Differences between UW athletic programs show need for support for women's sports – The Badger Herald

If you were to ask a random Badger fan to tell you the first image or moment that comes to mind when you think of University of Wisconsin sports, you might get a variety of answers – Jump Around at Camp Randall Stadium, the men's basketball team's Final Four Look in 2015 or perhaps in the famous fifth quarter. Chances are, their answer will almost certainly be a direct reference to big-budget programs that have essentially become synonymous with UW's school spirit and athletic identity.

It may come as a surprise to casual Badger fans that these teams — Badger football, men's basketball or men's hockey — are nowhere near the most successful programs on campus. Not even the volleyball program – with four conferences Championships in the last five years – can claim to be among the most successful.

But for decades, the women's ice hockey team has been quietly collecting some impressive things Hardware in the trophy case – seven national championships and nine conference titles, all within the last 20 years. Last month, the Badgers appeared in the national championship again Game, lost a heartbreaker to Ohio State. However, given the general lack of enthusiasm for the team's success on campus this season and in previous years, it would have been difficult to see how dominant the Badger women's hockey team truly is.

Certainly, gender differences in media coverage of the women's ice hockey team contribute to the program's relatively low impact. When the Badgers punched their ticket to the Women's Frozen Four, the Instagram account @UWBadgers took a single post celebrate their successes. While the women's hockey team certainly deserves media recognition, much of the high-quality editing and in-depth coverage seems to be reserved for high-budget – mostly men's – shows.

The number of posts on @UWBadgers Instagram Account shows this dynamic. The women's ice hockey team received six posts during their national championship playoffs. The men's basketball team, which was eliminated in the first round of March Madness, received seven.

While reporting on university-run social media accounts is far from perfect, many other media outlets lag even further behind raise of women's sports. The Badger football and men's basketball teams enjoy a variety of multimedia coverage – talk radio showsconsistent Apparitions on national television and received attention from major newspapers all season long. All of this reporting creates an effect that centralizes the importance of high-budget men's programs and creates a cycle of invisibility for smaller-budget women's programs.

This is not to say that the men's basketball team or other big-budget programs somehow don't deserve their media attention, but rather that the women's sports programs deserve a fairer share of the spotlight. The success of the women's ice hockey team should speak for itself.

Even those who tend to be persuaded by the logic of the market, that is, the idea that there is a lack of demand for women's sports that then somehow justifies a lack of exposure, would be shocked to see the statistics about the recent would see explosive growth in viewership fan bases for women's sports. According to CNBC, women's sports, particularly at the collegiate level, are responsible for over a billion dollars in revenue revenue during the last year. There is already an audience for women's sports, and now UW must capitalize on that demand so these programs can reach their full potential and support.

The fixation on the profitability of athletic programs is also at odds with the mission of the university itself. According to the mission of the athletic department opinionThe university's goal is to provide student-athletes with academic, social and athletic development. But when the university has built a popular sports culture tied almost exclusively to the men's soccer and basketball programs, questions arise about the disparity in the department's mission.

These high-budget programs undoubtedly have easier and easier access to these “opportunities” than other lower-budget programs, largely generated by the media exposure and the channels created for millions of fans across the state and country.

Financial responsibility is always good practice, and the profitability of athletic programs should not be completely ignored. However, overemphasis on this dimension comes at the expense of the athletic department's mission statement and ancillary programs that otherwise have great potential. After all, the university is a publicly funded educational institution and not a professional sports league.

While we care about profitability, getting fans in seats is rarely a problem for the Badger women's hockey team. Last season, 2023-24, the Badgers beat all other women's hockey teams participation, meaning every game was nearly sold out. The volleyball team was also present several times recordsBefore the Nebraska The women's volleyball team broke its record last season.

Years ago, the UW recognized the growing demand for involvement in women's sports. The university opened in 2012 LaBahn Arena – the second of its kind to be dedicated to a specific purpose –built including women's hockey. This move was and remains a significant investment in women's athletic programs and is emblematic of the UW's efforts to provide material support for women's athletics. Now, more than a decade later, the university must continue to strive to promote women's sports, despite misplaced concerns about profitability and market performance.

Jack Rogers ([email protected]) is a second-year student studying Chinese, economics and political science.