How the “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” T-Shirt Went Viral

The $45 shirt is from Togethxr, the women’s sports brand created in 2021 by a group of female pro athletes, including WNBA legend Sue Bird, soccer star Alex Morgan, swimmer Simone Manuel, and snowboarder Chloe Kim. It was released last December, but it went truly viral earlier this summer. Almost as suddenly as everyone began watching women’s sports, everyone from Hollywood celebrities like Jason Sudekis and Chelsea Handler to athletes and fans were spotted in the statement tee. Some wore it to sit courtside at basketball games, others as a street staple, and still others shared it on social media to make a point.

Since then, the momentum has only snowballed. At the Paris 2024 Olympics—which wrapped with an explosive closing ceremony on August 11—waves of sports fans were seen wearing the T-shirt at the stadium and arenas, and at local cafés following major competitions. Some had on the original tee with the English slogan “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports,” while others wore the brand’s French version, made specifically for the Games, which reads: “Tout le Monde Regarde le Sport Féminin.” The brand is now also looking into making a Spanish version, it said.

“It’s a play on people saying, ‘Nobody watches women’s sports’—like, John590 from Twitter with no profile pic,” Bird told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on his show in March. “Now the numbers show it, which is amazing, so now we actually have data to it. Actually, everyone watches women’s sports.”

Last month, the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries became the first team in the league to collaborate on the top, even releasing a limited quantity of their cropped iteration in a lavender shade. Togethxr also now sells a hoodie ($85) and a tote ($30) bearing the phrase, and demand has gone up so much that shipping is running behind.

Togethxr Everyone Watches Women’s Sports Tee

Valkyries president Jess Smith described the tee as being “multidimensional,” in that it caters to the current state of sport as it relates to culture. “The collective of players, fans, ownership, and media have come together to understand their power in the continued growth of women’s sports,” she said.

The viral T-shirt has also found its place at a time when cheeky slogan tees are on the rise—think Kaia Gerber’s book-themed shirts and Zendaya’s “I Told Ya” from Challengers. But this isn’t a case of a T-shirt just spelling out a statement in the hope that anyone who reads it will take it as fact. The truth is, people are finally starting to give women’s sports the spotlight they deserve.

Per data from Women’s Sport Trust, more people watched women’s sports in the first four months of 2024 than ever before. And Deloitte forecasts that this year, for the first time, women’s pro sports will generate a revenue that surpasses $1 billion—a 300 percent increase since 2021. If that isn’t enough proof, stats show that the WNBA All-Star Game this July—which featured breakout stars including Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark—attracted an unprecedented 3.4 million viewers on ABC, the highest audience ever for a WNBA event on ESPN networks.

“I think there is something to be said for changing the narrative, but it wasn’t the intention. The intention was to create a product that felt like a unifier that accurately represented the women’s sports fan base that exists, and to celebrate these incredible athletes,” says Jess Robertson, cofounder and chief content officer of Togethxr. “But I do think the more you see it, the more people say it. People are saying it now about things that have nothing to do with our shirt. It becomes a broader truth.”

Rosa Sanchez is the senior news editor at Harper’s Bazaar, working on news as it relates to entertainment, fashion, and culture. Previously, she was a news editor at ABC News and, prior to that, a managing editor of celebrity news at American Media. She has also written features for Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets.