Hanlon, Clare ORCID: 0000-0001-5547-5327, Taylor, Tracy ORCID: 0000-0002-8847-7692, Toohey, Kristine and Thomson, Alana ORCID: 0000-0002-9388-4225 (2024) Forging a new path to success for women in professional team sports: Research for evidence-based action. Project Report. Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria.

Abstract

Women's professional team sport leagues are achieving impressive growth across the world, but while they are celebrated by their supporters and the media, women still do not have a playing field level with their male counterparts. Women athletes often earn less than male athletes, and women's teams frequently do not receive similar sponsorship, media and other opportunities. Many physical, social, cultural and organisational elements shape women's professional team sport leagues in ways that ignore or even widen the gap between women and men in professional sport – but these factors are not always clear. To better understand how women's professional team sport leagues are viewed by women athletes, coaches and managers, a team of Victoria University and Griffith University researchers have investigated what shapes success in women's professional team sports. Through a series of studies, this research highlights the debates, dilemmas and potential actions for women's professional teams to be inclusive, sustainable and successful. Funded by an ARC Discovery grant¹, the researchers worked with various professional sport governing bodies to uncover innovative management strategies, structures and practices for women's professional sports workplaces. In practice, this meant: • empowering women athletes in professional team sports by listening to their experiences • documenting the factors that indicate success and sustainability in women's professional team sports • gaining insights into the management of national women's team sport leagues • sharing their discoveries and analysis through a range of dissemination methods.

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