Woman and gone

As of today, women’s sport disappears from the media

Lisa Zderadicka is one of the best Austrian basketball players. As a college athlete in the USA, she experienced clear rules for equality between women's and men's sport. In Austria, women's sport is at a massive structural disadvantage, and Zderadicka vividly describes the challenges.

One reason for the inadequate conditions is the imbalance in sports reporting: a study commissioned by win2day, the online gaming site of Austrian Lotteries, shows that women account for less than a fifth of the reports analyzed.

"If having your own changing rooms, a shared bus ride to the games or sponsored food after the games count as great progress, we definitely still have a long way to go in Austria"

Lisa Zderadicka

Women invisible in sport
This means that women's sport will be statistically invisible in the media from March 1. On March 1, Equal Play Day aims to raise awareness of the imbalance in sports reporting. The initiative is modeled on Equal Pay Day, which highlights the pay gap between women and men.

Women's sport needs role models and sponsors
 Women's sport needs more media attention to achieve sustainable improvements in line with the Equal Play Day initiative. Lisa Zderadicka herself only had men as role models when she was young. "But you also have to present female role models to the next generation. More coverage also makes you more interesting for sponsors and allows you to pursue the sport more professionally and perhaps even full-time. Thanks to sponsors like win2day, domestic women's sport is now at the start of the right path," says Zderadicka optimistically. 

More information is available at equal-play-day.at.