Paige Spiranac Weighs In On Viral Post About Men Only Wanting To Watch Other Men Talk About Sports

Paige Spiranac giving her two cents on women in the world of sports commentary. Nowadays, it takes a whole army of talking heads to get a sports fan from the pre-game show, to the actual game itself, to the halftime show, to the rest of the game and then to the post-game. Think about it... how many commentators are there for just one singular game? And how many are actually necessary? It can be a little crazy and overwhelming to think about. I actually watch a lot of sports on mute. If I had the choice, I'd probably choose a broadcast that just included the sounds of the sport. Sometimes I just like to hear the crowd at a football game or basketball game. I don't always feel like I need someone holding my hand and walking me through what's happening out on the field/court. However, I understand that some people really value all of the expertise that a commentator or reporter can provide during a game. This past weekend, college football and its upcoming College Football Playoff was at the forefront of the sports world, and ESPN brought in their entire college football broadcast team to hype up and deliver the first-ever 12-team CFP bracket. They could have just released the bracket, but they instead made it an hour-long production. Before that though, conference championship games had to be played, and prior to the SEC Championship, ESPN threw it to Holly Rowe, Jess Sims and Laura Rutledge in Atlanta, Georgia to talk about the game that pitted Georgia and Texas against one another. As you'll see below, that prompted one social media user to screenshot the trio of female reporters and say this: https://twitter.com/TJMoe28/status/1865425284813516949 That post started a firestorm. People started pouring in saying what he posted was "disrespectful" and "sexist." At one point, the guy tried to "clarify" what he was saying, which just added fuel to the fire. He was seemingly bringing on all of the outrage though:

This tweet upset some folks, so let me clarify:

No one wants to listen to 3 women talk football. Men are better at it— it’s like asking cats to bark. I issue no apology and no retracts. Most people agree with me, they’re just afraid to say it. Carry on with your outrage. — T.J. Moe (@TJMoe28) December 8, 2024

So as that spread like wildfire across the internet, it apparently caught the attention of golf influencer Paige Spiranac. The social media personality decided to give her thoughts on the "I don't want to watch women talk about football" conversation, posting a two and a half minute video defending female voices in sports: "I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I looked at the comments and I looked at the replies, and what most men were saying was that they want to listen to people talk about sports that they have once played. Fine, fair enough. However, some of the highest paid sports broadcasters in the world are men who haven't played a sport past the high school level." Spiranac went on to name popular broadcaster and commentators like Joe Buck, Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, and Jim Rome... all who have no professional experience in the sports that they announce. The 31-year-old also pointed out that many famous coaches that are involved in a number of different sports didn't participate in the sport they coach past the high school level. She argued that if a coach can be a leader in a sport they've never played, women don't have to fulfill that qualifier of experience to talk about sports. Spiranac then described to her social media followers (who I'm guessing are mostly men) the complicated loop that women end up getting trapped in if they want to have a career in sports commentary: "So let's break it down. You are a woman in the sports industry and you have a deep understanding of sports and you are qualified to be there. However, you'll never get the highest opportunities because men only want to listen to other men talk about sports. So you use whatever else you have in your tool box to get opportunities - maybe that's your looks. As soon as you use your looks, for example, then you are objectifying yourself and no one will take you seriously. Even when you weren't, you were never taken seriously or given the opportunities because men want to listen to other men talk about sports. It is a viscous cycle and it's never ending." Now to be transparent and present the "Devil's Advocate" side of the conversation, Paige Spiranac does make a living talking about golf and just so happens to wear a type of clothes that... let's just say accentuates her figure. Some would be quick to say that how she goes about her influencer career undercuts her argument here. She even she somewhat admitted that in the caption of her post: "I’m sure this take will provoke only kind comments and absolutely no one will tell me to shut up because of what I like to wear." You can hear all of Paige's thoughts on the matter in the clip below: https://twitter.com/PaigeSpiranac/status/1866180163681042435