For years, women have fought to be at the forefront of opportunities that men deemed they were born to have. 

For years, the narrative has been about how extensively men’s sports have grown, but is anyone paying attention to the women’s sports boom, too?

From baseball to rugby, there has always been a spot on the field for men. In some cases, women were specifically barred from those spaces under intercollegiate bans to watch from behind the wire fence that separated the playing field. Since 1972, though, Title IX has protected a woman’s right to do more with her will, and that includes building an athletic empire on her terms, not his. 

The growth of women’s sports in culture since this landmark came into play has expanded from an equality act to a multimillion dollar investment. Whether you are watching the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers compete in volleyball or the Women’s National Basketball Association’s own Indiana Fever build its franchise around Iowa native Caitlin Clark, we can all find someone to root for in every corner of the nation. 

The WNBA will soon have 18 teams, with an expansion into Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia by 2030. The Professional Women’s Hockey League is reaching during the 2026-2027 season for a new 12-team league with Detroit, San Jose, Hamilton and Las Vegas next in line; these are just two leagues seeing these builds. 

Within the major cities surrounding us in the Midwest that are actively expanding, this region is  at the heart of the sports growth. Three of the current WNBA teams of the 15 fall within the Midwest pre-expansion, and that number will grow to five of 18 after the expansion. We have all of this women’s talent rooted right in our backyard, but how many people actually know that?

Kansas and Illinois house one women’s soccer team each, while Minnesota and soon Michigan will lead the way for hockey. Our region alone houses 18 major professional women’s teams, with others being built around major cities with stadiums ready to open their doors to a new crowd. That accounts for about a third of total teams across the U.S. and Canada combined. 

In recent studies by Nielsen on sports viewership, women’s sports alone hit 28.6 billion minutes of watch time by Aug. 18 of 2026, with key events like Serena Williams’ return to the tennis court at Wimbledon and Unrivaled’s second season contributing to the nation’s TV time. These games are a chance for younger generations to find a love for sports early on and decide for themselves what the default should be in what they watch. This luxury of choice is just the tip of the iceberg. 

New jobs in media and the business side of the franchises also create opportunities for talented youth and reporters like myself to grow around sports where they see themselves, so even the workforce benefits from these new seats at the bigger table of discussion. 

The upsides are clear. So what issues still lie within women’s sports that need more attention?

Dr. Ellen J. Staurowsky, a retired professor who researches Title IX and gender equality roles in women’s sports, revealed in a phone interview that because of where some franchises are located, not everyone can access these spaces even as media. 

“…I know that’s silly, but literally women’s sports teams are playing miles and miles away outside of the city,” Staurowsky said. “If the facility is not in the center of the town, then the journalists can’t get there.”

And why is that?

“We are still in circumstances where we are talking about multimillion dollar deals compared to multibillion dollar situations in men’s sports,” Staurowsky said. 

This Tom and Jerry-style game of cat and mouse with money is just one reason many worry about the practicality of the growing platforms. Although many of us are ready for sports to be a “family” event that doesn’t leave anyone out, we still haven’t reached a point where everyone is on board with this change. We all know someone who brings up how men’s sports are better because men are statistically stronger or less “emotional” than women. When viewership and franchise growth statistically also don’t lie, though, how many of these insecurities about women really just come from not wanting to pay for both sports in their monthly subscriptions?

This isn’t an understatement when you look at the breakdown of economic power that the men’s leagues hold. 

“The growth of women’s sport postcovid is 45%, so with the increase of women going to college and increase in earning potential this demographic can’t be dismissed,” University of Kentucky assistant professor and researcher Steve Bien-Aime said in a phone interview. “At the same time, you also have a lot of men who now are more socialized to watching women play sports, be around female athletes, and solely an economic thing, and it’s something I had told my students ten years ago at LSU; men’s sports are saturated and too expensive. For the price of one NFL quarterback, I can fund almost the entire WNBA’s roster.”

Another reason growth is limited is directly connected to why they aren’t the same as men’s sports: women aren’t viewed the same as men. 

The simple truth is that because women’s sports rose up based on an equality ruling, they have been treated as such.

Certain women’s sports like rugby and golf will never reach the same level of viewership that other sports have either, despite having the same sports channels and reporters as the men and other popular women’s events. It all comes down to what sports can be made their own separate from their male counterparts, and some of it even has to do with how attractive the viewers can find the players too. 

“For example, women’s MMA post-Ronda Rousey has taken a hit because they’re still a driver of attractiveness,” Bien-Aime said. “We see this even in the WNBA. Sophie Cunningham, who is a solid bench player, is getting a lot of attention for being conventionally attractive.”

With all this being said about the work that needs to be done, the bottom line still stands. 

Women’s sports have always been there, but with the help of the media and younger generations pushing for their growth, they have been able to grow in equitable ways that, if sustained, will lead to an empire that will thrive for years to come.