NEW YORK — For Djaniele Taylor, attending WNBA games offered a refreshing way to rebuild a sense of community following the extensive lockdowns enforced during the pandemic.
The 38-year-old resident of Evanston, Illinois, has been a dedicated supporter of the Chicago Sky over the past three seasons, especially after witnessing their first championship victory in 2021. As a queer Black fan, she found the games to be an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere.
“I was captivated and adored the energy—it was very queer-friendly, family-oriented, and had a diverse crowd,” she expressed.
However, with the WNBA’s skyrocketing popularity this year, Taylor noticed a significant increase in the price of her season tickets, which more than doubled since 2022. Along with the growth in viewership, she also perceived a “darker vibe shift” that occasionally transformed what was once a positive environment into a more hostile one.
As women’s sports achieve new milestones in attendance and viewer engagement, Taylor and other seasoned fans feel a mix of excitement and apprehension. This is a familiar cycle for female athletes and supporters of women’s sports: heightened visibility often invites further scrutiny as well as incidents of harassment and online abuse directed towards certain players.
This year, former college basketball stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese made their WNBA debuts with the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, respectively, which not only boosted their personal profiles but also increased the league’s appeal.
Fans are not just watching for their love of the sport, according to Amira Rose Davis, an assistant professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas-Austin. They are also intrigued by the dynamics between players like Clark and Reese, who faced off in the 2023 NCAA Championship representing the University of Iowa and Louisiana State University, respectively.
While both players have asserted that there is no animosity between them, fans and media coverage have amplified a narrative of tension. This narrative is fraught with racial undertones that emerged during their college rivalry, highlighting differences between the predominantly white Iowa and predominantly Black LSU.
“This has really escalated engagement and the number of viewers while solidifying those narratives,” Davis noted.
Nevertheless, this dynamic has also led to instances of harassment, much of which is racially charged and directed toward players of color throughout the league and beyond.
“Angel and Caitlin have given us a fantastic platform to discuss how Black and white athletes are treated differently in media coverage,” remarked E.R. Fightmaster, co-host of Jockular, a podcast focusing on women’s sports and queer identity.
During the September playoff clash between the Connecticut Sun and Indiana Fever, DiJonai Carrington of the Sun shared an email containing a racial slur along with graphic death and sexual assault threats she received.
Her teammate Alyssa Thomas recounted her own shocking experience.
“In my 11-year career, I’ve never encountered racial comments like these from the Indiana Fever fan base,” Thomas remarked following the Sun’s elimination of the Fever from the playoffs.
While Clark has denounced toxic discussions surrounding her and her peers, critics feel she could do more to address the racism exhibited by some followers.
“People should not be using my name to promote those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s unacceptable,” Clark stated in June. “Everyone in this league deserves the same level of respect; it’s a basic human principle.”
Following criticism related to her initial silence on the issue of harassment, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, by the end of the 2024 season, emphasized, “There’s no place for this in sports,” vowing to tackle it on multiple fronts.
The league should have better prepared for these instances of harassment, continued Frankie de la Cretaz, a freelance writer exploring intersections of sports, culture, and identity. “Given the discourse around Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in college, they ought to have anticipated these issues.”
An NCAA study conducted in October revealed that online abuse targeting student-athletes reached its peak during March Madness, with women’s basketball players facing three times as many threats as their male counterparts. For the first time in history, the women’s championship game eclipsed the men’s in viewership this year.
“While it is undoubtedly exciting to witness the increased visibility and popularity of women’s sports, it is also deeply troubling to acknowledge the negative consequences that have come alongside it,” expressed Lynn Holzman, vice president for NCAA women’s basketball.
Another study showed that nearly half of all monitored abusive posts during the 2024 Olympic Games were racist and sexist comments aimed at female athletes.
At the summer Olympics, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was subjected to hateful remarks and unfounded gender-based accusations leading up to her gold medal victory.
These harmful narratives, perpetuated by internet trolls and public figures, have underscored the ongoing scrutiny and discrimination faced by female athletes of color regarding sex testing and rumors of their gender identity.
“People are constantly looking for reasons to undermine successful women. If they cannot find any other faults, they will attack their gender,” asserted Fightmaster.
Khelif called for an end to the bullying of athletes, asserting, “It can devastate individuals; it can obliterate their thoughts, spirit, and mindset.”
The issue of transgender women competing in women’s sports has also taken center stage, igniting heated debates this year. A former University of Kentucky swimmer was part of a group of athletes who filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging violations of Title IX by permitting a transgender woman, Lia Thomas, to compete at the 2022 national championships.
The lawsuit referenced unverified claims that a transgender woman was participating on the San Jose State women’s volleyball team, leading to various colleges withdrawing from matches with the team. This fall, the university has not confirmed the presence of a trans player, and the individual in question has chosen not to disclose their gender identity publicly.
Despite the controversy, politicians have harnessed this debate to formulate campaigns aimed at excluding transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
Approximately half of U.S. states have enacted legislation prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in school sports aligned with their gender identity. This year, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu put into effect a law restricting transgender athletes from grades 5-12. Ohio implemented a ban as early as kindergarten. West Virginia and Idaho are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold their bans.
Even as women’s sports experience unprecedented levels of viewership, ticket sales, and lucrative endorsement deals, significant disparities endure. Issues such as pay inequality, subpar sports facilities for women, and online harassment against female athletes continue to mar progress in the domain.
“It seems insincere to celebrate the rise of women’s sports while ignoring the inequities in how women athletes are treated,” stated Cheryl Cooky, a professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Purdue University.
“My hope is to see the emergence of women’s sports occur without the hostile rhetoric that has become all too common.”