Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark drives past Los Angeles Sparks guard Kia Nurse during a game in Indianapolis, on Sept. 4.Michael Conroy/The Associated Press
This was the year Summer McIntosh dominated the world in the Paris Olympic pool, the year a best-on-best women’s pro hockey league burst into existence. It was the year Caitlin Clark helped elevate women’s basketball into must-see TV and the year Toronto landed a coveted WNBA franchise.
Simone Biles returned to the Olympic stage, after a mental-health layoff, and delivered a gold-medal performance that stretched the limits of gymnastics skill. Female athletes appeared more frequently on network TV and social-media feeds in 2024, as they seized medals, scored skillful goals, hit big buckets and turned their game day tunnels into fashion runways.
I’ve been lucky to watch and write about sports for a living for 25 years, and a significant portion each year has focused on women. In 2024, more than any other year of my career, stories of exceptional female athletes doing unprecedented things dominated my work calendar.
It will go down as the year the world began to care more widely about women’s pro sports and recognize their appeal – evidenced by record-setting live attendance and broadcast audiences for several leagues, from the WNBA to the National Women’s Soccer League, and the newly launched Professional Women’s Hockey League.
One of the must-have fashion items of 2024 was a T-shirt with the words “Everyone watches women’s sports”, popularized by celebrities donning it at games.
My e-mails and texts were filled with story pitches, news tips, fresh market research substantiating the business-case for women’s pro sport and press releases about new franchises, broadcast deals and sponsors jumping aboard.
Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics all-around finals at the Paris Olympics, on Aug. 1.Francisco Seco/The Canadian Press
Can you name one person who doesn’t know who Caitlin Clark is after her unprecedented 2024? Long-time friends who have never cared about sports suddenly wanted to discuss women’s sports, especially Clark. The two-time college national player of the year out of the University of Iowa, who became a rookie star with the Indiana Fever, mesmerized audiences by repeatedly swishing audacious long-range threes. Her fire was wildly entertaining, all chest-pumping and arms stretched wide.
Clark’s reach was immense. She set a women’s basketball NCAA Division 1 scoring record, then eclipsed Hall of Famer Pete Maravich’s overall mark as the NCAA’s top scorer. The college championship game between Iowa and South Carolina averaged 18.9 million viewers, the No. 2 most-watched women’s sporting event in U.S. TV history outside the Olympic Games. For the first time, a larger audience tuned in for the women’s NCAA championship than for the men’s.
Drafted into the WNBA first overall, Clark set a rookie record for most points in a season (769). She also set WNBA marks for most assists – in a season (337) and in a single game (19).
The 22-year-old endured hard fouls in her WNBA debut year and was left off the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, as fans and media drummed up tension around those narratives. Still, it was undeniable Clark propelled growth for the league.
In July, the WNBA signed a historic 11-year media-rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC valued at about US$200-million a year, Sportico reported. The WNBA drew a record of more than 54 million unique viewers across its broadcasts this season. Its overall attendance (2,353,735) jumped 48 per cent year over year. The Fever set the WNBA record for home attendance by a franchise, with many of their road games moved to bigger NBA and NHL rinks to accommodate the demand to see Clark.
Time and The Associated Press each chose her their athlete of the year.
Clark calls herself a fan of women’s sports and said during the Final Four, “I think you see it across the board, whether it’s softball, whether it’s gymnastics, volleyball. People want to watch. It’s just when they’re given the opportunity, the research and the facts show that people love it.”
The PWHL set attendance marks this part year, especially in its Canadian markets.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The PWHL illustrated that as it launched in 2024. Some 2.9 million Canadians viewed the PWHL’s first game – between Toronto and New York on Jan. 1 – across CBC, Sportsnet and TSN. It set attendance marks, especially in its Canadian markets, including the 21,105 who filled Montreal’s Bell Centre. Just barely into its second season, the six-team league has already began exploring expansion. It has increased opportunities to see top athletes – including Natalie Spooner, Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse – that most fans only saw every four years during a Winter Olympics.
Females provided many of the biggest headlines at the Paris Olympics. Biles was the Games’ most famous headliner, as she earned four medals and Performed the “Biles II”, the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics. It was a rousing return four years after the American superstar had withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.
McIntosh, the teen sensation who swam to four medals and carried Canada’s flag at the closing of the Olympics, was another luminary to draw worldwide attention. She set two Olympic records and became the first Canadian to win three gold medals at one Games. The CBC said some 27 million Canadians watched its Paris coverage, with McIntosh’s performances accounting for some of the most-watched moments.
Canada's Summer McIntosh poses with the four medals she won during the Paris Olympics, on Aug. 5.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Women’s soccer grew its audience this year, too. The NWSL averaged crowds of 11,250 during the regular season, the league’s best attendance mark. In its first season with 14 teams – up from 12 – the NWSL surpassed two million total fans for the first time in its 12-season history. Its championship game set a ratings mark for NWSL match viewership, with an average audience of 967,900 on CBS.
The Northern Super League, Canada’s new women’s pro soccer league, took major steps toward its launch in April, 2025, announcing owners and branding for its six franchises, and signing its first players.
And Canada landed a long-awaited WNBA franchise, which will begin play in 2026. The news conference, held in May to announce the team, was one of the largest I covered all year in Toronto. It drew an enormous crowd of media and celebrities, everyone from Drake to Kyle Lowry and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Excitement for the new team continued, as more than 10,000 people submitted ideas to name the club, before Toronto Tempo was chosen.
I noticed a palpable shift in interest and image across women’s sports. Sold-out events became common place. The athletes became more influential and coveted by sponsors as teams and leagues elevated their game-day experiences and invested heavily in their own glossy-looking marketing content. More media turned out to report on the women.
The industry is growing in all directions. There’s been a burst of new podcasts about women’s sports. Whoopi Goldberg launched an all-women’s sports network. Unrivaled, a 3x3 off-season basketball league built by players, will make its debut in January. And a new women’s pro baseball league will start in the United States in 2026.
The barrage reminds me of a sentiment I heard during countless interviews in 2024: women’s sport is not having a ‘moment’; it’s a ‘movement’.