Sarah Spain receives major honor for women’s sports coverage

Sarah Spain is receiving a major honor for her groundbreaking work in covering women’s sports.

After years of advocating for more consistent and equitable coverage of women’s sports at ESPN, Spain teamed up with iHeartMedia and Deep Blue Sports & Entertainment last year, as she herself became the anchor of a rapidly growing network of women’s sports podcasts.

Through this partnership, Spain has also become the literal voice of women’s sports on iHeart’s extensive range of syndicated shows and stations nationwide, providing updates on games and breaking news.

The debut slate of shows on iHeartMedia included Spain’s Good Game podcast, a creative and innovative all women’s sports show that gained significant attention in October when Spain interviewed USA Today columnist Christine Brennan during a highly publicized dispute with the WNBA players’ union.

“If the first few months of Good Game are any indication, it will be a newsmaker and a well-produced go-to for women’s sports fans,” wrote Awful Announcing’s Brendon Kleen.

That line from AA’s sports podcast power list proved to be prophetic.

In less than a calendar year, the highly acclaimed success of Spain’s podcast culminated in iHeartRadio honoring Spain with the 2025 Social Impact Award, which recognizes her “pivotal role in championing equity in sports coverage, advocating for equal pay for female athletes and pushing for better investment in women’s sports infrastructure.”

Tonight we’re honoring @SarahSpain with the 2025 Social Impact Award for her pivotal role in championing equity in sports coverage, equal pay for female athletes and better investment in women’s sports infrastructure. 👏🎙️❤️

Watch the 2025 #iHeartPodcastAwards live at @sxsw:… pic.twitter.com/MDKUHaPuqT

— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) March 11, 2025

So, why should someone check out Good Game?

“It is the only daily women’s sports podcast giving you both news on the sports happening right now and information about the leagues starting this year, interviews with athletes, coaches, and journalists,” she told AA’s Michael Grant. “I think the biggest difference between Good Game and the other coverage of women’s sports is our aim is to provide the connective tissue between the major events and games in the same way we have always covered men’s sports.

“Mainstream coverage for women’s sports often focuses solely on maybe the start of a season and then checking back in for the championship. Potentially, when there’s a big performance, a major news story, or a crime, right? Something salacious. But (most of the mainstream media doesn’t) provide people with the information necessary to bring them back for that next game to learn about the players and care about what they’re doing.”