Abstract
Women’s soccer continues to be underrepresented in sports media, both in quantitative exposure and in the manner in which athletes are portrayed. While existing research primarily contrasts the visibility of men’s and women’s sports, less is known about how visibility differs within women’s sports themselves. This thesis addresses that gap by analyzing the distribution of media coverage in women’s college soccer within the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Rather than comparing genders, the focus lies on how often individual women’s programs appear on linear television via the ACC Network (ACCN) versus online streaming on ACCNX and what factors influence these decisions.
The study combines a quantitative content analysis of all ACC women’s soccer matches during the 2025 regular season with qualitative insights from expert interviews with media and athletic communications professionals. For each program, variables such as historical success, team rankings, university type (public or private) and geographic location were recorded and compared to broadcast frequency. This mixed-methods approach enables a holistic understanding of the mechanisms behind media visibility, capturing both structural conditions and decision-making processes within ESPN and the ACC.
The findings reveal notable discrepancies in visibility among programs despite equal competitive frameworks. Teams with long-standing reputations, institutional prestige, or large anticipated audiences appeared significantly more often on ACCN, while multiple programs received no linear television coverage despite competitive performance. Factors such as the marketability of matchups, expected entertainment value, broadcast scheduling constraints and logistical considerations - particularly following ACC expansion to include West Coast schools - played a decisive role. These patterns indicate that visibility is driven less by on-field performance alone and more by institutional narratives and commercial priorities.
This thesis contributes to broader media scholarship by demonstrating that symbolic hierarchies emerge not only between men’s and women’s sports, but also within women’s sports themselves. Such disparities have downstream implications for program reputation, athlete exposure, recruitment opportunities and public perception of competitiveness in women’s soccer. Ultimately, this research highlights the need for increased transparency in broadcast selection and encourages future work across additional seasons, conferences and comparative gender contexts to further understand systemic patterns in sports media representation.
