Nelly Korda and the rise of women's sports

This weekend Nelly Korda is going for her sixth straight victory.

During the first round of this week's LPGA event, the Cognizant Founders Cup, Nelly Korda shot a 3-under 69 and more than likely will be in contention on Saturday and Sunday. She is currently featured on ESPN Plus as part of a featured group during the tournament. She will be covered throughout the weekend. Korda and other female athletes are raising the profile and ratings of their perspective sports.

In November of this past year, the LPGA partnered with ESPN and ESPN Plus to cover eight tournaments with featured groups throughout the four-day events for the next two years. Last season, the Chevron Championship was NBC's most watched sporting event during the week it aired, despite going up against the NBA and NHL playoffs.

The WNBA is seeing a huge resurgence due to the immense popularity of Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark. Clark, the All-time points leader in NCAA Division I basketball (men or women), has become a ratings sensation. Her team's appearance in the National Championship brought in 18.7 million viewers trumping the men by over four million viewers. As she enters the WNBA, the league is seeing a rise in popularity. The league a season ago was up 21% from the previous season.

The US Women's Soccer Team has also seen a rise in popularity. Their opening game in the World Cup vs Vietnam drew in over 6.26 million viewers. It was the most-watched soccer telecast in the US since the men's World Cup final in 2022. As they won the W Gold Cup this past March, their matchup against Brazil in the final saw a 59% growth on the streaming service Paramount Plus.

The purse for the recent Chevron Championship was $7.9 million. As their profile continues to be raised the money for the LPGA will continue to rise.

If more players like Korda continue to speak out and perform at a high level more investment in Women's Sports will occur.