The Fight to Protect Women’s Sports Is an Economic Battle, Too – Religion & Liberty Online

Men in women’s sports is more that a culture-war issue. It’s about girls’ and women’s professional and financial futures.

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Today, more than 3.4 million girls participate in high school athletics nationwide, which represents about half of all high school girls. That’s up from roughly 4% in 1972, when Title IX—the federal law requiring that girls have equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of education, including sports—became law. However, after decades of progress, today’s women athletes face a new challenge: male athletes who identify as female who seek to enter competitions meant for women and girls.

Some proponents of allowing males to participate in women’s and girls’ competitions have tried to argue that sex differences are a societal construct and that biological differences don’t give males enough of an advantage that it should prevent them from competing. Yet that argument quickly gets buried under an avalanche of scientific research showing the many ways that boys’ and men’s bodies differ from girls’ and women’s: from lung capacity, to bone mass, to quickness, to height. These physical differences give males a clear advantage over females in the overwhelming majority of athletic competitions. It’s why there are men’s teams and women’s teams in the first place. And aside from the most committed adherence to gender ideology, most people don’t need to review any scientific data about sex differences to accept the reality of the male athletic advantage. Physical differences between men and women are so observable in everyday life that small children know that, generally speaking, men are stronger and faster than women.

A more challenging argument offered by proponents of allowing males to compete in female competitions is that the sensibilities of those male athletes—who already have challenges associated with their female identities—are more important than preserving fair competition for females. The thinking goes something like this: Sports are meant to be fun; who wins and who loses isn’t that important; therefore, women and girls should just learn to take the loss and let these boys and men join their teams and competitions.

Women’s advocates should reject the premise of this argument. Why should women and girls be the ones to learn to live with taking the loss, when these men and boys should also learn such life lessons, including that not all opportunities are meant for them? This “just take the loss” approach also overlooks how participating in competitive athletic programs impact people. Sports aren’t just a way to stay healthy and pass time. They powerfully impact people and impart skills and character lessons that aren’t easily replicated elsewhere.

Studies show that athletic participation is associated with a whole host of positive outcomes from childhood to adulthood: High school athletes (especially girls) have higher GPAs and are more likely to graduate and attend and graduate from college. They also experience lower rates of depression, higher confidence and self-esteem, and fewer unintended pregnancies.

And these former youth athletes continue to benefit well into adulthood: Former female athletes have lower rates of obesity and a healthier BMI. They enjoy better mental health and are more likely to sustain physical activity as adults. Youth sports participants develop resilience, teamwork, and habits tied to higher lifetime productivity and earnings. In fact, between 80% and 94% of female Fortune 500/C-suite executives report having played sports during school; they credit that experience with helping build leadership skills, discipline, and success. Unsurprisingly, studies show that former athletes enjoy about 7% to 8% higher annual earnings.

In addition, young female athletes often see sports as a way to get ahead, to unlock opportunities to be admitted to and help pay for college. While it’s hard to get a precise number of female athletes who receive college scholarships each year, the number is in the tens of thousands. Today, female athletes account for roughly 44% of all NCAA student athletes. This means that sports is a big part of bringing women to college, helping pay for it, and driving them through their college career. These are opportunities that are worth defending.

While women’s professional sports trail men’s in total revenue, they are still increasingly big business and offer pathways to meaningful careers and even extraordinary wealth for women who reach the top. Stars like Caitlin Clark fueled the WNBA’s momentum, and ticket sales surged 145% in 2025. Clark’s salary in 2026 exceeds $500,000, but more importantly her merchandise deals mean she is bringing in millions. There are 182 female golfers playing in the LPGA, and their average take-home pay is $1.35 million. Overall, professional women’s sports generate over $1 billion in revenue and are projected to generate $2.5 billion by 2030.

Yet these professional opportunities are just a small share of the overall economic impact of sports for women and girls. U.S. families spend $30 billion to $40 billion annually on youth sports. This includes travel, fees, and equipment. That’s between $800 and $1,000 per child, per sport. In other words, parents invest a lot in athletics for their children, because they know that this investment can pay off in a multitude of ways. Certainly some of the appeal of team sports is just the immediate enjoyment to be found playing on a team to begin with: building friendships and getting exercise. But many parents are also investing in the idea that any of these sports could stick and become a big part of their daughter’s future.

So what happens when “women’s” teams end up with an entirely male roster? Or when young female athletes hear about males winning competitions meant for women and girls? It sends a message to all those young female athletes—and their parents—that it might not really make sense to continue investing time and money in those extra training opportunities and travel teams. These young women and girls are being told that sports may be a dead end for them if they can’t be sure that female competitions are truly reserved for actual females. Entering competitions when you know the game is rigged against you is demoralizing, and that threatens to undermine a generation of female athletes.

Women and girls matter. Competitive sports matter, too, as a vital part of the human experience and one that enriches individuals and communities in irreplaceable ways. Ensuring that female athletics remain females-only ought to be a priority.