ITF Data Examines Gender Disparity Across Mainstream And Social Media Coverage

The ITF has unveiled results of a new research project in which it examined gender equality across tennis media and social media.

Commissioned as part of its ITF’s Advantage All gender equality strategy, supported by the Foundation for Global Sports Development, and conducted and delivered by Ipsos MORI, the research explored how male and female athletes are represented differently.

The results identified key differences between male and female players, which are felt across different markets and media types, as well as in consumer searches. 

The report found that coverage of men’s tennis – as well as the social media conversation around the sport – focused on sporting aspects, with the ITF revealing a ‘strong combative narrative and a sense of history, elite competition and achievement’ in how the men’s game is viewed. However, it says the conversation around women’s tennis is ‘less intense and relatively more focused on life off court, from health and age to family’. 

Analysing global English, French and Spanish data, the ITF says women’s tennis content is twice as likely to reference a player’s age, or mention health or medical treatment, and 30% more likely to refer to a player’s family. Meanwhile, men’s tennis is twice as likely to refer to what the federation refers to as ‘battle terminology’, with a player’s physical prowess 70% more likely to be mentioned.

The research also says that women’s content is more likely to mention clothing than men’s content, while there were 11 times more mentions of skin colour in women’s tennis content, with three times as many mentions of Black Lives Matter in coverage of the women’s game. However, the ITF points out that these latter findings are ‘very rare’, and make up less than 0.5% of the content analysed.

“Voice is one of the key pillars of our Advantage All strategy,” said David Haggerty, President, ITF.

“To make a positive impact in this area, it is vital that we have a credible understanding of media and social media language. 

“The results reveal that, despite similar public appetite across both men’s and women’s tennis, there is a distinct difference in the narrative surrounding them. It’s important to acknowledge that this difference is not necessarily always negative, but we must avoid a situation where a different focus arises as a result of conscious or unconscious bias, as ultimately that can diminish the sporting achievements of female athletes.”