The recent ratings success of the Iowa vs LSU women’s basketball game has women’s sports at the forefront of the sports media conversation. 98.5 The Sports Hub host Mike Felger doesn’t believe a genuine conversation is being had about that sector.
In the recent past, many have decried the opportunities — or lack thereof — for women’s sports on television. In Felger’s view, it isn’t his job, nor any man’s job, to be responsible for the success of women’s sports.
“My rant is, I get frustrated when I get the WNBA shoved down my throat or women’s soccer or women’s hockey shoved down my throat. Like it’s our responsibility to watch this stuff. Or demanding equal time or equal pay. Or that WNBA, there’s sort of this mission, this cause and somehow, I’m the target, like I got to support this stuff because they deserve equal time. To which I say: No one deserves anything,” the Felger & Mazz host said. “If it’s worth it, we’ll watch. I don’t watch, or not watch, sports based on gender. If the women are more entertaining than the men, I’ll watch the women.”
Mike Felger continued by sharing his belief that the TV ratings for the game — which averaged north of 12 million viewers — were in large part due to the star power of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese. Not only are the two great basketball players, in Felger’s view, they’re entertainers.
“Those two are more entertaining than any men’s game that I watched. Not that I’ve watched a ton. So if the product is worth it, I’ll watch it. Don’t make me watch it if the product is not worth it. And this sort of thing, like ‘We’re being held back’ or ‘We deserve equal,’ no, no, no, no, no, no, no. In women’s sports that draw the eyeballs, the women get paid.”
