Rhetoric and Activism in U.S. Women’s Professional Sport Leagues

Abstract

Situated in the contemporary rhetorical moment, this thesis analyzes activist movementsin professional women’s sports leagues in the United States. Using two case studies—one centered on the political activism of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC, and one centered on the 2025-2026 collective bargaining agreement negotiations between athletes and the Women’s National Basketball Association—I demonstrate how athletes and the collectives they are part of enact civic engagement, political judgement, and rhetorical invention. I argue that contemporary activist movements in women’s leagues characterize an alternative rhetorical orientation to sport, providing a necessary new imaginary in the face of authoritarian tactics and neoliberal persuasions. This thesis furthers scholarly conversations of sporting rhetoric and athlete activism by locating unique importance in the rhetorical tactics mobilized by athletes in women’s leagues. I highlight coalition building, affective reorientation, and a proliferation of possible modes of civic engagement as the generative rhetorical resources of athlete activism in women’s leagues, ultimately suggesting that these athletes and athlete collectives are productively positioned both to rearticulate sport and to mobilize sport for projects of progressive politics.