Attention to men’s professional sports still outpaces women’s, but there is closer parity for college sports

May 13, 2025

People are more likely to follow men’s professional sports (45%) than women’s (23%) at least somewhat closely. But the gap between men’s and women’s college sports is smaller (31% vs 21%).

Men’s college sports draw a lot less attention than men’s professional sports. But interest in women’s sports is about the same on both the collegiate and professional level.

Among those who follow men’s professional sports, about half say they also follow women’s professional sports.

Men are more likely than women to say they follow men’s sports. However, when it comes to women’s professional sports, there is no significant difference between men and women.

Two-thirds of adults who follow men’s professional sports at least somewhat closely attend games in person, with 9% saying they do so frequently. Nine in 10 fans engage with men’s pro sports, through watching, listening, or reading about the games at least occasionally.

Fans of women’s professional sports are less inclined to attend games in person. Fifty-two percent of adults who follow women’s sports at least somewhat closely say they go to the games with 12% attending frequently. But those who follow women’s professional sports are just about as likely as fans of men’s professional sports to say they watch, listen, or read about women’s pro sports at least occasionally.

Four in 10 fans of women’s sports – those who follow either professional or college women’s sports at least somewhat closely – say supporting female athletes in general is an extremely or very important motivator for their interest. Almost as many say their interest lies in the teams they follow. They are less inclined to consider specific female athletes or the influence of their friends as especially important reasons to follow women’s sports.

Those who follow men’s sports are more likely to say their support of specific teams is an important driver of their interest. Fewer are motivated by specific athletes or keeping up with their friends.

Few think men and women athletes are equally compensated across a number of different sports. Women are particularly inclined to lack confidence in fair pay.

The nationwide poll was conducted April 17-21, 2025 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,260 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.9 percentage points.