Twenty Yards from the End Zone: ADR, and the Potential for Greater Levels of Gender Equality in Professional Sports Employment

Authors

Elan Kirshenbaum, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

For far too long, men have dominated professional sports leagues. Men greatly outnumber their female counterparts as team owners, executives, coaches, umpires and referees, journalists, announcers, and television and radio personalities. However, this is certainly not for a lack of interest in sports from women-women make up almost half of the fanbases of traditional American and international sports leagues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball ("MLB" or "League") television ratings actually rose, fueled by a 41% increase in female viewership among 18-24 year-olds (from 40,000 to 56,000 viewers) and a 15% increase in female viewership among 25-54 year-olds (from 341,000 to 393,000 viewers). Since 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law-"protect[ing] people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance"-women's participation in high school and college athletics has skyrocketed, but the job gains for women in professional sports leagues have been much more stagnant.

Keywords

Banking and Finance Law, Gender and the Law, Soccer, Physical Sports, Sports Law, Discrimination, Social Group Issues, Employment Practice and the Law, Professional Sports

Disciplines

Banking and Finance Law | Civil Rights and Discrimination | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law | Law | Law and Gender

Recommended Citation

Elan Kirshenbaum, Twenty Yards from the End Zone: ADR, and the Potential for Greater Levels of Gender Equality in Professional Sports Employment, 23 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 385 (2022).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol23/iss2/4