Dollars & Sense - Women in the Media

This past week has been huge for women's sports everywhere.  But, we are not talking about all women's sport leagues like the LPGA Tour or the WNBA.  Oh no.  We are talking about women taking over the male leagues.  In fact women are taking over some of the most male dominated leagues in all of sports: the UFC and NASCAR.

Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche

On Saturday night, the UFC made history by holding their first women's title fight.  Ronda Rousey came in as the women's bantomweight title holder and faced challenger Liz Carmouche.  Rousey came in as quite possibly the biggest women's MMA name and certainly one of the most successful.  With the title and undefeated record on the line, the ladies made a thrilling debut.  Rousey ended up retaining the belt with a submission by her signature armbar in the first round.

UFC 157 was held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.  The Honda Center was near its capacity (around 18,000) selling a reported 15,525 tickets for a total gate revenue of $1.4 million.  According to MMAPayout.com, Saturday's event was the most tickets sold out of the six UFC events ever held at the Honda Center.  The only one with a higher return in terms of gate revenue was UFC 121 which featured Brock Lesner and Cain Velasquez.

Official PPV numbers are not released yet, and though it will not be the UFC's best showing, it should have garnered solid numbers based off of the number of tickets sold.

(Here is a good read from USA Today on how Ronda Rousey has changed women's MMA whether she wanted to or not.)

Even in a loss, Carmouche was not to be outdone.  In competing, Carmouche has become the first openly gay fighter to fight in the UFC.  UFC President Dana White came out in support of not just Carmouche, but LGBT fighters in general.  In a press conference leading up to UFC 157, White said that there should not be an issue if a fighter did come out but if fighters were giving a hard time, White would fix it.  

Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick has been blazing autoracing trails now for years.  First it was in open wheel racing, now she competes in the closed confines of NASCAR's Nationwide and Sprint Cup series'.  

The Daytona 500 is a historic race for any driver no matter what age, race, sex, or orientation.  However, there were many things that a woman had never done before in the sport's biggest race.  Patrick succeeded in becoming the first woman to win the pole after the qualifying rounds a week earlier.  During the race, she became the first woman to lead a lap not just in the Daytona 500, but in NASCAR's top series.  

Patrick ended up finishing eighth at Daytona, but that is no disappointing feat.  The Daytona 500 is a race that takes experience to navigate.  Although she started on the poll, a top-ten finish is extremely impressive.  

The fans certainly noticed her impact as well.  This year's running of the Daytona 500 pulled in a 10.0 TV rating, the highest rated Daytona 500 since 2006.

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Barriers in all sports are being broken down and the media is taking notice.  Sports can sometimes lag behind the rest of the world in terms of social perspective and thinking, but there seems to be a shift in time to where people other than straight men are getting their due respect.  

We are in a time where the LGBT community and the women are making noise.  You have two choices: 1) You can simply ignore it and continue to think that sports are only for men or 2) You can get with the times and realize that men and women can produce equally incredible feats in athletics regardless of sexual orientation or race or age. The media is taking notice and so should you.

Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

40 Years of Title IX

This weekend marks the 40 year anniversary of President Richard Nixon signing the Educational Amendments of 1972 into action.  The most prominent section of the Amendments, in education and in sports, is Title IX.  Title IX most simply states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity.”  Four of the most prominent names associated with the Amendments, and specifically Title IX, were Bernice Sandler, Edith Green, Birch Bayh and Patsy Mink.  All had important parts in the proposal, drafting, and passing of Title IX.  On June 23, 1972, Title IX became a law. 

Since that June day in 1972, the amendment that was for education, has allowed women’s sports to grow exponentially.  Prior to Title IX, the world held onto few moments in women’s sports.  They had Wilma Rudolph’s 3 gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics.  They had Babe Didrikson Zaharias who was as ahead of her time as anybody in history, not just sports.  They had Althea Gibson who broke down tennis’s color barrier.  Moments were few and far between. 

After Title IX was passed, there were “more moments” in women’s sports.  Why?  Women had more opportunities.  Women had more opportunities to grow up with a sport, move up through the ranks, and excel as professionals.  The presence of women was more widespread and in sports that were almost always considered solely a man’s game.  Women have proved over and over that when they are faced with doubt from their male counterparts, they not only rise to the occasion, they surpass all expectations.  Women can transcend greatness just as well if not better than men.  Women have the gloom of the pre-equal rights era hanging dauntingly in their rear view mirror that the men never had. 

Title IX has given opportunity to women, but the women have done all the work.  The women take nothing for granted, they seize opportunities, and they meet every obstacle head on with an impressive mental toughness.  They leave all doubt to the men.  This one is for the events that have shaped women’s sports after Title IX was put into law.  This one is for all the women who have taken their opportunity and gone on to greatness.  This one is for all the women to come who will do the same in the future and idolize these same pioneers of women’s sports. 

Here are my 5 greatest post-Title IX moments in women’s sports history, and out of respect for equality, they are in no particular order

1. Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes in 1973.

2. United States Women’s Soccer team defeats China in the 1999 World Cup Finals

3. Mary Lou Retton brings home the all-around gymnastics gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

4.  UCONN Women’s basketball team‘s 90 game winning streak from 2008- 2010.

5. The women can play with the men.  Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie play on PGA Tour.  Danica Patrick races in Indy Car and NASCAR.

Now more than ever women are making a name for themselves through sports.  With Title IX still ruling the land and a better view on what equality truly is, there seems to be no limit for women’s sports.  Let them continue to seize the opportunities that Title IX has provided and continue producing those sports moments that can be enjoyed by even the most narrow-minded of fans.  In the first 40 years, Title IX has done so much for women.  We are all anxious to see what the next 40 bring. 

What is your favorite moment in women’s sports history?  Who is your favorite women’s athlete of all time?

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