Athletes like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have changed the narrative about women’s sports in the mainstream sports media landscape. But once upon a time, women’s sports topics were not even on the radar of ESPN program directors, according to ESPN’s Sarah Spain.
Spain, who has served as a fixture at espnW since 2010, has been revered for years by fans of women’s sports for her efforts in speaking out for equitable coverage of women’s sports in comparison to their male counterparts at ESPN, even recently receiving the 2025 Social Impact Award by iHeartRadio for her efforts.
Nowadays, Spain can solely discuss women’s sports through her work at espnW and her podcast, Good Game, on iHeartMedia. But during an appearance on Front Office Sports Today hosted by Renee Washington, Spain outlined how much of her attention was previously on trying to get women’s sports a bigger platform behind the scenes, which has thankfully happened to a degree.
“Right now, it’s great because I’m just working for espnW, which is the women’s sports, and iHeart is all women’s sports,” said Spain. “But for years, there was this balance of working for espnW and trying to get those stories into the mainstream spaces. That’s the fascinating part of being behind the scenes at all these different elements. You see in radio, it’s a little bit more old-school. You have time, you have two to three hours. You have the community you create, and you have time to have these conversations. But they do really push for play the big stories, talk about the things people are most interested in. And I had to work to really get some of the women’s stories told.
“On Around the Horn, I found that there were great producers, and Tony Reali, who were really interested in highlighting women’s sports. Even in these small little chunks, whenever possible. I think the main thing that has really changed the game is the gatekeepers. Whether that’s program directors, newspaper editors, producers. They are the ones who ultimately decide what people are interested in. They try to read the audience. And for such a long time, that has been predominantly middle-aged cis white men who go to the same major four men’s pro sports and check the news every morning. NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. Those are all the things they are checking. And then occasionally there may be a tennis or golf thing that checks in.”
Fortunately, Spain outlined how the Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese rivalry during their collegiate playing days went a long way in women’s sports becoming a topic that these “gatekeepers” had to check each morning.
“What we found happened in the last couple of years, particularly with Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese, was that all of the sudden, they had a new tab to check,” added Spain. “Is there any big news in that space right now? Because people were clamoring for it. And once that door was opened, where they had to go looking to see if there was something in college basketball. And then when Caitlin got to the WNBA in the professional leagues.
“Now, they are more likely to just keep a mind open to something from the NWSL or PWHL or Unrivaled that might break through and make their shows. That to me is the biggest change. After decades, literal decades, almost the entirety of the sports media since ESPN and other things started, of going to the same place every day. They have opened up their minds.”
As Spain has acknowledged in the past, First Take and other “play the hits” morning shows that largely focus on the biggest stories of the day naturally may not get to many of the overlooked women’s sports topics, which is what makes her podcast and other platforms specifically dedicated to women’s sports so important.
Still, it is quite clear that mainstream coverage of women’s sports has taken a pretty drastic step forward, which should only continue to progress as leagues like the WNBA and the NWSL continue to grow.