Leveling the Playing Field: How Superstar Female Athletes Can Transform Media Representation in Women's Sports

The lack of media representation for women’s sports, fueled by a shortage of major female endorsement deals, calls for increased investment in emerging superstar female athletes. Women’s sports is currently undervalued, its athletes underpaid, and its infrastructure underfunded. This inequity affects us all, female and not. For women, it prevents them from achieving and ascending to the same height as their male counterparts. For others, it limits the quality of sports that we can all enjoy on a day-to-day basis. However, today it presents a lucrative opportunity for sports advertisers and a method to drive more media attention to women’s sports, enhancing overall viewership and transforming the unequal culture surrounding them today. For consumers, companies, and athletes alike, today is the day to invest in women’s sports and level the playing field. The easiest way to do so is to buy into a superstar athlete. For instance, this paper will take Caitlin Clark, NCAA women’s basketball phenom for the Iowa Hawkeyes and WNBA Indiana Fever superstar, and explore how she can pioneer the first gender-unbiased endorsement deals for an athlete. Clark brings a lot of excellent qualities to the table, namely her captivating style of play, charisma on and off the court, and innate transformative nature. This case study will assess her current and future deals, culminating with the impact of Clark’s potential endorsements and the positive impact it will have on women’s sports at large.