In the ongoing tug-of-war between progress and retrenchment, Title IX -- the landmark legislation that transformed women’s sports -- now finds itself caught in a quiet but dangerous crosscurrent. The threat isn’t loud or front-page. It’s procedural. It’s policy level. And, as with so many slow-burn reversals of social equity, it’s cloaked in the language of economic “efficiency” and market-driven outcomes. But the downstream impact could be seismic for women’s athletics, for media networks that rely on diverse sports programming, and for advertisers who’ve made public commitments to equity and inclusion.
Title IX in the Crosshairs: The Economic Erosion of Women’s Sports and Its Ripple Effects on Media and Advertising
