What if...

... there was a sports media outlet done by women, for women? Am I getting ahead of myself? Not at all, because there is one!

Last fall ESPN's research found that men account for 76% of their viewership. The only programs ESPN airs that tend to attract women are The National Spelling Bee, cheerleading championships, and Wimbledon.

"Women see us as an admirable brand that has authority. But they see us as their father's brand, or husband's brand, or boyfriend's brand. They recognize it's not theirs," said ESPN vice president Laura Gentile.

The plan was to launch a blog written entirely by women, and should it make a splash, it could become its own television channel. I am very privileged to say that I know a few of the women who write for espnW. They are incredibly intelligent and strong women that know just as much if not more about the sports they cover than any man I've ever met.

To promote the idea, espnW held a retreat last fall in southern California. Prominent female athletes such as Jennie Finch and Marion Jones attended, and the retreat helped to generate ideas for the site. The retreat also focused on empowering women with motivation speeches and physical activities. The video below is an inside view of what went on at the retreat.




You can go to espnW.com for yourself, and see what these women have done. It's pretty powerful, and if it amounts to what the creators are anticipating, it could be mainstream in the near future. This new blog site has given many well-educated and well-versed women the opportunity that many places have not. They're not a pretty face on the sideline, or the NFL's "weather girl." They are providing sports analysis and recaps that you would read in Sunday's newspaper.

On February 1st, another site very similar to espnW was launched; G9Sports.com. Julie DiCaro, a Cubs blogger at "A League of Her Own," joined Twitter over a year and a half ago and found many women like herself that received no accolades for the work they did in covering their favorite teams. Though some were professionals, many wrote for small publications or on their own blogs in "obscurity." These women even worked full-time jobs and still managed to find the time to blog about sports solely for their love of the game. The site's namesake is simply a "G" for girls, and "9" from Title IX.

Although the site is extremely new, and there are not writers for all teams yet, the goal is to have a website written entirely by women on every sport and every team. I am very proud to say that I am a part of this community and their resident Cincinnati Reds writer and contributor.

These developments place female sports writers on an easily accessible medium, and can be seen on a much larger scale than if they were to embark on a blogging journey on their own. While it seems like a beautiful and positive thing, many feminists and professionals will argue that it hinders as much as it helps. In the quest for equality for women in the sports industry, the ultimate goal is to be considered on a level playing field with men. By creating sites by women, for women, it has been said that they are segregating or "ghettoizing" female sports writers. It is a valid point, because I know just as much as anyone else, I can go to ESPN.com, pick up a Sports Illustrated, or flip through the sports section of the newspaper to read and comprehend the exact same stories men do. Women do not NEED to have their own version of these already established sports powerhouses to be active viewers and readers in the sports community.

Aside from considering the segregation ideas, we have to face the facts that mainstream sports media does not provide the same opportunities to women. They are predominantly written by men. What better thing to do than launch your own site to show the world and the community that there are all of these women that break the stereotype and be every bit as valuable in sports coverage as men?

I'm really anxious to hear all of your thoughts on the subject!