Chicks sport, who cares?

What is it with the lack of coverage of women's sport in Australia? I recall being particularly peeved when the 2006 trans-Tasman netball was not live on television even though the rights were with the national free-to-air broadcaster.

Coverage of the ICC Women's World Cup is good by comparison, it's live and although it's not free-to-air, all North Sydney oval games are on Foxtel. Tick for television. Tick too, for ABC radio which has had live commentary of all Australian games. The print press though, they've hardly paid any attention to the tourament. Perhaps it's because Australia has struggled and will likely not now make the final? The online presence, beyond the excellent tournament homepage, is also limited. NZ Cricket's tournament site is good with interviews, match reports and the like as is the cricinfo mini-site.

Miss Field is likewise underwhelmed by the lack of coverage. And, courtesey of the handmirror, so too are NZ bloggers ludditejourno and Anne-Marie.

Women's sport suffers badly from a lack of media attention which translates into poor attendance, in most codes, and probably affects participation(?). In Australia, swimming has been the exception although the new trans-Tasman netball competition is also live and free-to-air (plus, it seems, subscriber access to high definition). In New Zealand, my memory is that only netball gets consistent coverage.

I'd speculate as to why this is, but it's obvious really.