Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Other Female Olympians Launch Sports Media Company

Four of the best female athletes in the world are teaming up in hopes of bringing more attention to women’s sports. Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Simone Manuel and Chloe Kim have founded TOGETHXR, a new sports media company.

With TOGETHXR, the Olympians are looking to increase the currently small portion of sports media coverage that is dedicated to female athletes. A 2018 report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization found that women’s sports get only 4% of sports media coverage, though 40% of people who participate in sports are women.

“That, to me, is shocking, because [it’s] something that can be easily changed,” Morgan told SELF.

Morgan has won two World Cup championships as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. She took home a gold medal as part of Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics.

Morgan, Bird, Manuel and Kim have won a combined eight Olympic gold medals. Bird has been among the most successful athletes in any sport during her professional basketball career, winning four WNBA championships and four gold medals.

“I knew when I turned the TV on to watch highlights from the day, I wasn't seeing women,” Bird told SELF. “It upset me, but it was just like, ‘OK, that’s the way it is.’”

Some of the nation’s top athletes have founded media brands in recent years. LeBron James’ Uninterrupted and Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures are among the most notable.

As women’s sports continue to grow in popularity, TOGETHXR will provide a platform for both established and up-and-coming stars.

“There is more conscious investment and viewership, engagement is growing, cultural rhetoric is there and the significance of these women using their platforms to literally affect political and cultural change is at a fever pitch,” said Jessica Robertson, TOGETHXR’s chief content officer, via The New York Times. “And this brand is coming alongside or maybe just behind that movement.”