AFLW and the gender gap: an analysis of public attitudes towards the Women’s Australian Football League

ABSTRACT

Objective

The introduction of the Women’s Australian Football League (AFLW) has highlighted the inequality faced by women football players (e.g., season length), with the consumerism and fanbase of the women’s AFL lacking comparatively with the men’s league. The paucity of research into the AFLW and attitudes towards women’s sport, limits our understanding of the predictors of these attitudes. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the factors that may influence the development of attitudes towards the AFLW.

Method

Data were collected from a community sample (N = 171), to evaluate attitudes towards both AFLW consumerism, and the endorsement of gender equality within the AFL.

Results

Results revealed that basic demographic factors were influential in attitude development (i.e., age, gender), however the most prominent predictor of attitudes towards the AFLW was gender role ideology, suggesting that beliefs about gender roles may influence anti-AFLW attitudes.

Conclusions

The findings reflect an ongoing perception of sport as a masculine space, and as such, a need to adjust marketing approaches to frame the AFLW in a manner that encourages consumer behaviour. Future research directions are discussed.

KEY POINTS

What is already known about this topic:

1. Women’s participation in sport, particularly traditionally masculine sport, has historically been stigmatised.

2. Women’s sports receive less consumer engagement than men’s sports, impacting the financially sustainability of women’s sporting leagues.

3. Gender role ideology influences the way people perceive the suitability of individual participation in various activities within a societal context.

What this topic adds:

1. The current study provides insight into the factors that may influence consumer attitudes surrounding the recently established Women’s Australian Football League.

2. Traditionalist gender role ideals influence negative attitudes towards both consumerism of women’s football, and endorsement of gender equality within football. That is, those with a traditional understanding of gender are less likely to consume women’s football and are more likely to endorse perceptions that men’s football should take precedence.

3. Attempts to encourage positive consumer behaviour for women’s football in Australia require intervening in perceptions of football as a sport that is predominantly suited to men.

KEYWORDS:

• Women’s sport
• attitudes
• gender roles
• prejudice
• sports consumerism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The de-identified dataset and materials associated with this article are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.