An Important Year for Women’s Sports, Paused by Coronavirus

This was set to be a groundbreaking year for women’s sports.

The United States women’s national soccer team has sued its governing body, claiming gender discrimination, and received widespread support in its battle. The W.N.B.A. and its players union have agreed on a collective bargaining agreement that will increase salaries and provide new maternity benefits. The Women’s Tennis Association has been awarding record-breaking prize money. The National Women’s Hockey League got an increased schedule of 24 games, as well as new sponsors and owners.

But that was all before game-by-game cancellations turned into a flood of proclamations that “due to an abundance of caution” over coronavirus risks, this season would be canceled, that venue shut down, this competition postponed.

Women’s leagues have always had to fight to get a fraction of the money, screen time and other resources allocated to men’s leagues. At a time when the biggest and most well-funded leagues are questioning their future, what will happen to the women’s leagues — and the athletes who compete in them — when the sports world re-emerges from its hiatus? And when that happens, how will money, on-air time and access to shared venues be distributed between men’s and women’s sports facing shortened seasons.

Michael Whan, the commissioner of the L.P.G.A., was one of the first major sports stakeholders to publicly plead for patience from sponsors, who pay golfers based on the number of their tournament appearances. On Thursday, the L.P.G.A. indefinitely postponed three tournaments — the Founders Cup, the Kia Classic and the ANA Inspiration — increasing the layoff its athletes have endured since the tour canceled events in Thailand and Singapore last month. The women now face a month without notable tournaments, a critical blow to their earnings and their profiles.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/sports/womens-sports-coronavirus.html