Some people are questioning the statistic I’ve used about how many Magic players are female. I believe this is pulling focus from the actual issue – we all want to make more players, including women, feel more comfortable and welcome at Magic events no matter what – but I sense it won’t go away until addressed.

It’s important for our business to understand who our audience is, so from time to time, we do what is called a “deep dive”where we seek out an outside expert to gather global data about who exactly our audience is. As part of the most recent “deep dive” survey, the question was asked “Do you play Magic?” defined as playing with physical paper cards, in any place or format, or digitally through Magic Online or Magic Duels. Of all the people who answered “yes” to that question, 38% were female.

With that out of the way, let’s please turn our attention back to the actual topic of discussion: the number of female players is up (and I believe everyone in this debate acknowledges this), yet is not represented at equal numbers in organized play. Why is this? Please share your experiences.

Thank you.