Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
The May 1976 issue of WomenSports belongs to an important moment in the history of women’s athletics, when specialist sports magazines were helping build a serious readership around female athletes rather than treating them as occasional exceptions in the mainstream sports press. The magazine itself emerged out of the early-1970s surge in women’s sports culture associated with Billie Jean King and the growing visibility of women athletes in American media. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} A cover featuring Chris Evert makes this issue especially resonant, because by 1976 she was not simply a tennis star but one of the defining public faces of women’s sport.
The date matters. In 1976, Evert won both Wimbledon and the US Open, and she became the first woman to be the sole recipient of Sports Illustrated’s Sportswoman of the Year honor. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1} That broader context gives this issue unusual historical weight for collectors of magazines from 1976. It reflects a year when women’s tennis was central to the growth of women’s sports visibility, and when Evert’s calm, disciplined, high-achievement persona had become emblematic of a new level of public respect for female athletes.
What makes the issue endure is that it captures more than celebrity. It preserves a moment when women’s sports media was defining its own voice, its own heroes, and its own sense of historical importance. For collectors, that makes a WomenSports issue with Chris Evert on the cover valuable not just as tennis memorabilia, but as a document of changing cultural expectations around women in sport.
About the Publication
WomenSports was a magazine created to cover female athletes and women’s athletics at a time when mainstream sports publications gave them limited and uneven attention. It was aimed at readers interested in competition, athlete profiles, sports culture, and the broader movement for recognition of women in sport, using a general-interest magazine format that blended features, profiles, and visually strong cover subjects. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Key Highlights Inside
- May 1976 issue of Women Sports Magazine, Vol. 3 #5, as identified in the source listing.
- Cover featuring Chris Evert, one of the most important women’s tennis players of the era.
- A strong period example of 1970s print culture centered on women athletes and their growing public visibility.
- Newsstand edition with no label, specifically noted in the listing.
- Additional interior contents are unconfirmed from the provided source material and should not be assumed without a table of contents or interior review.
Condition & Rarity
The source listing describes surviving examples of this issue in good shape, with edges preserved well for age, no mailing label, and later plastic protection for storage. In collector terms, the no-label newsstand origin is an important positive because cover presentation matters greatly for athlete-driven sports magazines, especially when the cover star is central to the issue’s appeal. Collectors generally evaluate copies like this for spine stress, corner wear, page quality, cover gloss, and overall eye appeal; for a 1976 sports periodical, honest light wear is typical, while a clean, label-free cover improves display and archival desirability.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Readers interested in this issue often get the best perspective by comparing it with other Chris Evert magazines and with the broader field of magazines from 1976. Seen together, those issues show how women’s sports, tennis stardom, and magazine culture were evolving at the same time. That wider context makes this issue even more meaningful as a piece of sports-media history.