The Sports WAG: A Job Of Its Own?
The sports world has always been a spectacle for people to keep their eyes on. With its exhilarating culture and its ability to unite fans all over the world, it’s no wonder that events like the FIFA World Cup or Olympic Games garner attention and excitement from the entire globe.
What makes athletes in particular all the more interesting however—at least to some fans—are the women by their side. There seems to be a huge fascination with the wives and girlfriends of athletes, more commonly known as WAGs online.
While being the significant other of an individual as accomplished as a professional athlete can be quite the title, the attention these women receive from fans has become its own presence, at least on digital spaces.
The limelight of star players of various different sports leagues has extended onto their partners who, for the most part, are normal women who just happen to be in relationships with these athletes.
The ‘Sports WAG’ has become so sensationalized it’s become a status that people dream of achieving. Sports fans have taken to TikTok to post romanticized videos of the role of a WAG and the urge to possess such a life.
So much interest and observation is put upon these women that they’ve become people who fans aspire to be and have their eyes on as much as they do their athlete counterparts. WAGs have become their own kind of spectacle within the ever so enthralling sports industry.
Take the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff jackets, for example. One of the most exciting traditions that takes place at the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs doesn’t even regard the actual players but rather, their significant others.
Different designers will create and customize jackets for the wives and girlfriends of players from each playoff team, and will incorporate their last name and number into the jacket in a striking, inventive way.
Something that always comes from this tradition are fans reacting to and ranking their favourite jackets, which puts a spotlight on these significant others and making the revealing of each WAG jacket a highly anticipated event of its own, almost like a fashion show or exhibition.
There are numerous other instances where an athlete’s partner will gain just as much of an online presence as themselves, be it the NHL or Formula One. With these women having posts made about them, and hashtags and articles being made for them as well, it’s safe to say that they are their own public figures.
Being someone who garners such an immense amount of attention for simply being at sporting events, however, comes with an immense amount of outsider comments and opinions—good and bad. And sometimes, such comments can lead to scrutiny and harassment.
Earlier this year, English footballer Declan Rice spoke about his girlfriend at a match press conference after she was faced with terrible comments from people shaming her body and claiming she was unworthy of Rice.
It seems that simply being the wife or girlfriend of a star athlete makes you become a star yourself. The question is, why? What’s so glamorous and influential about dating a professional athlete? And why is the Sports WAG such an online sensation people feel the ability to pick apart and analyze?