Olympians to launch media platform to celebrate female athletes
- Kendall Baker, author of Axios Sports
Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
Four Olympic gold medalists are launching Togethxr, a media platform aimed at celebrating millennial and Gen Z female athletes.
The big picture: Togethxr's launch comes at an exciting time for women's sports, with ratings spikes (WNBA), female ownership groups (NWSL) and startup leagues (Athletes Unlimited) creating lots of buzz.
Details: The Olympians include soccer player Alex Morgan, snowboarder Chloe Kim, swimmer Simone Manuel and basketball player Sue Bird.
- The financing: Togethxr is funded and operated by private equity-backed holding company Magnet Companies.
Coming soon: "Fenom," the story of 17-year-old boxing star Chantel Navarro will debut this spring alongside "Kaikaina," which follows a collective of young Hawaiian surfers.
Of note: Despite increased viewership and business opportunities, women's sports still received just 4% of U.S. sports media coverage as of 2019 — something Togethxr wants to help change.
The last word: "Growing up I didn't have posters of female athletes, which wasn't because I didn't watch sports," Morgan told NYT. "I just didn't know enough about female athletes to put them on my wall and idolize them."