One of the past year's biggest trends is a slogan T-shirt with a powerfully succinct message: "Everyone watches women's sports." It's not quite an exaggeration. Viewership for basketball, soccer, and more are on the rise, at both the collegiate and pro levels. WNBA tunnel 'fits get as much attention as their NBA counterparts. Brands are inking major sponsorship deals with women's teams. According to athletes, executives, and founders in the industry, the momentum is only getting started.
At Marie Claire's Power Play summit in Atlanta on May 15, two-time Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, Atlanta Dream COO and President Morgan Shaw Parker, and Jolene Jolene sports bar founder Chelsea Fishman agreed the attention was long overdue. In a conversation presented by Zales with journalist and analyst Tabitha Turner-Wilkins, they said the state of women's sports isn't simply "strong" or "growing." "I would say, we are up there," Chiles told the room to applause. Expanding viewership isn't just on account of their physical prowess; it's on the passion and purpose they bring.
Putting their entire selves on the mat, court, or fan circuit comes with its downsides. Chiles, for example, faced harassment on a global scale after her Olympic medal was revoked last summer (never mind that the entire controversy wasn't her fault). For every supporter who couldn't wait to visit Fishman's new bar, there were dozens of Reddit commenters doubting a women's sports-dedicated spot could last.
The detractors hurt, but they also motivated panelists to keep advocating for equal attention (and pay). "We're not going to solve it all in this lifetime, but if I could help push this industry, this movement, a small step forward, and we can actually see it in our lifetime, that's a life well lived," Shaw Parker said.
Ahead, read the best quotes from these barrier-breakers' wide-ranging conversation on ambition, pressure, and authenticity, on and off their preferred playing fields. If you're not watching women's sports already, you will be by the end.
Jordan Chiles, Two-Time Olympic Gymnast
On bullying after the Paris Olympics: "Since Paris...I think that was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in my life. I've been racially attacked online, and told to get hung and and lynched and all these things. But I think this moment was the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with, and I did go down into the deepest of all deeps. I didn't know if I deserved. I didn't know if I was great.
I was like, why does every single time I do something great, it always gets stripped? [...] The only reason why it happens to me is because I am strong. I get to be put into the next thing that's being given to me. Since then, I've been able to present at VMAs. I've been able to use my platforms to help with mental health and encourage the younger generation. I went to college. That past is the past, and I can only control what's the future. Being myself is the biggest thing that I could ever do in life."
On learning from her sister: "My older sister had this ability to really embrace who she was as just being her authentic self. She went through a lot. [...] Obviously, my mom, she's the queen of all queens. But my sister gave me this ability to be like, 'You know what, sis, if you wanna do this, go do it. If you wanna have this ability to really change what you're trying to see within gymnastics, go do that.'"
On staying true to her purpose: "I'm always gonna be that authentic self because at the end of the day, I didn't wake up to be somebody else. I woke up to be the person I'm supposed to be, because that's the gift that I was given."
Morgan Shaw Parker, Atlanta Dream COO and President
On the difference between men's and women's sports: "What's interesting with men's sports is it's built in a very specific way. Every time you walk into an NFL team, there's one mission, and that one mission is to win a championship, right? I've always thought, in service of what? Why?
What am I winning a championship for? I want to bring home that ring. Absolutely. Do I want to celebrate those players? Absolutely. But for women's sports, it's just so much more. And I think about in service of what? In service of the hundreds of thousands of young girls that need to have visibility and access to see this game.
On building an inclusive workplace in the WNBA: "I was told for years, 'Oh, it's so hard to find diverse employees.' I'm sorry, look at the women in this room and tell me it's hard to find diverse talent. It's not. You just have to fish in different ponds.
"Year two, we were named the most diverse business operations engine in the WNBA. It's not hard. It takes what it takes. Just focus on why you're there.
"I always hire people that are really smart and smarter than me, and that's OK. It helps me test water, check it out, dream big, jump in that deep end, but they are always going to get me back to where we need to go, where organization is going to be pushing forward. We're going to be a catalyst for change."
Chelsea Fishman, Jolene Jolene founder
On pioneering a sports bar centered on women athletes: "Being in this infancy, what's exciting about it is that we get to define it, right? We get to make the rules. It's so cool and so fun to be a part of the women's sports space right now just because of everything that's going on. Especially as a viewer, a bar dedicated to women's sports was unheard of a few years ago, and it's still new.
"As viewers, we have these sports and these athletes and these organizations that we've been cheering on for years. Now, they're actually putting them on TV, which is helpful.
"We're in this space where the talent has always been there, , but the attention and the knowledge is finally starting to catch up. So it's a really fun time."
On men becoming fans of women's sports: "You don't have to be against something to be for something [else]. I think a lot of people, especially men, get afraid that if they cheer for a women's sport that they can't cheer for a men's sport. I think creating these spaces, like an actual, physical space where we can celebrate and tune in, moves the needle."
