Are you guys just completely abandoning the women’s scene?
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Yes - just like all women’s sports in this country. Just look at hockey in the Olympics. It’s the country we live in now 
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I’ve noticed a consistent trend regarding activity on WPEX. Despite there being just as many, if not more, girls and women playing water polo than boys and men, the focus from stakeholders (players, parents, and fans) remains disproportionately on the men’s side. As the parent of a son, I’m not sure I can fully explain this lack of visibility, but it is a clear reality.
To illustrate, the topics on WPEX sorted by engagement. The first women’s topic is #11. For identical topics on college season, recruiting, etc. the ratio of engagement is 1:4.
- I don’t want to diverge the discussion in this direction on WPW dedicated thread. If there is an interest we can start a new thread on the topic
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To cover the women’s game the way they cover the men’s game would require them to put in the same amount of time and effort that they put into the men’s game. That’s a lot to ask of people who have jobs and families and then do a free podcast. Greg does a great job covering the women so I’d suggest you follow his work
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But nobody is asking for the same level of coverage. Just some. Unless “All Things Elite Water Polo” doesn’t include any women’s teams, players, or coaches.
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It requires you to follow it to intelligently speak about it.
Isn’t that on the fans, parents, followers? If WPEX is disproportionate in where the posts are made, that is telling me the fans of the women’s game just are not coming here to discuss it. There is interest for sure, it just doesn’t show up the same.WPEX is a “fans not engaging online” issue not a podcast issue. Everyone can’t cover every aspect. Someone mentioned Greg’s coverage.
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Exactly. That’s what I was trying to convey, though I might not have been clear enough. The WPEX community is heavily biased toward men’s water polo. I’m not trying to justify why; I’m simply presenting the data. It isn’t surprising that water polo podcasts focus on the men’s side of the sport, as that is where the audience currently gravitates.
You did articulate it well and I agree with you. Like anything you gravitate where your customers engage. I would be curious why the fans, families, etc. of the women’s game don’t engage here more. I know there are many.
On top of the fact that the US women won more gold medals than the men at these Olympics.
The US womens hockey team has had way more success than the mens team.
The women’s National water polo team, has had more success than any country in the world
We are in the middle of the women’s NCAA season
And yet there seems to be more interest in the mens National League, which is super cool that they have this league, but it’s shows that has a whole women’s sports just don’t have the same passionate fan base as mens sports. You look at the 12U boys thread, and everybody is chiming in, giving projections, talking about results, etc etc and these are 12 yr old boys
So come on “dad’s of girls” lets get working.
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Agree. Nobody stopping the flow of comments and support. Once upon a time I always a huge women’s athletic supporter. Now everyone just calls me “bra”.
From 1989 - 2019, coverage of women’s sports hovered at about 5% of all coverage. Women’s sports accounted for a whopping 15% of all sports coverage in the U.S. as of 2023-2024. But traditional media like ESPN Sports Center? Still closer to that 5%. Some improvements, yay!
To me it’s no mystery why people don’t talk more about women’s sports. Marketing works. Let’s not pretend there is no interest or no market. We are merely a reflection of what has been served to us historically and currently.
@WPWednesday I loyally followed you all fall but stopped watching when you clearly weren’t going to cover the women’s season. I appreciate what you are doing for the men’s game though! It’s really cool.
I think this is way over the top. Wes and Clay cover what they know the best. I strongly doubt they have any significant financial gain from it. They have jobs, family, friends. To demand that they cover something or else… It sound extreme.
But the good news is that playpolo and others can probably do a similar or even better podcast covering women’s water polo. I would definitely listen to it.
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I was not intending to criticize Wes and Clay for what they are doing and agree with you 100%. Loved their coverage of the men’s NCAA season! I will look forward to the next season’s coverage too! But I did stop watching as we are in women’s season now, and that’s not their content focus.
The other comment/stats are about the general landscape we are a part of. I am happy to see the topic of women’s sports coverage on this board. We just added .00001% to the stat line 
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First off, I want to thank everyone for the spirited debate, conversation and suggestions. And, I’d personally like to thank @Rbpolo for his response.
As we work into the womens season, which is now fully in swing, we will be covering more of their games, Wes will be doing more broadcasts for both Cal and Stanford and we will have more insight and content to share with everyone, including interviews with players.
What we would ask in return is that you share the podcast with your friends. We want to grow the sport for everyone. We believe in supporting the womens game as a dad of a daughter and the husband of a D1 all american womens water polo player (Wes), its front and center in our lives. Last season, however, the viewership when we focused on the womens game was significantly reduced and we had to question whether we knew enough about it to make an impact. We take viewership very personally. If nobody watches the content then our time is probably better spent elsewhere. Without this being revenue generating, we want to know that what we are doing is making a difference. Viewership does that. With that, we have already planned to lean into the womens content and games and we hope that, in return, you spread the good word about Water Polo Wednesday to help grow viewership of not only the podcast but also the womens matches on Overnght and other platforms.
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Thank you for this response–and I look forward to seeing what comes later in the season. I’ve never understood why there is so much less interest in the women’s game, but it’s been apparent on for a long time. Thanks for doing your part to help showcase these elite athletes.
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Lets rock and roll. We heard you and we hope you enjoy!!!
Womens Overview, UCLA guests + Mens Transfer News
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Good episode. Really liked the Herzer interview!
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Awesome interview! Thanks guys!
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Great episode! Perhaps post this in the college women’s group as well for visibility?
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