Driving the Next 50 Years of Growth in Women's Sports
Rapinoe: Women's sports needs infrastructure to back zeitgeist
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Megan Rapinoe at TN50: The Business of Women's Sports Summit.
U.S. soccer legend Megan Rapinoe said Tuesday that this is a "watershed" moment for women's basketball and across sports — and businesses would be smart to take notice.
Why it matters: Rapinoe highlighted the enthusiasm surrounding this year's women's March Madness as a sign of the shifting public views of women's sports, after years of being undervalued.
- "I would bet heavy into women's sports, whether that's owning teams, I would bet heavy into media and content and the sort of entertainment around that," Rapinoe said at TN50: The Business of Women's Sports Summit.
- The conversation also isn't new — Rapinoe might point you to this 2021 Sports Illustrated article by Kate Fagan.
State of play: Pivotally, the money flowing into women's sports is helping transform the public perception of the game, Rapinoe said at the event produced by Axios and Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment.
- She pointed to venture capital, better attendance, media deals and sports betting as essential to the change.
- "I think the business side of things is that [this] is all really coming together and being seen as something like you need to get in now," she added.
- "This is not just like an investment for a mission or investment because it's the right thing," Rapinoe said in a conversation moderated by The Athletic's Meg Linehan.
- "It's like, you can actually make a lot of money and you should do it now. Not tomorrow or the next day."
Zoom in: This year's women's March Madness tournament — which drew record-breaking viewership — was what "the game deserved and what ... fans of women's sports really deserved."
- "It's so much more than Caitlin [Clark]," she said, highlighting the star players that preceded Clark — including her partner WNBA legend Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore — and the college basketball athletes who played in the tournament.
- "Knowing the foundation that they're all standing on," Rapinoe said, recognizing "the work that the [WNBA] did in solidifying like who women's basketball is. It's very much Black women, it's very much gay women, it's a very inclusive and open space."
The big picture: Rapinoe had a decorated career on the U.S. women's national team, winning two Women's World Cups and a gold medal at the the 2012 Olympics.
- Off the field, Rapinoe has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and racial equality.
- She also led the U.S. WNT's long fight for equal pay with the men's national team. In 2022, U.S. soccer agreed to pay all national players equally.
The bottom line: Rapinoe "obviously" went to the Final Four with Bird, who retired from playing a year before Rapinoe, in 2022.
- "Sometimes we just look at each other like, 'We're jealous.' Just a little bit jealous —in not a bad way."
- "This is incredible what's happening right now, and the future's so bright."
Go deeper: U.S. soccer icons play for first NWSL Championship in their final game
TN50: The Business of Women's Sports Summit is an event focused on the growing marketing and investment dollars in women's sports. The event, produced by Axios and Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment, features top female athletes, sports leaders and investors in the women's sports industry.
