Time magazine's December 12, 2011, issue

Female football fans are on the rise, but not why you’d think. It has everything to do with the sport and nothing to do with men.

Hey ladies, if you watch football, have you ever thought about why you watch? There’s a perception that we’re watching it to attract and meet men. Don’t agree? Neither do I.

If that’s the case, then we’re really going all out to impress our guys. According to a column in Time magazine’s Dec. 12, 2011, issue, significant viewership among the female 18-49 set makes “Sunday Night Football” the fourth most watched program in its demographic. And a surprising number—44 percent—of women claim to be NFL fans.

Apparently, retailers are already aware of this. Victoria’s Secret carries an ever-expanding line of NFL, MLB and collegiate sweatshirts, loungewear and undies. For the girliest of fans, there are the pink versions of jerseys, hats and more you can find for any team.

So is it all part of our plan to nab a man? I had to think about that, but my sports-watching days go way, way back. I grew up with a sports-crazed brother who watched everything from football to tennis, so I did too.

It started as a sure-fire way to annoy him by cheering for the opposite team. Then, over time, it became a competition for bragging rights over NCAA tourney brackets and fantasy football and pick ‘em leagues. It certainly wasn’t about impressing him.

But somewhere along the way—and reinforced by attending the University of Alabama—football became a passion, some would say to a frightening fault.

As the Time columnist found, I’m not the only one who’s watching football because I like it. Joel Stein spent a Sunday afternoon with a group of women fantasy footballers to observe their dynamic. Would men be attracted to them? Would they flirt with him? He wondered.

His column, “A League of Their Own,” concluded that a woman can watch football, and it has nothing to do with meeting a guy or impressing him. In a twist of irony, he even suggested, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that men who are casual sports fans could haunt sports bars to meet women.