Slaying the Trolls!

Slaying the Trolls! Why the Trolls
are Very, Very Wrong about Women and Sports.

David J. Berri and Nefertiti Walker

Women’s sports are exploding. Attendance records are being set in soccer around the world. College stars like Caitlin Clark have people waiting in lines for hours to see her play. And the WNBA – where league revenues have reportedly doubled in just four short years – is clearly taking off.

Slaying the Trolls! Why the Trolls are Very, Very Wrong about Women and Sports provides the arguments and empirical evidence to demonstrate what the trolls are saying is completely inconsistent with reality. This book notes that millions of women are sports fans and the fan base for women’s sports really is exploding. Women are also athletes, and they often are better at sports than men (really!). Men do often draw bigger audiences than women. But that is because men have discriminated against women for decades.

Throughout this book, women within the sports industry and others who support them will find the evidence to fight back against outdated sexism. Slaying the Trolls – written by two academics who have studied women and sports extensively, David Berri and Nefertiti Walker – gives those who love women’s sports all the evidence they need to win the fight against the trolls!

“Slaying the Trolls is a must-read! Berri and Walker do a tremendous job of documenting the historical marginalization of women in sports. They candidly, humorously, and passionately reveal the truth about women’s sports trolls their persistent discrimination is not rooted in logic! As a lifelong participant in women’s sports, I found the book incredibly validating and empowering.”

Cheryl Reeve
Coach of Team USA, coach and president of the Minnesota Lynx, and 4-time WNBA champ

“Slaying the Trolls is a book for those navigating the sports media industry for the first time, as well as the seasoned pros, sports fans, feminists, and anyone who has ever dealt with the dredges of the internet in the comments section. An informative, timely, and much-needed read.”

Dr. Katie Lever
Former Division 1 athlete and current freelance sportswriter

“Even though they say you shouldn’t “feed the trolls,” David Berri and Nefertiti Walker provide a definitive, informative, entertaining response to the morons who still continue to undermine and disregard women’s sports. “Slaying the Trolls” certainly isn’t just reactive, but presents a glorious opportunity to celebrate women across sport, while also recognizing a consistent pattern of excellence and growth that destroys old, untrue narratives.”

Jemele Hill
Emmy-winning journalist, producer, author, contributing write for The Atlantic, host of the Spotify podcast Jill Unbothered, and co-founder of Lodge Freeway Media

“Nefertiti Walker and David Berri have given us the book on women’s sports that we’ve been waiting for. There has never been a better time to take a hard look at how women in sports have been marginalized by outside forces, and no one better to dive into the issues than David Berri and Nefertiti Walker. Powerful and impeccably documented, Slaying the Trolls heralds a new day in the way we view and talk about women’s sports.”

Julie DiCaro
Peabody award winning journalist and author of Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman

“It can be difficult to move from set ideas, stereotypes and talking points if we aren’t fully educated on how we arrived at them and how things have changed, which is why a book like this is so important. Centuries of societal bias have created heuristics around women’s sports that are not only inaccurate and harmful to female athletes, leagues, and fans of women’s sport, but they also keep people from making a lot of money off a very viable product! In no other business do we reject or refuse to capitalize on multi-million-dollar profits and rocket ship growth. We do that in women’s sports not just due to ignorance, but because of an unequal and unfair system that was actually built with intention. The authors recognize all the ways women’s sports have been held back and they see the incredible growth and profit that could happen if we actually invested, supported, watched and understood the product. This book will not only slay the trolls but educate the masses.”

Sarah Spain
ESPN personality and part owner of the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL