During the Judi Garman Classic, LSU softball was only televised for one game, despite playing No. 4 UCLA earlier in the tournament. This is one example of the lack of softball coverage, and it can destroy the future of college softball if it continues.
Women’s sports have grown significantly through the years. The extreme growth of women’s basketball has led to more coverage for women’s sports, but softball is still flying under the radar of baseball and both men and women’s basketball during their season.
Before ESPN+ and SEC Network+, softball was hardly ever televised during the months of February and March. Before women’s basketball took off, baseball and men’s basketball were the main focus of TV providers.
ESPN+ and SEC Network+ have spoiled LSU softball fans in recent years, so not being able to watch their favorite team take on UCLA was upsetting.
“It is awful we cannot watch our softball games,” softball fan Jimmie Foley said. “Shame on whoever is responsible. I love the girls basketball also, but when LSU girls play softball, we should be able to watch it. I am really upset.”
Several other fans agreed, saying that the difference in coverage between men and women’s sports is absurd. Football would never be shoved to the side like softball was during the Judi Garman Classic, especially at a Division I SEC school in a top-five matchup.
During the Wednesday night contest versus ULM, fans were saying they couldn’t get the game on the radio. Even though LSU is great with their coverage at home, some fans couldn’t watch ESPN+ due to factors like not being at home or being able to access it.
The social inequality of sports has caused fans to purchase separate streaming services for no reason, just to watch their favorite teams. During the Frisco College Baseball Classic, LSU had limited coverage.
Fans were outraged at how LSU baseball was covered, taking to Facebook to rage about the price of streaming service “D1 baseball” for a month, just to watch LSU play for one weekend.
The differences between sports this time of year is outstanding. Some fans even sarcastically accused ESPN for caring about only basketball during the month of March. Many fans have said that they understand March Madness is the biggest part of the basketball season, but this could be where the line is drawn with growing less popular sports.
Young LSU fans are created by watching the games they are playing in, so not being able to watch the games is going to harm the growth of softball as a sport. Older fans have advocated for this before, publicly announcing their love for the sport and showing how this helps on social media and at the games.
The crowds of fans at LSU games are usually full of young softball players that aspire to become the next generation of Tigers, and without being able to watch LSU softball, there will be no generation of home grown Tigers.
The recruiting world is set in states like Texas, California and Florida, and reflects the impact of having multiple DI softball programs to look up to from a young age. LSU is being closely rivaled by Southeastern Louisiana University and University of Louisiana-Lafayette, but it is far from being an in-state rivalry similar to University of Texas and Texas A&M or University of Florida and Florida State.
This is bigger than just LSU softball not being televised. The future generation of collegiate softball players and LSU softball is being diminished by the lack of attention to the sport.
“There is still a disparity in all women’s sports being televised, especially softball,” softball fan Ann Bolton said.
