As a figure in Norse mythology, a valkyrie was known to guide the souls of fallen warriors to an afterlife paradise. The WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries have taken flight and joined their Bay Area NWSL counterpart in helping guide the most recent spate of expansion in professional U.S. women’s sport.

And while more access to women’s sport is certainly a paradise for many, the impact of this expansion is anything but mythical.

In an industry where women are nearly twice as likely as men to name salary limitations as a barrier to their career, our new research shows that the presence of a professional women’s team increases earnings by 20%-30% for local women working in the spectator sport industry.

Such an increase cuts the gender wage gap by nearly half.

We used data from a recent five-year sample (2018-2022) of the American Community Survey, administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. We were able to isolate those who reported working in spectator sport; accompanying geographic data allowed us to identify how many men’s, women’s and other types of sport organizations are present in a worker’s local area. Importantly, to rule out the possibility that any difference in wages was due to differences in worker education, local cost of living or treatment of women workers broadly, we controlled for these factors.

Put simply: The growth of women’s sport is helping level the playing field for female workers across the industry.

This understanding represents a paradigm shift. Women’s sport is not merely at the mercy of industry forces — these teams and leagues are actively shaping their business environments as they grow.

Here is how........

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