When comparing the websites of the NFL and Independent Women's Football there are a number of noticeable differences which is to be expected between the leagues. In terms of pay the average NFL salary is just under 1.8 million whereas in the IWFL players most likely see little to no play. When comparing teams schedules NFL teams play 16 regular season games from September to January whereas the IWFL plays 10 regular season games from April through June. Also in terms of visibility of players the NFL has some of the most well known athletes in American and the IWFL is made up of women who play football for fun than fame or money.
When viewing the IWFL's (Independant Women's Football League) website it is apparent that it is not nearly as developed as the NFL's. There are some advertisements found on the IWFL's website but the advertisements were not like the ones found on the NFL's. One thing I also noticed on the website was that there was a link for tryouts. Although I do encourage tryouts for a smaller league like to IWFL to grab some random attention, I have never seen the NFL do this with exception to the Philadelphia Eagles as it was seen in the movie "Invincible".
In Christopherson's article the critics are mentioned when they are talking about how men are complainers and how women do not complain or fall as much as men in the sport of soccer. Christopherson also points out the contradictions the critics show as well. Christopherson also mentions the sex appeal in sports, and sex appeal in the NFL would easily be the cheerleaders, however they do not play in the game they simply cheer. Sex appeal has made itself in football though currently there is a Lingerie Football League which is obviously only to attract men to watch them, because lets be honest what man wouldn't want to watch a beautiful woman in lingerie playing football?
Finally, we look at gender in the NFL and IWFL. There could be a couple of things done to solve some of the gender problems in the NFL and the IWFL. Starting with the NFL there could definitely be more women involved. We don't necessarily think that a woman could be a successful head coach in the NFL, but we do think that they could be used as assistant or position coaches. We also believe that they could be used in the front office. As for the IWFL they should use as many women as possible for coaching and operational positions because it is great experience for them and it increases their possibility of making women more involved in the NFL.
Our group is looking at Men's and Women's Ice Hockey and I am surprised to read on your blog that women's football has a website that is up and running with advertisements and even a link to find out about try outs. I have always thought that US women's ice hockey would have been a little more advanced and i was surprised to find that they don't even have a website up and running at the time.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea emerging women into the Men's league to gain more attention for the women's league. I believe that hiring a women's coach would really send a powerful message and by increasing the number of women even with the general operations will really change the dynamic of the industry.
Here is the website that Max's group referred to for the IWFL: http://www.iwflsports.com/
ReplyDeleteI was interested to note that there are plans to do a reality show on the women and families of those who participate in this league. I was thinking that there was a team in the Toledo area, but I did not see them listed on this website.