Kate Johnson

This isn't just a mistake.

It's a symptom of a bigger problem.

And it's one example of many.

These gender ambiguous queries come down to word matching issues within the algorithms.

When sports journalists, commentators, content creators consistently publish content that gender qualifies women's sports but not men's, we get an imperfect response.

For the person looking to settle the Messi versus Ronaldo debate, this answer works, and for the majority of people entering this query, this is what they're looking for.

But the factual omission of women in these answers and in our daily content feeds, well, it negatively impacts the athletes who have worked very hard for the distinction, but also the fans who are looking for this information.

This lack of visibility fuels what's often referred to as the vicious cycle of underinvestment.

The vicious cycle of underinvestment.

In 2023, for example, president of FIFA Gianni Infantino went on record criticizing many of the traditional broadcast networks for offering up to 100 times less for the women's rights, even as the 2023 World Cup tournament approached half that of the men's tournament.

The same thing's happening here in the United States with NCAA men's and women's basketball.

The men's tournament earns $1.1 billion per year in media rights fees, 17 times more than the estimated value of the women's tournament, even as the last three finals on average are approaching par.

These costs, they don't just undervalue women's sports, they're undervaluing the women's sports fan.

which is a huge miss in the bigger economic picture.

It turns out, compared to men's sports, fans of women's sports are younger, they're generally more tech savvy, and they're more loyal to brands who sponsor women's sports.

But in a world where men's sports are everywhere and women's sports are harder to find,

These short-sighted media rights holders and gatekeepers, while they're failing certainly the athletes, but also the fan, and especially, and maybe more importantly, our girls.

Which leads me to the real kicker.

Despite the recent surge in women's sports, our girls are still dropping out of sport at twice the rate of boys by the age of 14.

If they can't see incredible content of female athletes crushing it in sport and in life, it makes it harder for them to see sport as a pathway for themselves.