WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 When Meghan Sells heads to Providence Park to watch Oregon’s professional women’s soccer team, she finds herself among a fairly mixed crowd 鈥 groups of young women, dads bringing their children, youth players checking out the Thorns’ latest match.
The physician鈥檚 assistant is a self-described lifelong sports fan and former softball player who 鈥渨ill watch any sport.鈥 That includes both collegiate and professional sports for women, putting Sells squarely in that suddenly has more options than ever before and is seen as fertile ground for teams and advertisers eager to ride the rising interest in the women鈥檚 game.
About 3 in 10 U.S. adults follow women鈥檚 professional or college sports 鈥渆xtremely,鈥 “very鈥 or 鈥渟omewhat鈥 closely, according to a new poll from . That’s lower than the share who follow men’s sports by the same measurements 鈥 about half 鈥 but it also shows that Sells is far from alone.
As and in women鈥檚 sports have , so have the entry points for fans. The meteoric rise of Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa phenom-turned-WNBA star, helped bring wider attention to women’s basketball, and , and have elevated and of women’s sports.
鈥淕rowing up, I feel like the only sports I was able to really see on TV were men鈥檚 鈥 which is fine, I like men鈥檚 sports,鈥 Sells said. 鈥淏ut I enjoy watching women鈥檚 sports more. ... I think the more that you see it on TV, the more you鈥檙e going to have younger people interested in it.鈥
The poll found that women’s sports fans 鈥 those who follow women’s sports at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥 closely 鈥 are different from men’s sports fans. Fans of women鈥檚 sports, while not a majority-female group, are more gender balanced than men鈥檚 sports fans. Those who follow women’s pro sports also are more casual in their fandom than men’s pro sports fans, tending to say they attend or watch games occasionally rather than frequently. People who follow men’s sports, by contrast, are more likely to identify attachments to teams as opposed to players.
The survey was conducted just before the start of the 2025 WNBA season, for the league. Coming off a season in which attendance records were set (and ), the league will debut a new franchise 鈥 the Golden State Valkyries 鈥 and up the number of regular season games from 40 to 44.
In 2026, two additional teams will join the league, including one in Portland, Oregon. Sells, who’s been in the city for about a decade, said she is prepared to get season tickets.
Different fan bases
Men鈥檚 sports at both the collegiate and professional levels remain more popular than women鈥檚 sports, the poll found. About one-third of U.S. adults said they watch, listen to or read about men鈥檚 collegiate sports at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥 closely, and more than 4 in 10 say they follow men鈥檚 pro sports. By contrast, about 2 in 10 say they follow women’s collegiate sports at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥 closely, and a similar share say they follow women鈥檚 pro sports.
A greater share of men than women say they follow professional or collegiate sports overall, but the gender balance was more even among women’s sports fans. Around half of fans of women鈥檚 sports are male, the survey found, compared with about two-thirds of fans of men鈥檚 sports.
This could be in part due to the overlap between the fandoms: About 90% of U.S. adults who follow women鈥檚 sports at least 鈥渟omewhat鈥 closely also say the same about men鈥檚 sports, though about half of people who follow men鈥檚 sports said they also followed women鈥檚 sports.
As women鈥檚 sports increase in popularity and accessibility, a relatively large share are casual fans. While close to 9 in 10 of both men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 pro sports fans say they frequently or occasionally watch, listen to or read about their respective professional sports, a higher percentage of women鈥檚 sports fans say they are only occasional consumers.
That includes people like Matthew Behr, 58, a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers in his home state of Wisconsin. He doesn鈥檛 watch a lot of basketball, he said, but when the sport crosses into news coverage, he will read up on it.
That鈥檚 how he started following Clark, whose final seasons at Iowa were credited with and who now plays for the Indiana Fever.
鈥淚 was seeing it on MSNBC,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 watch a lot of basketball. It鈥檚 not a men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 thing. If she was playing in a women鈥檚 football league, I鈥檇 probably watch that.鈥
Attending games
Men鈥檚 sports 鈥 with larger leagues, bigger TV deals and a more expansive media ecosystem 鈥 have a more fervent audience. About two-thirds of men鈥檚 sports fans said they 鈥渇requently鈥 or 鈥渙ccasionally鈥 attend a professional sporting event in person, compared with roughly half of women鈥檚 sports fans.
One possible reason women鈥檚 sports fans aren鈥檛 showing up at sporting events is they鈥檙e less likely to be attached to a specific team. Only about one-third of women鈥檚 sports fans said the teams they support or follow are 鈥渆xtremely鈥 or 鈥渧ery鈥 important to why they follow the sport. For men鈥檚 fans, the figure was around 50%.
However, nearly identical shares of men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 sports fans said that certain athletes they support were at least 鈥渧ery鈥 important to why they follow women鈥檚 sports.
Bernard Seltzer, a high school administrator and math and science teacher in Tampa, Florida, considers himself a general sports fan and said he enjoys watching the most skillful athletes, regardless of their gender. Even at the high school level, he is impressed by the finesse he sees female athletes demonstrate.
鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 more impressive than watching masculine people banging their heads against the wall,鈥 he said.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
