60% of Canadians say perception of women's sport has improved over 3 years: report

John Chidley-Hill · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 2:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

New information connected the explosive maturation of women's athletics successful Canada underscores its rising popularity, but besides reveals that its structural supports inactive lag behind.

Jessica Doherty, vice-president of strategy and maturation astatine Torque Strategies, presented findings from a caller nationalist survey connected Wednesday greeting astatine the espnW Summit Canada astatine Toronto's Evergreen Brick Works. One of the study's main findings is that 60 per cent of Canadians judge perceptions of women's athletics person improved implicit the past 3 years.

"It has been connected rather a rocket vessel and 1 of the things that feeds into that is conscionable the increasing visibility successful it," said Doherty, noting that 3 nonrecreational women's sports properties person been launched successful Canada successful the past 3 years.

"I deliberation erstwhile radical spot it more, past they're like, 'Oh, yeah, this is simply a thing.' It becomes normalized, and therefore, different radical think, 'Oh, it's OK for maine to beryllium a instrumentality of women's sport."'

Commissioned by Torque Strategies, successful concern with IMI, the study was presented astatine the espnW Conference astatine Toronto's Evergreen Brick Works connected Wednesday morning.

According to the report, 41 per cent of Canadians spot women's sports arsenic a nationalist investment.

The surge successful popularity crossed each genders was, successful ample part, acknowledgment to the founding of the Professional Women's Hockey League, soccer's Northern Super League, and the announcement that the Women's National Basketball Association volition grow into Toronto for the 2026 season.

However, the study besides recovered that implicit 30 per cent of fans judge that concern is lacking crossed media, sponsorship and policy.

"The adjacent measurement is to prolong that growth, right?" said Doherty. "You spot leagues historically successful the U.S. and there's been immoderate halt and commencement leagues, truthful we privation to find ways to support the growth, support the momentum and assistance prolong them.

"I deliberation forums similar this and probe similar this … helps backmost up this excitement with existent information that supports a concern case."

Tempo GM hopes squad captures young girls' imagination

Since the PWHL was founded successful 2023, determination has been a 45 per cent summation successful pistillate hockey registrations successful Canada, a historical grounds for the sport.

Monica Wright Rogers, the caller wide manager of the WNBA's Toronto Tempo, was besides a panellist astatine the espnW Conference. She said she hopes the caller women's hoops franchise volition seizure the imaginativeness of young Canadian girls similar the PWHL and NSL have.

"We privation to animate a procreation to prime up a hoops and beryllium a professional," said Wright Rogers, who played collegiately and successful the WNBA earlier moving into coaching and was the Phoenix Mercury's adjunct GM earlier signing connected successful Toronto. "If you're having amusive astatine the sport, and you're young, and past you spot women, professionally, surviving their lives, having amusive and are good, that does thing to a young person.

"I wouldn't beryllium present if I didn't person the WNBA to aspire to, oregon the NWSL, oregon nonrecreational women putting their each connected their playing field."

Hosted by ESPN's Sarah Spain, the 3rd yearly espnW Summit Canada had a twelve presentations.

Some of the panels included Torque Strategies and IMI's presumption connected the maturation of women's sport, Wright Rogers' sheet connected women starring nonrecreational sports organizations, a treatment of however to physique amended facilities for women's sports, and an instauration of immoderate of the founders getting enactment from Toronto Metropolitan University's Future of Sport Lab.

"This year, you'll spot it's a batch much astir grassroots and infrastructure and investment, truly trying to grow the speech and broaden that," said Doherty during the luncheon break. "That's what we anticipation to proceed with, twelvemonth connected year, erstwhile it comes to the research.

"Our bureau is very, precise passionate astir women's sport, arsenic is IMI, truthful we are going to proceed to travel up connected the report, caller releases, caller ideas, caller insights that volition travel retired connected a biannual basis."