With a few notable exceptions that include New York Mets owner Joan Payson and Cincinnati Reds majority owner Marge Schott, women have historically been absent from the world of sports-team ownership. After a failed attempt to keep the Giants baseball team in New York in 1957, Payson became the cofounder and majority owner of the New York Mets. She was the first female in American history to buy a sports franchise for a major-league team. When Schott purchased a minority share in the Cincinnati Reds in 1984, it was only the second time in history that a female had been approved as a franchise owner. Because the world of sports has long been dominated by males, women have also been shut out of positions as ...