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The conversation of sport: FIFA Women's World Cup 2023

Research purpose

This study was conducted to understand the impact of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ on coverage of women in sports news in Victoria.

It was delivered by Isentia as part of the Change Our Game Research and Insights Initiative. It was released in December 2024.

Research methodology

A randomised sample of 100 sports news items was collected per day with a focus on Victorian media only and select national broadcast programming. It excluded the live broadcast of sport, social media coverage, owned publications of sporting organistions, subscription TV news and coverage relating to the racing of horses.

This research covered data from 15 July to 25 Aug 2023, the period of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

This study involved human analysis of media coverage mentioning sport that was aired or published in Victoria during the sample period.

Findings on balance

Coverage of sports news by gender

Coverage of women’s sport in Victoria more than doubled compared to 2022-23.

During the World Cup period, almost 1 in 3 of all sports news focused on women’s sport.

A pie chart titled '2022-23' illustrating category distribution. The chart has three sections: 81% in dark gray labeled 'Men,' 15% in red labeled 'Women,' and 4% in light blue labeled 'Other.' A key below the chart identifies the colors for 'Women,' 'Men,' and 'Other.

A pie chart titled 'FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023' displaying the distribution of categories. The chart is divided into four sections: 64% in dark gray labeled 'Men,' 20% in red with diagonal stripes labeled 'WWC,' 11% in solid red labeled 'Women,' and 5% in light blue labeled 'Other.' A key below the chart identifies the colors and patterns for 'Women,' 'WWC,' 'Men,' and 'Other.'

Coverage of soccer

1 in 5 stories of all sports news stories were about women’s football (soccer), compared to 1 in 39 stories in 2022-23.

3 in 4 of football (soccer) stories were on women's football (soccer), compared to 1 in 5 in 2022-23.

Football (soccer) overtook Australian Rules Football to be the leading sport in Victoria on 10 dates over the period.

Coverage by day

Women’s sports coverage was greater than men’s on 3 days:

14 August – 51% coverage (after Australia v France Quarter-Final)
16 August – 58% coverage (Australia v England Semi-Final)
17 August – 51% coverage (after Australia v England Semi-Final)

Top athletes and teams

The Matildas were the most talked-about team, with 2.6 times the mentions of the next leading team, the Australian Men’s Cricket Team. There were no women’s teams in the top 20 during 2022-23.

Sam Kerr was the most mentioned individual athlete, with 4.5 times more coverage than the next top athletes.

10 women were in the top 25 most covered athletes during the tournament. This compares to 2 in the top 25 in 2022-23.

Findings on portrayal

Narratives

Women athletes and teams were almost twice as likely to receive negative messaging regarding performance during the Women’s World Cup period than during 2022-23.

Positive messaging regarding performance also increased, but it rose to a far lesser extent (38% increase).

Findings on the media

Bylines

Women journalists had 1 in 3 sports news bylines during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

46% of women’s bylines were on women’s sport during the Women’s World Cup period, compared to 21% in 2022-23.

Women journalists were 77% more likely than men journalists to report on women’s sport.

Bar chart comparing the reporting of women's and men's sports by women and men journalists during 2022-23. The chart shows that 21% of women's sports coverage is attributed to women journalists, while 79% is men's sports coverage. For men journalists, 13% of their coverage is on women's sports, and 87% is on men's sports. Highlighted text below states: 'Women journalists were 62% more likely than men journalists to report on women's sports.' A legend indicates red represents women's sports and dark gray represents men's sports.

Bar chart illustrating the reporting of women's and men's sports by women and men journalists during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023. Women journalists are shown to have 46% of their coverage focused on women's sports and 54% on men's sports. Men journalists, in contrast, report 26% on women's sports and 74% on men's sports. Highlighted text below states: 'Women journalists were 77% more likely than men journalists to report on women's sport.' A legend specifies that red represents women's sports and dark gray represents men's sports.

