GoGameface.com: Female Fans Watching Male Athletes

Read an article about Erica Boeke, a female sports fan who created GoGameFace.com, an interactive guide to sports, for women.

Erica has also written the book, Go Gameface : The Kick-Ass Guide for Women Who Love Pro Sports.

Her mission, according to Sports Illustrated:

“To start a conversation that is pointed at people like her, and to make a guide to sports for women — full of her favorite stories from the numerous events she’s attended, complete with funny anecdotes about players, fans and the games. She thinks women prefer to remember what happened at the game the previous night, rather than the numbers spouted at them by a bunch of talking heads.”

Personally, I don’t think this is anything new. Women have been following men’s sports for decades. Following athletes’ and their girlfriends isn’t anything new, either.

In my opinion, the title of Erica’s book is incorrect. They’re not women who watch “pro sports,” they’re women who watch “men play pro sports.” Erica should be writing about WOMEN’S sports, since she is, of course, a woman (and probably one who used to play herself).

By encouraging women to “watch” men’s sports, we’re not empowering them to “do” anything. But, I realize there are different “types” of sports fans out there, and I don’t want to ostracize anyone.

What is new, and innovative, however, is that Erica highlights and leverages the fact that women communicate about sports differently than men. And this points to a larger, societal issue.

Ex-female athletes (for the most part) do not sit and scream at the television when a professional women’s basketball game is on. Most of them don’t even watch it.

Instead, those who choose to follow men’s sports do so on their own will, yet need a slightly more logical (and humanized) way of organizing, communicating and promoting information.

Recognizing that fact is what got her on Sports Illustrated. In the end, it’s a step forward. Good job, Erica.