Naomi Osaka’s involvement in North Carolina and the connection of women’s sports

The old excuse for the limited expansion of the female game has long been: if the opportunity is so successful and sexism is the explanation for why men invest in the female game, where should women move forward?

Naomi Osaka is the last to declare: here I am!

Osaka, the first investor in Courage under the leadership of new owner Steve Malik, who bought the team and transferred it to North Carolina from its roots in western New York, and is just the most recent example of women mobilizing to take credit for arrival. economics of the female sports scene.

“The women who invested in my development have made me who I am today and I can’t believe where my life would be without them,” Osaka said. “My investment in North Carolina Courage goes far beyond owning a team, it’s an investment in ordinary women who are role models and leaders in their box and who motivate all young female athletes. I also appreciate everything Courage does for diversity and equality in the community, which I look forward to supporting and moving forward.

There are a multitude of reasons why Osaka in the orbit of women’s football is important. Osaka’s off-field efforts in racial justice are a component of the NWSL project in this regard. And also the star factor: Osaka only amplifies the success of his new team – Osaka is north of 824,000 Twitter followers, for example, while Courage has 34,000.

But the new biggest truth is where women’s games, on an individual level, are compartmentalized. Every day, men’s games benefit from this network effect. Sports programs, which massively dominate men’s games, mean there is fundamental literacy for game fans that includes Mike Trout and Steph Curry and Pat Mahomes.

Naomi Osaka and Jess McDonald are not part of this network, and even those who attach the same to one may not know the other.

But he’s not even the only WTA star to have invested in an NWSL team in the last 12 months!A collaborative effort, which effortlessly integrates Breanna Stewart and Nneka Ogwumike into NWSL draft policy, has Megan Rapinoe active in WNBA broadcasts and sees NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird running with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, all of which serves to elevate women’s collective sports leagues , who are, without fail, much younger than their male equivalent circuits, and replace the global landscape with partnerships.

And as the wonderful Caiti Donovan, founder of SheIS, says, a cursed organization comes for a walk, as opportunities to grow in professional sport.

Better late than ever, I guess.

Founder/editor, The IX Newsletter. Founder/Editor, The Next Basketball Newsroom. Writer/editor of women’s, men’s basketball and WNBA/NBA/NWSL/MLB/NCAA.

Founder/Editor, The IX Newsletter. Founder/Editor, The Next Basketball Newsroom. Writer/editor on women’s, men’s basketball and more basketball WNBA/NBA/NWSL/MLB/NCAA. I’ve written in many media outlets, the New York Times, the Washington Post and many others.

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