Recent research from Canadian Women & Sport shows that two-thirds of Canadians are interested in women’s sport, and that these fans are passionate, diverse, educated, and engaged. Yet over 90% of sports media coverage in Canada focusses solely on men’s sport, and less than fifteen percent of sports reporters in the US and Canada were women.
At the same time, recent data from Canadian Women & Sport reveals that 2 in 3 Canadians are fans of women’s sport, dispelling the myth that Canadians aren’t interested. The study found that fans of women’s sports are not only passionate but also diverse, educated, and engaged. Canadians see women’s sports as athletic and exciting, with 85% of fans watching women’s sports on TV or online. The time has come for sports coverage to make room for women.
Trailblazing women journalists and media leaders are meeting this need, rewriting the playbook in sports coverage. From Join us for Game-Changers: The Rising Profile of Women in Sports Media, a dynamic panel discussion spotlighting the voices changing how the world sees and celebrates sports. This compelling conversation will showcase how these innovators are breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and shaping a more inclusive and diverse narrative in sports media.
About the Panelists
Shireen Ahmed
Shireen Ahmed is a multi-platform sports journalist, a TEDx speaker, mentor, and an award-winning sports activist who focuses on the intersections of racism and misogyny in sports. She is an industry expert on Muslim women in sports, and her research and contributions to this topic are immeasurable. She is an Inclusion and Diversity consultant, an athlete, advocate, and community organizer, works with Youth of Colour on empowerment projects and is an avid sports coach and mentor. Shireen is a regular contributor to CBC Sports, Muslimah Media Watch and a former Global Sports Correspondent for Safe World For Women and Muslim Women in Sports website. She is also a Senior Contributor with CBC Sports.
Rachel Brady
Based in Toronto, Rachel Brady covers sports for The Globe and Mail, focused especially on features. She began as a multimedia producer at MLive.com in Michigan, covering college football, basketball and Detroit’s pro teams. She returned to Canada in 2008 and became a producer with CTV’s Olympic consortium.
She began writing for The Globe in 2011 and has covered events from the Olympics to Grey Cups and the NBA Finals, and has reported on issues including gender equity and athlete abuse. Rachel has profiled many of Canada’s biggest athletes.
She won the 2021 National Newspaper Award for sports coverage and received a Michener Award nomination, partnering with Grant Robertson on an investigation that revealed a troubling number of elite amateur Canadian athletes binge, purge and starve themselves, often under pressure from coaches and national sports organizations.
Sara Zeigler
Sara Ziegler is the sports content editor at The New York Times, with prior stints at FiveThirtyEight, Law360 and the Omaha World-Herald. She is a native of South Dakota, an alumna of Iowa State University and a proud fan of the world champion New York Liberty.
