Iona Stephen On How To Grow The Women’s Game
Iona Stephen says she believes women’s football can catch up financially with men’s football within a decade.
The Pro-Sky Sports golf commentator told Golf Monthly’s Mark Townsend: “I think that in the next five years if I’m brave, or 10 if I’m realistic, we’re going to see The Open and the Women’s Open will provide an equal prize fund for men and women.”
While prize money in women’s football is on the rise – not least the $7.3 million bid at this year’s AIG Women’s Open in Muirfield compared to $5.8 million a year ago – the money available still lags well behind that of the men , but Stephen said that could all change if the game is presented in a way that is compelling to TV viewers, citing women’s tennis as a benchmark.
She said: “The female side of the game has tremendously compelling narrative and characters. You can watch documentaries about Tennis – Naomi Osaka and the Williams Sisters on Netflix. We should be able to learn more about people like the Korda sisters. Every woman involved in golf has a responsibility from both the broadcast side and the player side that we need to sell this product to viewers. Ultimately, it’s about demand. You have to have people who want to turn on the TV to watch women’s golf.
“I’ve often thought about the opportunity right now for a smart media group or someone to step in and just own this space. There’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix and I think there’s so much more to tell about the female players. If you look at the rivalry between Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda and like the [2021] Coming into the final round of the finals tournament, the Player of the Year once again reflected the Formula 1 season, it was incredible.”
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One idea Stephen doesn’t think makes sense is that women and men compete against each other on each other’s tours. However, she concedes that women’s football could learn some lessons from the men’s tours on how to market themselves. She said: “I don’t think a woman playing on the men’s tour or a man playing on the women’s tour is the answer. I think the PGA and DP World Tours are doing a good job of selling the rhetoric and narrative of the characters that exist within the game and I think women’s football could learn from that. The PGA Tour is now promoting the social media presence of its own players [via the Player Impact Programme].”
Nonetheless, she believes that more tournaments modeled on the DP World Tour’s Scandinavian Mixed could help raise the profile of women’s football. She said: “Both the girls and boys love to compete together and they play for the same prize pot. It would be great to see more of these events in the future.”
Ultimately, however, Stephen sees the growth of women’s football as the responsibility of everyone in golf. She said: “The men are spoiled for choice when it comes to tournaments and the men who have played in Sweden deserve a slap on the back because it’s up to everyone in the golf community to support the women’s side promote and encourage professional play.”