Strong recent support from governing bodies and investments in coaching and performance programmes have been matched by growing interest from brands and broadcasters, delivering record-breaking sponsorship and media deals that will accelerate the upward trajectory of female competitions.
Deloitte forecasts suggest the women’s sports industry will generate more than US$1 billion in revenue in the years ahead, while other studies claim women’s sports are a better long-term betthan their male equivalents. It is believed that the sector offers greater scope for innovation, a less congested calendar and investment environment, and significant room for growth.
Technology will play a critical role in this next phase of development, driving performance levels, opening new revenue streams, attracting and engaging audiences, and increasing participation. However, there’s no escaping that both sport and technology are traditionally male-dominated environments in which the unique requirements of women’s sport have been overlooked in favour of male-centric visions.
There has been significant progress in addressing these inequalities and there are more women than ever working at the intersection of these two industries to create products and services that benefit not just female athletes and fans of women’s competitions, but the entire sports landscape.
Still, there is plenty more to be done and the digital transformation of women’s sport will only realise its full potential with greater representation.
‘The only woman in the room’
Systemic and unconscious bias has often discouraged women from pursuing careers in either field, even if they are passionate about sport or have a relevant qualification, and some recruitment processes have reinforced these prejudices. As a result, many technology companies are simply unaware of how and where to find female talent.
Marilou McFarlane has worked in sports technology for more than 12 years, founding education platform Vivo Girls Sports in 2009. She has since held positions at an array of companies in the industry and for many years would be the only female at certain events.
“I would go to conferences to learn about other areas of sports tech, and I would often be the only woman,” she tells SportsPro. “It was an industry where only men were in leadership roles. I didn’t think this was by design, it’s just that people tended to hire who they knew [and these would be men].
“I was kind of used to [the situation] but then I’d meet women who were really intrigued by the [sports technology] industry and so I realised we needed somewhere to connect everyone.”
Her solution was to create Women in Sports Tech (WiST) back in 2017. The non-profit organisation is now a thriving community that provides networking opportunities, workshops, job listings, and education content to encourage more women to enter the field and allow tech companies to take advantage of the talent that so clearly exists.
This lack of diversity has huge consequences for women’s sport as it can perpetuate historical inequalities. The vast majority of medical and sports science research relates to the male experience, which invariably means that data analytics, wearables, and other elements of performance technology are geared towards male athletes.
Part of the reason for this is that researchers have often been tempted to exclude women from trials because they are deemed to be more complicated subjects than men. Advice for female athletes is therefore based on the supposition that they are just smaller, lighter versions than men and the findings are adapted accordingly.
Female soccer players are more likely to suffer from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than men, but the body of research is scarce. Similarly, technologies such as smart mouthguards that detect concussions are based on male-centric data, limiting their effectiveness.
“There is a massive gap in research,” Esther Goldsmith, a sports scientist at sports technology firm Orreco, tells SportsPro. “For so long, [the conventional wisdom] has just been, ‘oh, if it works for men, it’s probably going to work for women’. It’s only in the last 20 years or so that we’re really understanding that we just can’t do that.”
Goldsmith says the “dearth” of research is slowly being rectified by the academic community, but the disparity is something that athletes, increasingly aware of the benefits of sports technology, are recognising too.
“We’ve got to collect a lot more data about concussion,” said Harlequins and England player Rachael Burford at an event hosted by IT firm Capgemini. “Women respond differently [to concussion] and their return to training or the return to play is different. The symptoms are different, and the recovery is different so there is a long way to go.
“We’re heading in the right direction and there’s so much out there, but we need to keep understanding how all this technology can impact a female. Most research out there is male-based – even for things like nutritional supplements. The standard instruction might be to have two scoops but that’s based on a male physique.”
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