Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase media coverage and commercial investment in women's sport; and if he will make a statement.

Media interest for women’s sport peaked with London 2012 and Sochi 2014 demonstrating a strong public appetite for women’s sport. Broadcasters especially have made significant progress, and their coverage of women’s sport is now around 20%.

Although only a small amount of commercial of investment in sport goes into women’s sport, the push for greater investment is beginning to reap results with companies like Newton, Kia and Nissan leading the way in promoting the commercial viability of women’s sport.

Along with the Women and Sport Advisory Board I hosted the government’s first national conference to explore these issues in more detail, and a report of their work was published on the same day: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-and-leading-sports-charity-host-national-conference-on-womens-sport