Tucker Center Newsletter - 2010 Fall
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Did You Know?
espnW to Debut in the Spring of 2011
ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, is in the process of expanding its brand—not to mention its global reach—yet again. The expansion, named espnW, is intended to appeal to girls engaged in high-school sports and to female athletes who want to continue their athletic involvement after college. By creating a Web-based presence devoted to sports information for women and adolescent girls, the new initiative "will cater to those sports-minded females who enjoy both the active and fan side of [all] sports," according to espnW insiders.
Recent research indicates that espnW couldn't come at a more opportune time—or fill a larger gap for consumers of and participants in women's sports. A 2009 update to the longitudinal report, "Gender in Televised Sport" (sponsored by the University of Southern California's Center for Feminist Research), found that coverage of women's sports is at a 20-year low. This past year alone, sportswomen received only 1.6% of airtime on the three major networks studied (ABC, CBS, NBC), while ESPN's SportsCenter devoted a paltry 1.4% of its airtime to coverage of women's sports.
These findings are particularly troubling given that ESPN's own data indicate that women make up 41% of the overall sports audience. It's an understatement to suggest that espnW is well positioned to take advantage of this vast, untapped market. The expected launch date for espnW is spring, 2011.
