In stadiums across the country, women’s sports attendance is on the rise. According to a study by McKinsey and Company published in August 2025, women’s sports experienced a 55% increase in average annual attendance between 2021 and 2024 and revenue grew 4.5 times faster than that of men’s sports. The growth isn’t contained to the stadiums, either. As reported by Willow Bay in the USC Annenberg Relevance Report, women’s sports accounted for 15% of sports media coverage in 2024, a new record.

 While the numbers tell a story of their own, another story is unfolding on the sidelines — where a new generation of female supporters, journalists and storytellers is taking shape. Right here at Moody, students are taking career initiative to ensure visibility for women’s sports. 

Senior journalism student with a minor in sports media, Giorgy Ruiz, is the founder of The Charge, the official student section for Texas Women’s Basketball. In her sophomore year, Ruiz was a member of the Longhorn Hellraisers, a University of Texas at Austin sport spirit group, when her attendance of men’s and women’s games sparked her interest in creating The Charge. 

“I noticed the disparity between men’s and women’s basketball and the student attendance and the efforts behind it as well,” Ruiz said. 

To address this gap, Ruiz kicked fan efforts into high gear — reaching out to the UT Athletic Marketing Department, compiling a group of avid student fans, working with faculty and starting an Instagram account for The Charge. 

“I just started posting memes and relatable content so students can be on the platform and see a different side of the women’s basketball team that I felt like was missing,” Ruiz said. 

Ruiz said the rise in attendance to sports across the nation can also be attributed to social media, giving viewers a peek into what life is like for athletes both on and off the court. 

“A lot of people are seeing the human side of these athletes, their stories and showing how they fought with resilience,” Ruiz said.

The tenacity of women in sports also inspired freshman journalism student, Callen Romell, to enter sports journalism. Romell grew up playing golf and said that being a woman in sports has given her a soft spot for it. 

“I relate to a lot of the issues and grind that women have to go through to get to the position that they want to be in,” Romell said. “... if I’m able to help with that and help ease some of those societal challenges that women’s sports face, then I’ll do my part.” 

Romell said that the rise in attendance shows viewers challenging the norm. In a field often focused on male sports, this shift is indicative of female representation growing in sports, she said. 

“I’m loving that it’s getting that traction and I think that part of it is just because now there are more women in the spaces that are making decisions,” Romell said.

Freshman journalism student Gabi Avramova also attributes this growth in attendance and media attention to the women creating change on the court and marketing themselves off the court. 

An active participant in the fencing community as both a player and reporter, Avramova has seen firsthand the gap in sponsorship and PR opportunities between men’s and women’s sports.

“I think that includes women athletes as well as coaches, journalists and fans that push for greater equality and representation in sports,” Avramova said.

As an aspiring journalist, Avramova said she hopes to fill this gap with storytelling. 

Sophomore journalism student and women’s sports enthusiast Victoria Serrano said her career is moving in a similar direction. Serrano started studying at the Moody College of Communication with news broadcast journalism in mind, but her internship in the UT Athletics Communications Department and her friends in The Charge pulled her into the world of women’s sports. Now she participates as a journalist and a fan simultaneously. 

“I like getting both sides because I get to really pay attention whenever I’m in my journalism mode... and then when it comes to being a viewer, I get to just enjoy the moment,” Serrano said. 

From the introduction of the new sports broadcast and production minor and the support of professors connecting students with industry professionals, Serrano said Moody’s opportunities make it easy to discover one’s passion for sports. 

For Moody students hoping to enter the field, Serrano said she recommends starting small and working one’s way up. In her case, that meant running camera cables at games at Moody Center, but she said chances like that can take students far. 

For Serrano, those small opportunities are just the beginning. 

As women’s sports continue to gain momentum nationwide, students at Moody are finding their place within that growth — not just as fans in the stands, but as the voices documenting it.