WWE and Girl Up have announced a new multi-year partnership that will see the 2019 launch of Sports For A Purpose, which will create a culture of sports participation for girls around the world. Below is the full announcement with comments from Stephanie McMahon:

GIRL UP AND WWE® CREATE SPORTS FOR A PURPOSE PROGRAM TO SUPPORT GIRLS’ LEADERSHIP

NEW YORK and STAMFORD, Conn., Friday, October 26, 2018 – Girl Up and WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced a multi-year partnership to support the creation of Sports For a Purpose, which will launch in the fall of 2019 and create a culture of sports participation for girls around the world. The program will equip Girl Up’s girl leaders with tools and resources so that they can help tackle the gender-based barriers girls face to playing sports, including access to safe play spaces and sporting equipment.

“We are excited to launch Sports for a Purpose with WWE and help break down the gender barriers that girls and women face in sports, while fostering an encouraging environment for girls’ leadership,” said Anna Blue, Co-Executive Director, Girl Up.

“WWE is proud to partner with Girl Up to create Sports For a Purpose, a new program designed to help our youth achieve gender equality in sports,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “Playing sports has a positive impact on girls’ leadership skills, confidence and self-esteem, and we are excited to work with Girl Up to create this meaningful program.”

“When girls develop their leadership on the field or on the court, they take those skills with them to their schools and communities. We hope this program encourages a new generation of girls to pave the way for better gender equity in sports,” said Melissa Kilby, Co-Executive Director, Girl Up.

Team sports are a proven way to develop leadership skills, confidence and positive body image, but compared to boys, girls are twice as likely to drop out of sports by age 14. Girls who play sports are more likely to have positive mental health, higher academic achievement and more likely to earn a college degree.

Girl Up, an organization and global leadership development initiative, positions girls to be leaders in the movement for gender equality. Through leadership development training, Girl Up gives girls the resources and platform to start a movement for social change wherever they are. Girl Up was founded in 2010 and continues to work across a global community of partners to achieve gender equality worldwide.

This new partnership was announced in advance of Evolution, WWE’s first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view event, another milestone for WWE’s female performers. WWE Evolution airs Sunday, streaming live on WWE Network.

Why address girls and sports?

* 61 percent of girls participated in sports, compared with 75 percent of boys

* 29 percent of girls participated in two or more sports, compared to 47 percent of boys

* Male college athletes receive 36% more scholarship dollars than female college athletes at NCAA institutions

* Men get 30% more prize money in sport.

* Just 5% of sports media coverage features women.

* Women’s sport receives only 0.5% of the sports world’s total sponsorship income (men get 62.1%).

* And yet, the benefits are undisputable…Teens girls who play sports not only do better in school, but also are more likely to have stronger leadership skills, high self-esteem, stronger relationships and improved physical health:
– 23 percent more likely to get seven hours of sleep
– 21 percent more likely to be successful in school
– 13 percent more likely to graduate from a four-year college