New study shows: Only around 19 percent of all sports reporting in Austria is dedicated to women’s sports.
With the Equal Play Initiative, win2day draws attention to the imbalance in the visibility of women’s and men’s sports and takes measures to reduce this discrepancy.
More visibility for women’s sport means: more sponsorship, more professionalization, more young talent.
Equal Play Day marks the day of the year when, statistically speaking, women’s sports no longer appear in domestic media: in 2024 that will be March 1st. By proclaiming the first Equal Play Day, the initiator win2day, the online games site of the Austrian Lotteries, is drawing attention to this imbalance. The basis for calculating the deadline is a new study by MediaAffairs. To do this, the renowned provider of high-quality media market analyzes analyzed around 13,000 images in domestic print media and around 1,200 sports broadcasts from Austrian TV channels over a period of one year. The Equal Play Initiative and study results on equality in Austrian sport were presented today in a press conference with sports and media representatives.
The existing imbalance in the public presence of women’s and men’s sports has a clear impact on the career opportunities of female athletes. More media visibility for athletes increases the chances of lucrative sponsorship contracts. More money in turn increases the opportunities for professionalization. In addition, visible female athletes become role models for girls and young women. These female role models are essential and inspire young generations to discover competitive sports for themselves. For sport in general, this means more young talent, which closes the circle of increasing professionalization. As part of a press conference at the House of Sports today, Erwin van Lambaart (General Director of Austrian Lotteries), Georg Wawer (Managing Director win2day), Maria Pernegger (study author & Managing Director MediaAffairs) spoke with sports representatives Tina Pesendorfer (Austria’s best wheelchair tennis player), Viktoria Schnaderbeck ( former national soccer team captain & founder of the sports marketing agency PRO-SPECTIVE) and Lisa Zderadicka (national basketball player) about the importance of sponsorships and the need for increased visibility of women’s sports.
Aside from the season highlights: the proportion of women’s sports falls below 10 percent
In the print media examined in the study, around 83 percent of sports coverage in 2023 was on male athletes and only 17 percent on women’s sports. Seasonal fluctuations are particularly noticeable: in winter, thanks to the Alpine Ski World Cup, athletes receive more than a third of the total coverage. Similar positive effects were only seen during the Women’s Football World Cup in the summer of 2023. The rest of the year shows an opposite trend: here the proportion of reporting on female athletes often falls below 10 percent.
The situation is similar with the TV channels analyzed, where the presence of female athletes is slightly higher at 21.3 percent than in the print sector. Here too, skiing and major events such as the Women’s Football World Cup in particular lead to greater visibility.
Equal Play Day initiator win2day as a pioneer for equality in sport
Against the background of this imbalance, win2day, the online gaming site of the Austrian Lotteries, has been committed to equal opportunities in domestic women’s, men’s and disabled sports since 2022. win2day supports national teams, top leagues and major events in the disciplines of ice hockey, basketball, beach volleyball, tennis, American football and table tennis. Within this framework, win2day specifically promotes the professionalization of women’s sports and sports for the disabled, the development of national teams, the provision of high-quality equipment and, in particular, society’s access to these sporting events.
Georg Wawer, Managing Director at win2day about the Equal Play Initiative: “At win2day we stand for fair play and equality – we live this attitude all year round. Our sponsorship creates real prospects for men’s, women’s and disabled sports teams in Austria. We are on the right track, but there is still a lot to do.” Wawer continues: “With the introduction of Equal Play Day, we are raising awareness of the imbalance in the visibility of men’s, women’s and disabled sports every year attentive. ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ – that’s why we want to create tangible opportunities and role models for Austria’s young sports.”
The long-standing commitment of the Austrian Lotteries should also be seen in this context. They have been the most important financiers of popular and elite sports in Austria for decades. General Director Erwin van Lambaart: “Our commitment to sport in Austria is intended to ensure that Austria’s athletes have optimal training conditions, receive sound training and can subsequently achieve top performance in international competitions. But sport also needs equal visibility and female role models that young people can emulate.” See also here: https://bit.ly/Jackpot-für-den-österreichischen-Sport
“Keywords such as diversity and gender equality do not stop at sport – that requires a rethink. Despite the alarming status quo, there have also been some positive developments in recent years,” says Maria Pernegger, study author and managing director at MediaAffairs. “Leaders from sports, media and business are increasingly focusing on women and diversity. This increases visibility and also breaks down social stereotypes. A good example is women’s football, which has been pushed back for a long time,” she adds.
About the study
As part of the study, (moving) images were analyzed between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023 and the presence of athletes in selected Austrian TV and print media was determined. Both the number of images and the report volume (image space in print media or broadcast time on TV) were taken into account. As part of this analysis, almost 13,000 images in print media and around 1,200 TV sports broadcasts were analyzed.
More information about the Equal Play Initiative is available here: www.equal-play-day.at
You can find photos to download at:
Questions & Contact:
Patrick Minar Managing Director Corporate Communications Austrian Lotteries Ges.mbH Tel.: +43/1/79070 – 31900 E-Mail: patrick.minar@lotterien.at Homepage: www.lotterien.at www.playsponsible.at
Georg Wawer Managing Director win2day Tel.: +43/1/79070 – 36100 E-Mail: georg.wawer@win2day.at Homepage: www.win2day.at www.playsponsible.at
