--- title: How the #MeToo Movement Is About to Change Pro Sports description: Is this the beginning of a shake-up in the male-dominated boardrooms and back offices of pro sports? canonical: https://time.com/5064703/how-the-metoo-movement-is-about-to-change-pro-sports/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-19T00:02:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:42:45.359Z article:section: Sports og:title: How the #MeToo Movement Is About to Change Pro Sports og:description: 'These walls will soon come down' og:url: https://time.com/5064703/how-the-metoo-movement-is-about-to-change-pro-sports/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d62f91853bf3649/6988f56ffb4eac1ae7895034/gettyimages-894353172.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1222 og:image:height: 687 og:image:alt: Green Bay Packers v Carolina Panthers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the #MeToo Movement Is About to Change Pro Sports twitter:description: 'These walls will soon come down' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d62f91853bf3649/6988f56ffb4eac1ae7895034/gettyimages-894353172.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How the #MeToo Movement Is About to Change Pro Sports > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jbtW5SvJ.m3u8) (5:02)  _Published 2017-12-06. For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing all of us to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year._  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Dec 19, 2017 12:02 AM UTC For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing all of us to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year.  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Dec 19, 2017 12:02 AM UTC It took awhile, but the [reckoning over sexual harassment and assault](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/) has [finally reached](http://time.com/5015204/harvey-weinstein-scandal/) the business of pro sports. Jerry Richardson, the owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, said on Sunday that he would sell the team following damning allegations about his behavior. In a [searing report,](https://www.si.com/jerry-richardson-carolina-panthers-settlements-workplace-misconduct-sexual-harassment-racial-slur) _Sports Illustrated_ found that at least four former Panthers employees have received “significant” monetary settlements due to inappropriate comments and conduct by Richardson, who is one of the most influential owners in the league. The news came days after a court filing from Jami Cantor, a former wardrobe stylist at the NFL network, that [accused](https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/12/12/nfl-network-sexual-harassment-jami-cantor-lawsuit-faulk-mcnabb-weinberger) executives and analysts at the network, many of whom are former NFL stars, of lewd and disturbing conduct. Is this the beginning of a long-overdue shake-up in the male-dominated boardrooms and back offices of pro sports? “They’re coming,” says Michael Kimmel, founder of the Center for The Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook University, who predicts that a wave of accusations against sports figures will emerge. “One big difference in 2017 is that women are being believed. Women are not on trial. Their credibility is not the issue. Men’s behavior is the issue. That is the biggest change right now.” **Read More:** [**Person of the Year: The Silence Breakers**](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/) If Kimmel’s right, the nation’s sports leagues would be a fat target. Men dominate the top leagues, in both locker rooms and front officers. No woman has ever been hired as a general manager or head coach in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball or NHL. “The more men relative to female employees, the more harassment there tends to be,” says Louise Fitzgerald, emeritus professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Illinois and an expert on sexual harassment. “Sports is one of the most masculinized industries in the country.” Julie Foudy played on the US women’s national soccer team from 1987-2004, and has worked at ESPN for more than a decade. She’s says she’s never been harassed, but she has heard disturbing stories from other women in the industry and she expects more women to come forward. “This is a very male dominated platform,” says Foudy. “You have these power dynamics that come into play on a daily basis.” In her four decades as a pioneering sportswriter and sportscaster, Lesley Visser says she’s never been sexually harassed by the male bosses who helped her succeed. The players she covered, however, were a different story. They’d proposition her in the [locker rooms and on the sideline](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,152814,00.html)s. She says she tried to deflect the incidents with humor. After a game in Green Bay a few years back, a player asked her what she was doing after the game. She told him her age—56 at the time. “He was mortified,” says Visser, author of the forthcoming book, [_Sometimes You Have to Cross When It Says Don’t Walk: A Memoir of Breaking Barriers_](https://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-Have-Cross-When-Says/dp/1944648879)_._ “He ran away across the field faster than