The darker side of the rise of women’s sports: With more visibility comes more online harassment
The IndependentGet Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It’s a cycle female athletes and fans of women’s sports have come to recognize: With the increased and sought-after visibility also comes added scrutiny — as well as harassment and online abuse toward some players. ”Treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect, I think, it’s just a basic human thing that everybody should do.” At the end of the 2024 season after facing some criticism for initially failing to condemn the harassment, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, “There’s no place in sports for this," and vowed to attack it "multidimensionally.” The league should have done a better job preparing for the harassment, said Frankie de la Cretaz, a freelance writer whose work explores sports, culture and queer identity. "They should have seen it coming based on the discourse between fans around Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in college.” The NCAA released a study in October showing online abuse toward student-athletes peaked during March Madness, with women’s basketball players receiving three times more threats than men’s players. Even as women's sports reach new heights in viewership and with it ticket sales and lucrative deals, inequalities persist, including disparities in pay, the quality of women's sports facilities and online harassment of female athletes.