Over the past few years, women's sports fandom has skyrocketed. According to Nielsen , the 2024 WNBA Draft audience increased 511 percent and was up 668 percent with female viewers ages 2-17 ; the National Women's Soccer League had a 17 percent boost in interest between 2023 and 2024; and this year, the global women's sports industry is predicted to break the $1 billion barrier, a 300 percent increase from 2021. These stats are all worth celebrating because with the growth of leagues will come better women's sports merch , better coverage, and more importantly, better salaries for the players.

Yet, there has been discourse and division among OG women's sports fans and newbies just tuning in, especially within the WNBA. My initial reaction: there's room for us all. But after witnessing the commentary and behavior from some of these fans, I'm not sure there is — at least not without an attitude adjustment and putting their biases in check.

Let's start with the attitude problem. There seems to be a gross misunderstanding about the type of gameplay expected from the players. Too often fans are complaining of roughhousing or hostile gameplay, particularly in the WNBA, when in reality these leagues have always played hard.

"You're not saying that when you're watching Draymond Green or when LeBron is dunking on somebody. What's the difference here? It simply is just gender," longtime sports reporter Cari Champion told PS in a previous interview . "And unfortunately, when a lot of .