ESPN's Nine for IX Let Them Wear Towels: Complete Preview of 3rd Installment

The third installment of ESPN's Nine for IX film series, "Let Them Wear Towels," a look at female reporters' struggles to gain equal access in the male-dominated sports world, will air Tuesday night. 

Viewers of the ESPN Films series have already learned about tennis star Venus Williams' battle for equal pay in tennis and the legendary Pat Summitt's remarkable influence and run to the top of women's college basketball at Tennessee. 

The documentary series, which features nine films all together, will run through the end of August but continues Tuesday with a look at the many challenges faced by female journalists and reporters involving the battle for equal access.

Here, we'll get you set with everything you need to know for "Let Them Wear Towels."

When: Tuesday, July 16 at 8 p.m. EDT

Watch: ESPN

*An encore presentation will re-air immediately at 9 p.m. EDT on ESPN

What to Expect

Let Them Wear Towels is an hour-long documentary directed by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, who each boasts an impressive resume as both director and producer. 

This film will look back on the history of women reporters in sports and examine the role of those pioneers in helping today's female sports journalists gain equal access to the locker room and clubhouse.

Lisa Olson's infamous case will be revisited. The former Boston Herald reporter was sexually harassed and according to an NFL investigation that followed the incident, "degraded and humiliated" in the New England Patriots locker room over 20 years ago when a group of players began exposing themselves and making inappropriate comments, according to ESPN.com.

Sundberg and Stern will also look back on Melissa Ludtke's success against Major League Baseball in the late 1970s after she was kept out of the New York Yankees' locker room.

Ludtke will be one of several women interviewed in the film. Claire Smith, Lesley Visser and Christine Brennan will also make appearances, according to ESPN.com.

The documentary will feature some other pivotal moments in the battle to gain equal access and will ultimately show viewers what the first wave of female reporters had to endure in order to attain the same privileges their male counterparts have since the start.

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