“What do you think is the hardest part about being a female athlete?” recently questioned Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper to Trinity Rodman. The response you ask? Well, aside from letting out a big sigh and exclaiming, “Oh my gosh,” the USWNT superstar fell silent, deeply contemplating the harsh reality of women’s soccer—a reality shaped by a persistent lack of recognition in the very sport she excels at!

Millions may raise their hands, even those who don’t watch the beautiful game, claiming they know the worlds of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But only a fraction would do the same for women’s soccer stars. The daughter of Dennis Rodman emphasized this disparity who herself faced such an experience, sharing how even today, many remain unfamiliar with and fail to give women’s soccer the recognition it deserves.

Finally, gathering her thoughts to answer Cooper’s question, Trinity began, “The recognition for one, I think, even just in conversation it’s like, ‘Oh, who do you play for?’ – Spirit – and they’re like ‘What’s that?’ I’m like ‘Ugh’. I don’t know, I would say recognition [is the hardest part of being a female athlete].”

Sad. We would agree with Rodman, as the women’s game undoubtedly gets scrutinized. Not soccer generally but all kinds of sports that are played worldwide. Be it the match attendance, salary contracts, and broadcasting viewership, mostly it has been the case where the ladies in sports suffer a major hit compared to men’s games.

Trin’s national team coach Emma Hayes has always found herself as one advocate for the women’s game. Though the Washington Spirit player talks about females in sports, the former Chelsea Women’s manager raised a similar yet different concern about the limited opportunities available for women in coaching roles. It highlights the lack of significant representation in the field.

“We have a lot of work to do to bridge this gap. It is a major problem. We have to recognize that opportunities are scarce,” said Hayes. In fact, during her WSL days, not only was the 48-year-old tactician forced to balance her regular job and family business alongside coaching teams. But she also had to make things work with limited opportunities.

“It was difficult because there weren’t a lot of resources. We didn’t have full-time players or shared facilities,” revealed the English boss in another conversation.

Then again, it’s not always the case!

In the recent MLS Cup final, LA Galaxy’s 2-1 win over NY Red Bulls garnered a viewership of over 427K on its primary broadcaster, Fox Sports. Meanwhile, in the NWSL final, a narrow triumph by Orlando Pride over Washington Spirit attracted a viewership of a whopping 967K on its main broadcaster, CBS.

Even though this is a significant yet small achievement for the women’s game, one wonders how the women’s game can compete with other popular sports within the States. It’s something that frustrates Rodman!

Trinity Rodman drags NFL and NBA in women’s sport’s recognition debate

The enigmatic USA forward compared the salaries other sports offer in comparison to what players earn in the women’s game. “Even just being on media and it’s like obviously NBA, NFL makes way more money, has way more viewers-not taking that away, but seeing the contracts and looking at ours, I’m just like, ‘I’m so grateful to be making the money that I make right now at my age but I look and I’m just like, ‘agh,'” remarked Rodman.

For context, the average annual salary for NBA players during the 2024-25 season is around $12 million, according to Sports Illustrated. Meanwhile, the salary cap for the 2024 NWSL is $2,750,000, clearly highlighting the disparity that exists.

Sadly, there’s only a little one can do about it. But, one can only hope things improve for female athletes and they receive the recognition they deserve.