Kate Johnson

Athletes and fans are also playing a critical role in reimagining new models.

They're building their own audiences with social media, creating brands that live far beyond the field of play.

Take US rugby player Alona Mar.

She blew up on social media during the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics with her hilarious behind-the-scenes glimpses of athlete life in the Olympic Village.

She became her own media channel, connecting with audiences and making herself and women's rugby more visible and more relatable than traditional media ever could.

Canadian creator and fan, Logan Hackett, aka Sports with Logs, is another awesome example.

She breaks down complex plays, rules, and controversies, making women's sports easier to understand and more accessible to new fans.

More recently, I've been paying attention to how AI is poised to accelerate all of this, while AI slop is a real thing.

In the right hands, tools like Gemini and ChatGPT can enable anyone to create thoughtful, production-level quality content and distribute it at scale.

Take podcast host Sean Callinan, whose Sports Geek Rapid Rundown podcast uses AI to curate the business news of the day into daily episodes on a variety of topics all in his own AI-generated voice.

He turns these out with incredible speed and efficiency.

But the real impact?

That's going to come from all of us.

Your likes, your shares, your follows, the athletes that you track, the sports that you follow, it all plays a significant role in contributing to the library of women's sports content.

My challenge to you is this.

Go further.

Go beyond what the algorithm serves you.

Follow athletes that intrigue you.

Maybe try your hand at telling their story as a content creator yourself, even if on a small scale.

If you're a brand, consider investing in women's sports media or becoming a sponsor.