Usain Bolt.” Improper sexual conduct has persisted in sports for years. There have been countless cases of athletes accused and convicted of sexual assault, as well as horrendous examples of coaches, [doctors](http://time.com/4988116/larry-nassar-mckayla-maroney-sexual-abuse-doctor-usa-gymnastics/) and others sexually abusing athletes in their care. But the athletes and executives behind the teams have been relatively protected. One reason is that many employ agents, publicists and lawyers who work to suppress allegations of misbehavior. “There’s a wall of protection thrown up around players, “says Kimmel. “When bad things happen, all kinds of people are covering for them. But these walls will soon come down.” Foudy is hopeful that the broader movement will improve the culture in all industries, hers included. “There’s finally a feeling among women that it’s OK to talk about it,” she says. “Watching the movement, the bravery of women coming forward, it emboldens others. The whole point is that the new generations shouldn’t have to deal with this.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] We can't all be ****. We can't all be asking for it. I am here to give you permission to be angry. This reality might not have to be our reality anymore. I felt this crushing sense of powerlessness. This is the time to take my power back. Here's my story. Uber promises. Investigation into sexual harrassment. Fox News cutting its ties with Bill O'Reilley. I felt it was my duty for the women who are silent to be brave. It's okay to stand up for yourself. Taylor Swift appearing in court today. Harvey Weinstein, the New York- People forget a lot that there's a human behind this. Someone who was very hurt and wronged. [ MUSIC ] [ CROSSTALK ] I always thought maybe things could change for my daughter. I never thought things could change for me. [ MUSIC ] Honestly, I was furious. I have had a man grope me in front of multiple collegues and I was tired of wondering if it was something I wore, I was tired of wondering if it was a vibe I was giving off and when I talked to other women they were furious too >> I felt that if I can speak out, may be if I just stand up then someone else would stand up with me >> There wasn't a place For us to report these experiences. But I sure did talk about it a lot over the years. The least I could do was actually tell my own story and validate theirs for them in a way, just as I was hoping someone much bigger than me would help validate my story. And I knew that other women Would continue to apple for jobs there and that made me feel really uncomfortable. I was afraid of the retaliation, I know the power of patriarchy. I know what men can do when their angry. They did everything that they could to prevent me from raising my concerns further. They asked me if there were other girls, maybe that he has done this too and can I go get them. I had to show them that I wasn't lying And it's like they took me for a joke. And if they couldn't stop us from talking, well, they were gonna stop everybody from listening to us. People digging into my Instagram and pulling up sexy photos as if they kind of discredited me. Well, I've seen you in committee. You're really tough. Why didn't you just hit him? Why did you let it go on for so long? I was a smart young woman that had gone to college, that knew how to fight, and I still was manipulated and conned. I felt ashamed that I hadn't spoken out sooner, not having the strength earlier on to make it stop. The feeling of being humiliated as a woman And there's a point you think is it my fault? For so long I went around harboring this ridiculous belief that because I was a non white woman in my 20s, it was expected that I would have to be treated this way. We don't have to just live like this. Few things could change from my daughter I never thought things could change from me. I'm here to give you permission to be angry, people are afraid specially women where conditioned since birth to be polite. To be nice, to be kind, to be liked to not make waves. ****. We can't all be crazy, we can't all be ****, we can't all be asking for it. And I'm telling you that all the people who stand up, all the people who speak out you are teaching people how to treat and you should not be shamed for that. The shame is not ours to hold, the shame is on perpetrator. Me Too can be a conversation starter or it can be the whole conversation. It took away the power from the predator. And placed the power on the victim. And maybe, just maybe we would be able to get a glimpse at the magnitude of this problem. The amount of people sharing the stories with me is so intense. People that were complete strangers reached out to tell very personal stories. It's What they did with this and they did a lot and not only in France in Hong kong japanese. The most months >> I feel like the day that I spoke up and I said you are a sexual harasser I changed >> some of the. Things in the night. [ FOREIGN ]. It's an honor to be the person that hey I spoke up about this. I took on the risk. And I was very humbled and I was very proud. I'm very glad now that the story has been heard. It's a direct response to that arrogance and that show of power and [ UNKNOWN ]. A sense, we won't be silenced. 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