GoFundMe! Fight! Win! - Leveling The Paying Field in Women's Sports

What event drew the largest ever viewership in the US for women’s sports? 

Hint: It happened in 2024. But it wasn’t a WNBA game. It wasn’t a soccer match. And it wasn’t part of the Olympics.

It was a female boxing match between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano on Netflix. The bout averaged 47 million viewers. For reference, the highest average viewership for any NBA game was 30.2 million in 2016 when Lebron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first championship title. The success of the Netflix boxing matchup became the flashpoint for Jake Paul’s MVP investing in an all-female ticket on Netflix this upcoming July 11th. (Mark your calendar)

So why do we still have women like WBA light heavyweight world champion Che Kenneally at risk of giving up her title because she’s struggling to cover basic costs to defend it on her July 25th bout? She even created a GoFundMe which, to date, has raised only a third of its goal. (http://bit.ly/3ZSqHeN)

Over and over again, women’s sports have to prove themselves before seeing any consistent or across-the-board investment. That proof is generally measured in fan demand (aka - eyeballs) - but typically triggered only when that demand is extreme. 

74 million is extreme.

That kind of number isn’t a fluke. It’s a signal. A signal to investors, brands, owners, promoters and anyone else involved in the women’s sports landscape that the fans are here. And they want to watch more. They want to keep lifting up women’s sports and the elite athletes who make them so exciting. Let's keep the momentum going. And as fans, keep our eyeballs on the prize.

Visit sportshepherd.com to find where and when to watch upcoming women’s sports including our recently-added pro and US boxing events.