Media and gender study: 2025 annual report

The 2025 Sports Media and Gender Report is now available

The report tracks coverage of women’s sport in sports news media across online, print, radio and television, in Aotearoa New Zealand.

What the data shows

• Women’s sport made up 26% of sports news coverage in 2025, down slightly from 27% in 2024.

• Big events are important to uplift coverage. Without the Women’s Rugby World Cup and Women’s Cricket World Cup, women’s sport would have made up 23% of coverage.

• Women were more visible in sports news overall, with female visibility rising to 26%. This means more women appeared in coverage, including athletes, coaches, officials, administrators, and fans.

• Coverage of women’s sport is still more likely to spike around major tournaments, standout performances or controversy, while men’s sport receives more regular day-to-day reporting.

The findings reinforce the need for continued focus and collaboration to ensure women are consistently and equitably represented across sports news media. Big events create important spikes in coverage, but sustained everyday reporting is needed outside peak moments.

From 2026 onwards, the media and gender study data will be collected every 2 years rather than annually. The next report will be published in 2028.

Read more in the full report below.