SI:AM | Title IX’s Next Hurdles

And, Jeremy Woo’s final NBA mock draft.

Good morning, I’m Josh Rosenblat. It was 50 years ago today that women’s sports changed forever.

In today’s SI:AM:

⚖️ The future of Title IX
🏀 The final mock
⚾ Replacing the mud man

The next 50 years of Title IX

Illustration by Cat Sims

On this day, 50 years ago, a 37-word clause inside a new education law set the stage for profound changes to gender equality in sports. The years preceding Title IX and the five decades since its signing have seen a timeline filled with landmark moments, from the NCAA’s lawsuit challenging the statute to the creation of the WNBA to U.S. Soccer’s equal pay settlement.

But the struggle for gender equality is still active. Writing for SI, Billie Jean King and Darren Walker argue that the current law has to not only be protected but also expanded with the idea of creating “a stronger, more inclusive legacy for the next generation.”

SI’s Emma Baccellieri, Julie Kleigman, Kristen Nelson and Jamie Lisanti examined areas in sports where equity gaps still exist among genders. For coming generations, it’s these areas “that will define the future of the fight for equality and dominate conversations for years to come,” they write.

Equal pay

• Shrinking pay gaps in sports has been largely due to athletes fighting for themselves.
• In recent years, leagues and corporations are seeing women’s professional and college sports as areas where they want to invest.
• Still, there are structural issues that may be keeping leagues such as the WNBA and competing hockey leagues from increasing the pay of their athletes.

Illustrations by Cat Sims

Media coverage

• Media coverage of women’s sports went virtually unchanged from 1989 to 2019, according to a peer-reviewed study.
• The Women’s Sports Network, which aims to launch this summer, is taking the “If you build it, they will come approach,” says network advisory board member Carol Stiff, an ESPN veteran and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
• While figures indicate there’s potential for substantial engaged audiences, the success of the network and networks like it will be its ability to attract advertisers.

Illustrations by Cat Sims

Sports merchandise

• “Merchandise can be a crucial part of telling the story of a league—not just as a revenue stream but as a marketing strategy, too, allowing people to broadcast their fandom to everyone they see. It builds a sense of community and boosts visibility,” Baccellieri writes.

Illustrations by Cat Sims

Mainstream acceptance

• When the Sports Bra opened in Portland in April, it became the first bar of its kind in the U.S.: a place where women’s sports were the rule, not the exception.
• Chef Jenny Nguyen was inspired to create the bar after struggling to find a place where watching women’s sports while munching on wings or tots didn’t have to be a special request.

Illustrations by Cat Sims

Transgender athletes

• “One big question looms over Title IX as the legislation enters its second half century: How does the statute apply to transgender athletes?” writes Kliegman.
• At least 15 states currently ban trans athletes from competing in publicly funded sports on teams or in competitions that align with their gender identities.
• Often times, legislators in these states claim they’re “protecting Title IX” for cisgender women. While advocates for the inclusion of trans athletes see the bans as clear discrimination on the basis of sex, which Title IX outlaws.

You can read all of our extensive coverage of Title IX’s 50th anniversary here.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Jeremy Woo has the latest buzz and rumors ahead of tonight’s NBA draft. You can go through his final mock draft here. … Rohan Nadkarni graded the Blazers’ trade for Jerami Grant. … “MLB can’t replace the mud man” in their quest to prepare baseballs, writes Emma Baccellieri. … Bob Harig details the sweeping changes to the PGA Tour in response to LIV Golf. … Here’s your 2022 summer transfer window primer from Avi Creditor. … Will Laws gives fans credit for getting most of the MLB All-Star Game selections right in the first reveal.

Around the sports world

Nazem Kadri’s OT goal put the Avs up 3–1 over the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final. … If Kyrie Irving leaves the Nets, some teams think Kevin Durant could be next, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. … Congress will issue a subpoena for Commanders team owner Dan Snyder regarding the investigation into the team. … The Seahawks are still interested in Baker Mayfield, CBS Sports’s Josina Anderson reports. … Former Ravens defensive tackle and broadcaster Tony Siragusa died yesterday. He was 55. … Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson died yesterday. He was 26.

SIQ

In yesterday’s SI:AM newsletter, I mentioned that “only three times in the last 10 drafts (2012 to ‘21) have the top 10 picks gone by without including a non-college international prospect.” The ‘12 NBA draft was one of those I referred to. Who was the first non-college international player drafted that year? (Hint: he is still active.)

• Tomáš Satoranský
• Evan Fournier
• Kostas Papanikolaou
• Bojan Bogdanović

Check tomorrow’s newsletter for the answer.

Yesterday’s SIQ: Who is the all-time leader in receiving yards per game among tight ends?

Answer: Travis Kelce at 70.9 yards per game.

Kelce’s greatness was not necessarily preordained. He was kicked off the Cincinnati Bearcats football team as a redshirt freshman. He came back as a walk-on but with a caveat: he had to switch from quarterback to tight end. Dan Greene detailed Kelce’s rise in the Oct. 16, 2017 issue of SI focusing on everything from the questions he got during the NFL draft process ("Son, are you a f------ a------?") to his reputation (“I'm not here to be kind of that douchebag.”)

From the Vault: June 23, 1975

Eric Schweikardt/Sports Illustrated

By 1975, Pelé had already scored more than 600 goals for Santos in Brazil. He collected World Cup wins in 1958, ‘62 and ‘70. But he came out of an eight-month retirement to play for a struggling team in the North American Soccer League.

The goal was clear, Jerry Kirshenbaum wrote. “It was to promote soccer in the uninitiated U.S. that Pelé agreed to play with the Cosmos.”

In an exhibition game that was televised not only in the States but in much of Latin America and Japan as well, Pelé scored a goal and assisted another in the New York Cosmos’ 2–2 exhibition draw with the Dallas Tornado.

Kirshenbaum goes on to describe the fanfare surrounding Pelé’s arrival in the U.S. He compared the soccer legend to The Beatles and the Pope while also revealing how his relative anonymity (compared to how he’s known in other parts of the world) was freeing.

“Everybody needs a moment by himself. It’s impossible for me to get that in England or Germany, but maybe it will be different here,” Pelé said.

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.

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