Over the past few years, women’s sports has become increasingly popular among viewership and media attention. Athletes like Caitlin Clark, Serena Williams, and Simone Biles have helped shift society’s focus towards women’s sports. In 2024 alone, the WNBA regular season was the most-watched on ESPN platforms, and all-time records were set for digital consumption and merchandise sales, according to the WNBA website.
In an industry that was once entirely dominated by male athletes, coaches, and broadcasters, the number of women working in sports has increased drastically. Those women that are documenting and posting their jobs, lifestyle, and daily routines on social media have begun to change the current creator market.
Aliyah Funschelle, a sports reporter, host, and content creator, has been working in the sports industry since high school. Initially, she started out covering games as a reporter and working for her college’s athletic department. Recently, Funschelle has found a creative way to bridge the gap between sports teams and athletes with their fans on social media on her main accounts and her ‘Sports by Aliyah’ account.
“I create all sorts of content that pulls the curtain back on the sports industry and gives people an inside look of various events, games, and careers in sports,” said Funschelle in a Canvas Rebel article. With 56K+ Instagram followers and 93K+ TikTok followers, Funschelle has been growing her platform creating content at sports events like NBA All-Star Weekend, WNBA Finals & Draft Night, and Big East Basketball Media Day.
Creating content and gaining followers on social media can also lead to partnering with brands in order to bring your audience engaging content. Funschelle has leveraged her credibility in the industry to partner with brands like Unrivaled Basketball, Adidas, What’s Up with Hate, Google Pixel, Modelo, and more, creating fun and educational content for her audience. Fuschnelle has also collaborated with other female sports creators such as Sports Girls Club where she co-hosted a panel at their New Jersey Women in Hockey Summit in December.
Just like Funschelle, Arielle Chambers posts similar content behind the scenes working in sports as a commentator for ESPN and Andscape. Partnering with brands like Adidas, Playa Society, CashApp and Amazon Prime Video, Chambers has increased engagement on her accounts while also founding the House of Highlights’ women’s platform, HighlightHER.
As the sports industry evolves, the cross pollination between working in sports and content creation will grow and reshape the way of brand partnerships. Athletes, reporters, and influencers like Aliyah Funschelle will continue to build platforms to bridge the gap between the average fan and professional/ collegiate sports. It is very clear that the future of sports media is not only female – it’s creative, innovative, and changing the world for content creators everywhere.