Women’s World Cup: 8 out of 10 Argentines want parity in sports coverage

As anticipation mounts for the upcoming Women’s World Cup, iStock, the premium stock image and video site for SMEs, creatives and students around the world, has published a study revealing that only 9% of the most downloaded sports images on iStock show women and girls actively participating in sports. The results are slightly better when looking specifically at soccer images, as only 13% of soccer-related client downloads feature women and girls.

According to iStock’s visual experts, this data does not reflect consumer expectations for the visual representation of women in sports. iStock’s VisualGPS research indicates that 74% of Argentines agree that sports organizations and companies of all sizes should do more to promote women’s teams and female stars. In addition, it is not enough to increase representation, since the 77% want to see authentic images of athletes, in which your skill and athleticism are emphasized over your beauty, glamour, or sex appeal.

“To reduce the gender gap in sport, it is critical to represent the entire women’s sporting experience through an inclusive lens, showing fans, players, coaches, mothers, community leaders, team leaders, sports clubs and beyond”, said Jacqueline Bourke, Creative Insights Director for EMEA at iStock. “According to our VisualGPS research, almost 1 in 3 women who neither play nor follow sports stated that they were never given the opportunity to learn about the sport that interested them and/or were even afraid of being judged. Businesses have an opportunity to help empower women and girls in sport by using authentic and inclusive images and video that focus on what women and girls in sports can do rather than what they look like.“

VisualGPS research also reveals a greater interest in women’s sport, as 8 out of 10 Argentines of all genders consider it crucial to provide female athletes with the same level of coverage as their male counterparts. Sports sponsors are taking notice, with Sponsor United reporting a 20% growth in global sponsorship of women’s sport by 2022. In addition, the Women’s World Cup has already sold more than one million tickets, surpassing the total sales of France 2019, which is concrete proof of the growing support for women’s sport.

To help small and medium-sized businesses effectively market to women in sport, iStock’s visual experts offer the following recommendations:

• I chose images and videos that showcase the athletic abilities and key moments of action of the athletes instead of focusing on their appearance, thus avoiding sexualization.
• Images and videos that show the reality of women and girls in sport, both elite and amateur, have a greater impact.
• Look for images and videos that include female support personnel (such as coaches), as it provides a more complete representation of women’s power, ability, and sustained participation in sport as a whole.
• Think about using images and videos that take into account a wide range of emotions beyond joy, such as anger, disappointment, determination, frustration, love, pain, and happiness.
• Don’t forget to represent fans of all genders who support women’s sport and take advantage of the strong feeling of community that women’s sport offers.

Above all, make sure your images and videos represent the diversity of age, ethnicity, ability, and body shapes realistic to the sport you’re showcasing.