Sources of comment

Excluding athletes, 46% of sources on women's sport during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 were women. 97% of sources on men's sport were men. The gender gap has marginally widened compared to 2022-23, where 52% of sources on women's sport were women and 96% of sources on men's sport were men.

Coaches became far more prominent spokespeople, as did experts and former athletes. The strong rise of coaches as a source of comment means, during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, women’s sports coverage was more comparable to typical men’s sport reporting. 19% of sources in men's sports coverage were coaches in 2022-23. 21% of sources in women's sports coverage were coaches during the tournament, compared to just 4% in 2022-23.

The Matildas Head Coach Tony Gustavsson was the most quoted source during the period. This could be in part due to the speaking requirements of football coaches during this time.

Bar chart showing the representation of women and men as sources for comments on women's and men's sports during 2022-23. For women's sports, 52% of sources were women and 48% were men. For men's sports, only 4% of sources were women, while 96% were men. Highlighted text below states: 'Men were 12 times more likely to be asked for comment on women's sport than women commenting on men's sport (excluding athletes).' A legend indicates red represents women as sources and dark gray represents men as sources.

Bar chart showing the representation of women and men as sources for comments on women's and men's sports during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023. For women's sports, 46% of sources were women and 54% were men. For men's sports, only 3% of sources were women, while 97% were men. Highlighted text below states: 'Men were 18 times more likely to be asked for comment on women's sport than women commenting on men's sport (excluding athletes).' A legend indicates red represents women as sources and dark gray represents men as sources.

Media organisations

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation achieved gender parity of sports news coverage during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, with 50% coverage on women's sport and 50% on men's sport.

Seven West Media had 49% coverage on women's sport and 51% on men's sport.

Why is this important?

Having strong representation of women and girls in all aspects of sport, including through sports media, is fundamental to driving positive change at both the elite and community sport level. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 marked a historic milestone in Australia’s sporting journey, delivering economic and social impact in Australian society. Whilst inroads were made in media coverage, there is still some way to go. A similar study in New Zealand showed 45% of sports news coverage in New Zealand during FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 focused on women’s sport.

What can you do about it?

The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, informed by conversations with media and sporting organisations, recommended opportunities to influence positive change in the coverage of women in sports news through The Conversation of Sport: Representation of Women in Sports News Coverage 2022-23. These recommendations require systemic change, which takes time.

Media outlets

Strategic: Have a ‘Women in Sport’ strategy, with measurable targets.
Culture: Assess if your organisation has any disincentives that favour men’s sport (e.g. placement of news stories, performance measures).
Workforce: Consider the recruitment and retention practices influencing the gender balance of your employees.
Sources: Prioritise increasing women as sources for men’s and women’s sport.

Media staff

Strategic: Set a minimum target for women’s sport coverage in personal performance plans.
Culture: Consider and address your own potential bias towards men’s sports coverage.
Workforce: Consider how you are enabling a workplace and industry network and culture inclusive of women in sports media.
Sources: Consciously engage gender balanced sources for quotes and comment

Sporting organisations

Strategic: Prioritise media organisations with measurable targets in place
Strategic: Amplify earned content with fans and grassroots participants to grow engagement.
Culture: Dismantle internal barriers to greater coverage of your women’s teams or athletes (e.g. responsiveness to media requests).
Workforce: Support the gender balance of who is reporting on your women’s and men’s teams and athletes.
Sources: Provide access to gender balanced representatives for interviews, quotes and other media opportunities.

Sports staff

Strategic: Identify your opportunity to change the volume and depth of coverage for women in sport.
Culture: Challenge the status quo by adding your voice to calls for progress. Don’t allow women to be hidden behind a ‘default’ of men’s sport.
Workforce: Directly support women in sports media (e.g. granting interviews to journalists, supporting content on stories).
Sources: Support women – athletes, coaches/high performance experts, executives – to add their voice to the conversation of sport.

Download a summary report

The Conversation of Sport - FIFA WWC 2023 Case Study (OWSR, 2024) [PDF, 5.4 MB]

Page last updated: 2 December 2024

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