Throughout the U.S. there’s been a rise in interest in professional women’s sports leagues over the past few years.
According to media data company Nielsen, Americans watched 46 billion minutes of women’s sports in 2025.
Front Office Sports reports last year the WNBA broke its single season attendance record with a month left in the season, and the Denver Summit FC recently broke a National Women’s Soccer League attendance record with 63,000 fans attending the teams home opener at Empower Field at Mile High.
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Julie Tordonato, center for professional women’s rugby team the Denver Onyx, said it feels good to see so many people interested in women’s sports.
“We have always felt like we were offering something interesting, fun, fast pace — just, like, a product that’s enjoyable to watch," Tordanato said. "So, I think now with more interest just in women’s sports all around and specifically with women’s rugby, it’s fulfilling,”
Women’s sports, collectively, are on track to become a multi-billion dollar industry, according to McKinsey.
University of Colorado Denver professor Dr. Sarah Fields said while women’s professional teams are becoming more viable, the interest in women’s sports has always existed.
“I think we need to be clear that there’s always been more interest in women’s sports than we tend to remember," Fields said. "So if we go back to 1920 in Great Britain there was a soccer match by the Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Club that drew over 53,000 fans.”
You can learn more about women’s professional sports on Real Talk with Micah Smith Sunday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m. or click here to watch now.
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