Dillon Perry

Abstract: The passing of Title IX in 1972 gave women equal rights when it comes to sports and education. In recent years it has become evident that men’s sports receive more fandom and revenue compared to women’s sports whether collegiate or professional. Many studies have found data surrounding this perception that males teams and women’s teams receive different levels of support, however none have explored it in a high school setting. With the use of a mixed method questionnaire, high school students in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League were able to rank their attendance for sporting events and state their reasons for attending. It was found that male teams do receive more support in the form of attendance in a high school setting due to student’s personal relationships and friendships. Future research is necessary to determine if this stands true on a national level with the use of attendance rates from high schools directly.

Keywords: Title IX, support in the form of attendance, WPIAL, relationships and friendships