In just less than two weeks, #NewRules will be reporting from Parisduring the Summer Olympics—covering new stories of change and innovation in sustainability, the growth of women’s sports, and patriotism's role in this year’s Games. From New York, we will be reporting on the rise of grassroots activism, new forms of disinformation— and “new citizenship” and its innovative role in this turbulent time.
We’d love your perspectives on these issues and others we’re covering this summer, so add your thoughts to this thread or reply directly to this message via email. And, if you happen to be in either city these next weeks—and if the stars align—definitely reach out to
Bradley, you mention women's sports and the Olympics in the post, and that has me thinking about that. I don't think there's a strong, lasting rise in women's sports. I actually think that the interest in men's sports may be accelerating relative to women's sports because of betting. Just a hunch.
I'm a sports fan. Medium/High level. Football (a lot); Golf, Some basketball. A bit of baseball and hockey. Soccer only during the World Cup. Olympics.
The only women's sport I watch somewhat regularly is golf. Take away the yardage markers and all the statistics, and it looks kinda the same as men's. At least on TV.
I don't follow tennis much. But I think it's similar to golf - to the average spectator, women's tennis looks similar to men's. The shots are the same. There's no equivalent of an alley-oop or a tomahawk jam like in basketball, which makes women's basketball less appealing to me.
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I think the recent rise in women's sports is primarily a Caitlin Clark story. What other women's sports, at the national level, are rising significantly? And I think the Caitlin Clark story will be short-lived. Unless she ends up a dominant player, and that already looks unlikely, I believe the interest in professional women's basketball will fade - maybe a somewhat higher level.
For most people, I believe the women's and men's events have similar appeal. Women maybe more. I probably watch more women's events than men's, mostly because of gymnastics and figure skating. Swimming and Track & Field are of equal interest. Sure, the men run faster and jump higher. But, the women running the 100 meters (10.5 seconds) vs the men running the 100 meters (9.5 seconds) - basically looks the same. Same with swimming. Also, a big part of watching the Olympics is national pride, where gender doesn't matter.
Thank you for sharing, Greg. We're digging deep into the data to look at long-term trends, not just the Caitlin Clark story. For Example, in the 128 years of the Olympics, women have gone from zero participation 1896 to equal participation for the first time in this year's Games. We'll highlight this statistic and others in our reporting.
Bradley, you mention women's sports and the Olympics in the post, and that has me thinking about that. I don't think there's a strong, lasting rise in women's sports. I actually think that the interest in men's sports may be accelerating relative to women's sports because of betting. Just a hunch.
I'm a sports fan. Medium/High level. Football (a lot); Golf, Some basketball. A bit of baseball and hockey. Soccer only during the World Cup. Olympics.
The only women's sport I watch somewhat regularly is golf. Take away the yardage markers and all the statistics, and it looks kinda the same as men's. At least on TV.
I don't follow tennis much. But I think it's similar to golf - to the average spectator, women's tennis looks similar to men's. The shots are the same. There's no equivalent of an alley-oop or a tomahawk jam like in basketball, which makes women's basketball less appealing to me.
'
I think the recent rise in women's sports is primarily a Caitlin Clark story. What other women's sports, at the national level, are rising significantly? And I think the Caitlin Clark story will be short-lived. Unless she ends up a dominant player, and that already looks unlikely, I believe the interest in professional women's basketball will fade - maybe a somewhat higher level.
For most people, I believe the women's and men's events have similar appeal. Women maybe more. I probably watch more women's events than men's, mostly because of gymnastics and figure skating. Swimming and Track & Field are of equal interest. Sure, the men run faster and jump higher. But, the women running the 100 meters (10.5 seconds) vs the men running the 100 meters (9.5 seconds) - basically looks the same. Same with swimming. Also, a big part of watching the Olympics is national pride, where gender doesn't matter.
Thank you for sharing, Greg. We're digging deep into the data to look at long-term trends, not just the Caitlin Clark story. For Example, in the 128 years of the Olympics, women have gone from zero participation 1896 to equal participation for the first time in this year's Games. We'll highlight this statistic and others in our reporting.