The Fight for Visibility in Sports Media

Women’s sport is finally having a moment. From packed stadiums to record-breaking TV ratings, and global stars like Mary Fowler, Jess Fox, and Ellyse Perry leading the charge, it feels like we’re entering a golden era. The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup brought unprecedented visibility. The Olympics consistently elevate female athletes. Momentum is building, but beneath all the excitement, there’s a digital threat most fans never notice. It’s quietly chipping away at this progress every time you scroll. It’s the algorithm.

The Algorithm Decides What We See

In today’s world, how we watch and engage with sport has drastically changed. Traditional newspapers and TV stations used to curate what sports stories we saw. Now, it’s all about digital platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and AI-powered streaming services such as WSC Sports. Here’s the kicker: what you see isn’t chosen by editors anymore. It’s chosen by artificial intelligence and algorithms that are trained to serve content that keeps users glued to their screens. The more you engage with a particular type of content, the more the algorithm feeds it to you.

And right now, what’s popular on these platforms is overwhelmingly men’s sport; so, if a user clicks on a highlight from an AFL men’s game, the algorithm responds by feeding them more men’s AFL content—again and again. Women’s sport, which may not yet have the same mass engagement stats, quietly gets left behind. This is called the “echo chamber effect,” a phenomenon where you’re only shown more of what you already watch, reinforcing limited perspectives and excluding newer or underrepresented content.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

AI Isn’t Just Curating—It’s Creating

It’s not just that artificial intelligence is curating what we see. It’s that AI is now actively creating the content we consume. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are being used across the sports industry to write match reports, game summaries, social media captions, athlete bios, blog posts, newsletter blurbs, and even to generate automated highlight reels and commentary tracks. These tools are efficient, fast, and cost-effective, making them increasingly attractive to media outlets, sports leagues, and content platforms.

But there’s a massive catch: these systems learn from human input and behavior. They’re trained on historical data—news articles, social media posts, TV transcripts, videos, stats databases, and more. And historically, men’s sport has dominated that space. This means AI tools are replicating and reinforcing decades of gender bias without even realizing it. For example:

• An AI trained on thousands of sports articles may “learn” that sports content is usually centered around men.

• When prompted to write a story about “top scorers,” the tool may default to naming male athletes, even if the context is neutral or even women-focused.

• Video generation tools might prioritize clips from the NBA, Premier League, or NFL because those are the most tagged and shared datasets.

• AI commentary might describe male athletes as “strong,” “dominant,” or “elite,” while describing female athletes as “passionate” or “graceful,” reflecting biased language patterns found in its source material.

This isn’t hypothetical. A 2024 study found that generative AI tools consistently underrepresent women’s achievements and amplify traditional stereotypes when trained on imbalanced datasets. So even when media teams want to use AI to cover women’s sport, the tech may not be up to the task—because it was built on data that barely includes them.

Why This Matters: Visibility = Viability

This might sound like a niche tech problem, but it has real-world consequences. For instance, when young fans don’t see women’s sport in their feeds, they don’t build emotional attachments to teams or players. No emotional attachment leads to lower interest in buying tickets, jerseys, or streaming matches. Lower interest leads to less sponsorship money, less investment, and ultimately, fewer opportunities for women athletes.

A 2024 study in Victoria found that only 15% of traditional sports media coverage goes to women’s sport. A 2019 European Union report showed that across 22 countries, 85% of sports print media is focused on men. Despite headline moments like the WNBA, World Cup, or Olympics, day-to-day coverage still falls short—and algorithms are poised to make it worse.

What Needs to Change

We can’t simply “switch off” algorithms. But we can demand a smarter, fairer system that doesn’t bury women’s sport in the background. Here’s how:

1. Audit the Algorithms

   Tech companies like YouTube, TikTok, and Netflix should be required to undergo independent algorithmic audits. These would examine whether their systems are unintentionally suppressing women’s sport and provide actionable solutions. In fact, the new Artificial Intelligence Act is already setting this kind of precedent in Europe. The AI Act creates a unified set of rules and legal standards for the use of AI across the European Union.

   
   

2. Create Intentional Pathways to Discovery

   Sports organizations and broadcasters need to make women’s sport discoverable not just during big events, but every day. That means curated playlists featuring female athletes and suggested content spots for under-viewed leagues such as featured stories, interviews, and “starter packs” for new fans. Even if someone has never searched for women’s sport, it should still show up in their feed.

   
   

3. Balance Personalization with Diversity

   Algorithms are designed to personalize, but that doesn’t mean they can’t diversify simultaneously. Tech platforms need to refine their models to include a wider mix of content to ensure users don’t get stuck in a viewing loop that excludes half the population.

   
   

4. Teach Digital Media Literacy

   We need to teach that what appears on your screen isn’t the full picture, especially for younger generations raised with social media. We need to encourage fans to understand how algorithms shape habits can create more conscious, curious viewers who actively search for women’s sport content and follow female athletes and teams. This can start in schools, youth clubs, sports academies, and even through public campaigns.

We’re at a critical tipping point. Women’s sport has the talent, the passion, and the fanbase to thrive. All the progress we’ve made could slip away if algorithms keep pushing it into digital obscurity. We must demand systems that reflect the diversity of the real world—not just the popularity of the past. Because if we don’t see it, we can’t support it. And if we don’t support it, it might disappear.

Let’s hold the platforms accountable. Let’s ask more from tech. And most importantly, let’s make sure women’s sport stays in the spotlight not just during major global events like the Olympics or World Cup, but every single day. Let’s keep women’s sport where it belongs—front and center.