It’s no secret that women’s sport is still incredibly underfunded, and this has been highlighted more than ever at the Paris Olympics, with celebrities and well-known figures stepping up to help fund female athletes.

It started three months pre-Olympics when American rapper Flava Flav decided to sponsor the entire US women’s water polo team. Water polo player and three-time Olympic gold champion Maggie Steffens put a call-out on Instagram, revealing that many of her teammates have second and third jobs, despite being, you know, Olympic champions.

“Many of my teammates aren’t just badass champions, but also teachers, business owners, coaches, physicians’ assistants and more. Some may not know this, but most Olympians need a 2nd (or 3rd) job to support chasing the dream (myself included!) and most teams rely on sponsors for travel, accommodations, nutritional support, rent/lodging and simply affording to live in this day and age. Especially female sports and female athletes,” she writes.

And in the most unlikely of responses, American rapper Flava Flav and proud ‘girl dad’ stepped up to the table promising to “personally sponsor” the whole team. He has since been seen poolside in Paris supporting Team USA and having the time of his life by the looks of it.

He also helped to pay the rent of Team USA discus athlete Veronica Fraley ahead of her Olympic debut after she took to X to reveal she was unable to pay her rent.

This also prompted entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian (aka Serena Williams’s husband) to donate quite a hefty sum, too.

Of course, we can’t forget businesswoman Michele Kang, who pledged $4 million (£3.12m) to the US women’s rugby sevens programme after the team secured bronze in Paris. Kang is no stranger to advocating for women’s sport; she is already the proud owner of three women’s football clubs – London City Lionesses, Washington Spirit in the US and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin in France. She has also since announced a global investment of £39.2m in improving the health of elite female athletes.

While all of this is fantastic news, it raises the question: why are female sports still so underfunded compared to their male counterparts? While pay disparity between male and female athletes has been a huge topic recently, it’s the funding and visibility of women’s sport that seems to be lost in the conversation. 

In a 2021 study by Women’s Sport Trust, revenue for women’s sport is predicted to hit £1 billion by 2030, up from £350 million currently, but it relies hugely on the increased visibility of female athletes and teams. Historical discrimination aside, women’s sports still receive significantly less media coverage than men’s, resulting in lower audience engagement, fewer sponsorship opportunities for athletes and reduced revenue opportunities for teams – all of which perpetuates the funding gap.

This then elicits a lack of commercial interest in women’s sport as sponsors and advertisers clamber to invest in male athletes and teams with more established fan bases, which then triggers sport’s governing bodies to take more notice of men’s sports, allocating and prioritising funding for them. And that’s without discussing the lack of investment in grassroots sports for young girls, affecting the development and long-term growth of future female athletes.

It’s not all bleak, however, and progress is being made. The Women’s World Cup last year generated an incredible 262 million viewing hours across the BBC and ITV, while the English Cricket Board is ramping up its support for female cricketers. The 2023 season of The Hundred saw record-breaking attendances and TV viewers. Over 580,000 tickets were sold for the men’s and women’s games combined, with the women’s matches drawing around 300,000 spectators, according to Sky Sports. 

We’re also seeing record number of attendances at women’s sports events, with the age demographic lowering – for example 62% of ticket holders for England international netball last year were under 45 years old, according to Women’s Sports Trust.

But perhaps Paris 2024 is going to give women’s sport the major boost it deserves. For a start, it is the first Olympic Games with full gender parity, featuring an equal number of male and female athletes, while also offering equal medal opportunities for all athletes.

Efforts are also being made to ensure that women’s events receive prime-time coverage, and female athletes are coming out in their droves to make history. Simone Biles leads the way, becoming the most decorated US Olympic gymnast, while American swimmer Katie Ledecky also makes history, now holding seven Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship titles.

Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to secure a medal in shooting; Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez competed while seven months pregnant; Cassandre Beaugrand got France its first Olympic gold in triathlon; and Bryony Page secured Team GB its first Olympic gold for trampolining. And we can’t forget the incredible table tennis player Zeng Zhiying, who made her Olympic debut for Chile at the age of 58.

Hopefully this is the wake-up call that’s needed to invest in women’s sports, even if we do love seeing Flava Flav as the ultimate hype man in his custom water polo hat.  

Images: Getty