A Tale of Iranian Women Athletes: Elite Female Athletes Share Their Perspectives of Barriers and Consequences of Media Coverage

Abstract

Despite historic marginalization, female athletes excel in sports, yet media coverage of professional women's sports in Iran remains inadequate. This study employs content analysis to explore how Iranian female athletes experience the lack of media coverage and its impacts on women's sports. 22 elite female athletes were selected for semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study underscore the continued under representation of women's sports in the media, influenced by cultural barriers, socialization norms, inadequate sports marketing, and lack of strategy for producing women's sports programming in mass media. Consequently, these factors not only perpetuate cultural biases against women but also hinder effective sports management. In contrast, social media emerges as a potential platform for promoting women's sports. Due to the lack of media representation, Iranian female athletes have turned to social media as a valuable platform for personal branding, boosting their motivation, expanding their fans, and attracting potential investors.