Do Sports Marketers Think Women Are Idiots?

Stop treating us like we don't know a football from a foul line.

I love going to the ballpark. I love watching the guys take batting practice before the game. I love the crack of the bat when it makes perfect contact with the ball. I love the collective roar of the crowd when the ball sails over the fence or a fielder makes a diving catch. I love sitting in the sun, drinking a cold beer and witnessing the ebb and flow of baseball.

What I don’t love are the times when, because I’m a woman, my fandom is treated like a trite passing interest. I don’t just pretend to like the game because of a boyfriend. I don’t watch baseball because I think Derek Jeter is cute or that Mike Trout has a nice butt. And I most certainly don’t wear a pink baseball hat.

Yet even with all the women out there at the ballpark—or watching football with friends at a local bar, or painstakingly pouring over their brackets during March Madness—patronizing attitudes still exist. //READ MORE