‘Getting Noticed, Respected, and Supported’: Mediated (In)Visibilities of Women’s American Football in the United States

Dunja Antunovic, Katie Taylor, Macauley Watt, Andrew D. Linden

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

On 2 February 2020, 99.9 million viewers learnt about the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA), the largest women’s American football league in the United States, when former player Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl. In the same month, the WFA announced several corporate partnerships and a new television deal with statements that connected the support for women’s American football to advancing gender equity. This chapter examines the professionalisation of women’s American football in the United States through the lens of mediated visibilities. We use the term mediated visibilities, rather than media coverage, to move beyond how journalists are writing about sport (or ‘covering’ sport) and account for the complex ways in which content about women’s sport circulates across producers and platforms in the digital media environment. In particular, our analysis examines the opportunities and limitations of digital media in the process of (semi-)professionalisation of women’s American football. The WFA joined the broader ‘momentum’ of women’s sport in the United States as both the league’s social media platforms and the sponsors aligned their messages with cultural narratives around women’s sport to invoke gender equity in promoting women’s American football. Moreover, the league positioned the strategy to enhance mediated visibility the sport as an integral step in the process of (semi-)professionalisation. However, the role of the WFA’s digital media platforms alone appears to be limited without substantial structural change.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationThe Professionalisation of Women's Sport
Subtitle of host publicationIssues and Debates
PublisherEmerald Group Publishing Ltd.
Pages123-139
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9781800431966
ISBN (Print)9781800431973
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited.

Keywords

  • gender equity
  • media
  • social media
  • visibility
  • Women’s American football
  • women’s leagues

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