The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women’s Sports

＂No one cares about women’s sports＂ is a familiar refrain from vocal skeptics, but as The Fact Track shows, a series of watershed moments reflect the increasing popularity of and support for women’s sports from both investors and fans.

Veteran sports journalist and academic Jane McManus examines both this upward trend and the forces that have held women’s sports back since the early 1970s when Title IX became law (and Billie Jean King soundly defeated Bobby Riggs). As the fervor for Caitlin Clark during the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball championship illustrates, there is big money to be made from broadcasting, merchandising, and investing in women’s sports.

The Fast Track chronicles how pioneering sponsorships, broadcast opportunities, and surges in ratings contradict the myths about disinterest. Interviews counter the resistance toward women’s leagues, reveal how women are covered in the media, and consider the possibilities for further investment. McManus also addresses racial inclusivity, transgender athletes, women’s health issues, and equal pay.

An essential road map to capitalize on untapped potential, The Fast Track provides a snapshot of where women’s sports as an industry and investment stand at this moment in time.

Jane McManus was the founding Executive Director of the Center for Sports Media at Seton Hall University and has previously taught at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Michigan State University, and Marist College. A contributor to Deadspin, she formerly she covered women’s sports and the NFL for ESPN. She was also a founding columnist for espnW, and appeared in multiple television shows and hosted two radio programs for the network. She is the editor of the 2024 edition of The Year’s Best Sportswriting.