Our latest study has revealed that female Olympians competing at Paris 2024 featured in fewer news articles than their male counterparts. This is despite efforts to make the Paris Olympics the first Games to achieve gender parity among competitors.
Female Olympians were covered in 43% of Olympic news – significantly lower than the 57% that highlighted male athletes. However, findings around social media engagement paint a different picture. Content produced by women athletes reached 53% of total engagements across TikTok and Instagram compared to 47% for male athlete content.
Our unique ‘Beautiful Data’ exhibition tells the full story through an entirely new lens.
The Redtorch ‘Beautiful Data’ information booklet can also be downloaded here.
Our research concludes that female athletes not only share more content but also connect more effectively with their online audience, indicating the growing appeal of women’s sport and the potential enhanced value of female athletes in sports marketing. The gap between female and male news coverage was most pronounced among Olympic TV broadcasters, where Paris 2024 stories had a 39% female/61% male bias.
The gender imbalance was also reflected in content and stories published by International Federations (IFs) and corporate brands, which favoured male athletes in 59% and 58% of posts respectively. This disproportion suggests that IFs and other brands are missing opportunities to broaden their audience and engage new fans through their decision – active or passive – to not correct the gender bias that exists when it comes to producing content.
Our ‘Beautiful Data’ study highlights that the global sports industry still has some way to go to satisfy the growing demand for women’s sports content. Clearly, progress has been made – as shown by the first-ever gender-equal Olympics in Paris – but all stakeholders have a responsibility to do more.
It’s very encouraging that the rise in popularity of women’s sport shows positive momentum as female athletes achieved more social media engagement across different online platforms.
Hopefully, this data will motivate broadcasters, federations and brands to continue their investment in women’s sports coverage and inspire the next generation of athletes and fans.
Jess Reus, Redtorch Head of Communications & Women’s Sports Lead
Additional findings show that gaps persist between women’s sport participation and consumption. Data showed that 60% of women who do not consume Olympic content are active in sports or exercise compared to 40% of men. Conversely, only 42% of women consuming Olympic content are active participants compared to 58% of men.
‘Beautiful Data’ is just one element of our women-focused programme exploring insights from Paris 2024 and recently culminated in the ‘Beautiful Data’ exhibition at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne. The event, which we hosted on 28 November, showcased 16 unique artworks that provide a visually captivating and factually insightful display of the data around the gender share of Paris 2024 social media content.
The one-day exhibition was curated by our Research & Performance Lab and brought to life by our Creative Studio. The artwork tells of the shifting landscape in women’s sports, providing a fresh angle on the way they are covered, consumed and experienced. The art combines infographics with geometric shapes to interpret and present datasets in an aesthetically engaging fashion. Within this, the use of colour is critical in distinguishing three main themes – engagement, participation and coverage.
