Sports TV Awards 2021 Finalist: Project Access by HBS’s Broadcast Academy

HBS’s Broadcast Academy launched a cross-industry approach to encourage women in sports broadcasting

Credit: HBS (2021)

HBS Broadcast Academy’s ‘Project Access’ has been shortlisted for the ‘SVG Europe Women Award for Diversity in Sports TV’ at the highly competitive Sports TV Awards 2021. ‘Project Access’ aimed to improve opportunities for women to enter and progress in sports broadcasting through practical led solutions.

Despite a huge number of female viewers, there are still countries and sports where women have never led a sports production as a director. Drawing on industry backing from leading international organisations including IMG, the English Football League (EFL), and Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT), Project Access provides training, mentorship, and access to jobs/roles that are not traditionally available to women, helping to solve the long term problems of gender inequality, both in terms of the number of skilled women in the industry and a lack of opportunities for women to show their skills.

The strategy has helped reach many ‘firsts’ for women. In partnership with EVS, they worked with the first women football directors in Cameroon, Jamaica, Iceland, and Austria, and in 2020, Sigrid Lelièvre joined Project Access and since has become the only woman football director covering French Ligue 1.

The winners of the SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021, sponsored by Canon, will be announced on Thursday 28 October at Chelsea F.C. during the Sport Production & Technology Summit 2021. Registration for both events is now open to members and sponsors here.