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Issues on the Gender gap in sports have been on the increase over the last decade or so with the bulk of issues arising from huge disparities in pay among some of the more popular sporting events. While I admit this is an issue, I try to focus on the most natural way for equality of payments to happen for the Women athletes, and that is a growth in their sports popularity.

No doubt some sporting events are more popular than others, and in some cases the gap is even wider because of the gap in interest between the men and women's game. A sport like basketball makes absolute Icons of its male basketball players in the NBA, while the women athletes are barely recognized for their outstanding achievements. Again, this is largely due to huge popularity differences between both games.

Not all sports suffer this fate though, and some events actually seem to be on par with the men's game. A good example is the numbers for the Tennis grand slam tournaments in terms of viewership and court attendance which isn't too significant compared to a sport like basketball. There is also equal pay on offer in all of these four tournaments. This brings me to an observation I made.

Call me crazy, but I have noticed a trend where when both genders perform at the same time/place, there is usually a greater interest and acceptance compared to having separate events. Sports where fans can view both men and women around the same window almost guarantees at least sufficient interest for both to showcase their talents, and give the audience a reason to sustain interest.

I am not necessarily referring to mixed gender sporting events where men and women compete in the same competition such as the mixed relays for instance. It is important to make this distinction so as to still view the men and women's game as separate entities that require growth and development.

Sports such as Tennis, UFC, Wrestling entertainment and so on have taken advantage of the general spotlight to give women a chance to showcase their talents. The WWE is one I will use as a prime example, as female performers in the early 2000s were overly sexualized but for a few. When the company began to prioritize In-ring talents over facial features, acceptance of female wrestling skyrocketed leading to one female wrestler, Becky Lynch becoming the face of the entire company.

The Rise of Superstars

This feat the WWE achieved for instance would not have been possible if female athletes had a separate show for instance, as there would likely not have been enough original interest to sustain it at the early stages. However sports that have the opportunity to employ this strategy have done it to varying degrees of success.

There are also sports where such activities are simply not practicable, the biggest being football and basketball unless it's the Olympics. In such cases I think a lot of effort needs to be put in marketing the superstar athletes of the Iconic male superstars in promoting the women's game. This isn't meant to belittle our female athletes who are professionals and superstars in their own right. However, it isn't entirely absurd to admit that help is needed to effectively market certain sports with obvious potential.

Conclusion

The quality and interest of some of the more separately performed female sports has generally been on the increase. Some sports may end up gaining organic popularity without any external 'help' whatsoever. However, in most cases, I believe this strategy would be necessary quickly establish the female game as being as exciting as the Men's.