Legendary actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg has taken a significant step toward elevating women’s sports worldwide with the launch of the All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), a groundbreaking global channel dedicated to showcasing women’s athletic achievements. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Goldberg shared her excitement about the new venture, which aims to offer live sports coverage from every corner of the globe.
“Everything from soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, curling, you name it — if a woman is playing it, we’re showing it,” Goldberg said. The channel will feature a broad range of sports including soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, curling, and more. The aim is clear: to provide a platform that supports women’s sports in all its diversity.
The channel has already begun its broadcast in several regions, including parts of Asia, the Middle East, and India, with plans to roll out in the United States this week. AWSN will feature both live events and past games, providing an invaluable opportunity for fans to experience the best of women’s sports. This initiative is further bolstered by a partnership with CommonSpirit, a Catholic health organisation based in Chicago, which Goldberg described as a key supporter of women’s health.
For Goldberg, the launch of the channel is a deeply personal one. As a child, she was always passionate about sports, but societal expectations around gender often limited her opportunities. She recalled, “Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to play sports. My brother could play baseball, softball, basketball – he could do everything. But I’d hear, ‘Oh, hi little girl.’”
Her frustration with these barriers sparked her long-standing dream of creating a platform that would give young female athletes the recognition and encouragement they deserve. ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could go around the world, start getting young athletes in high school so that we can grow with them and grow up with them?”she said, reflecting on the potential impact of the channel. “We could have baseball cards with our favourite young athlete…it would change the way we view women’s sports.”
The rise of women’s professional sports has been steadily growing in recent years, with record TV audiences for women’s games in 2023, an increase in professional teams, and lucrative sponsorships. Additionally, initiatives like The Ladies League in Darlinghurst, which opened its doors in August, are further driving the normalisation of women’s sports viewership.
Goldberg’s passion for this project highlights a larger shift in the sports world, where women’s participation and visibility are steadily gaining traction. The AWSN channel is poised to make a major contribution in bringing women’s sports to the forefront of global entertainment, giving both fans and athletes the platform they’ve long deserved.
