair of #SeeHer, I’ve made a personal commitment to use AT&T’s scale to help improve how women and girls are portrayed in media. We’re one of the largest advertisers in the U.S. and a leading sponsor of sports, so I’m proud that AT&T can help lead the discussion on how to improve the visibility, distribution and portrayal of women in sports – and to take some initial steps including the launch of a profile series with The Player’s Tribune and SELF, our support for the Women’s World Cup and the U.S. Women’s National Team, and working with the WNBA to make their 2019 All Star activities in Las Vegas the best yet. 

There’s opportunity in the stark reality of women and sports:

• The total fan base across 12 major sporting leagues skews 60/40 male/female.
• Women viewers account for 42% of all casual sports fans and more than a third of avid fans, but women athletes appear in only 12% of all sports coverage.
• By 2021, women will represent the same percentage of esports viewers as men, based on current trends in this rapidly growing category.

Advertisers and sponsors, sports leagues and teams, broadcasters and influencers – together, we can bring together the power of our brands, our assets and our ability to shape culture in support of the #SeeHerInSports mission. 

How? As a group, we committed to the following:

1. Each attendee pledged to come back with a tangible action they could take now. For example, broadcasters can include at least one women’s sports highlight in their regular sports updates. Agents can incorporate inclusion riders in their female and male athletes’ sponsorship deals.
2. Longer term, we plan to set a goal that defines what success looks like and to create a measurement tool to evaluate progress.

My thanks to Patty Kerr and her ANA SeeHer team for organizing this brilliant start. With leading voices like the WNBA’s Christy Hedgpeth, Linda Yaccarino at NBCUniversal, Gail Tifford at Weight Watchers, Deborah Antoine of the Women’s Sports Foundation, Liz Lindsey from Wasserman and Shelley Zalis at The Female Quotient, and so many more who have joined the #SeeHerInSports movement, we’re only just beginning.

Later this year, we’ll meet again to share progress and continue discussing how to achieve those two initial goals. Our hope is that we can double the size and reach of this group, and that’s where you come in.

If you’re a brand leader, broadcaster, athlete or sports influencer that can #SeeHerInSports, contact the SeeHer team and join us.

When industry leaders take a stand, change can be powerful. Could we reach 50/50 parity for women in sports by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women securing the right to vote? It’s the right question to ask in this long-overdue dialogue.

I believe we can level the playing field in time, and am thrilled that we’re taking steps to get there.