Football has always been a man’s game. Despite women being the NFL’s fastest-growing fan demographic, and the fact that there are now over 1,600 girls playing high school football in the United States, somehow the sports culture has been slow to change. As I watched the Super Bowl this year, I took a running tally of how many times women got screen time, and whether they filled the role of "human" or "sex object." Here’s what I found:

• Even excluding the players, men still got around six times more air time than women.
• Almost all commercials had a narrative that featured a male character, with women filling the roles of girlfriends, moms and wives.
• Around 35 percent of the appearances that women made were in sexually-objectifying roles. (Like in this Ninja Turtle commercial or this Snickers commercial.)

(And no, Beyonce was not counted as sexually-objectified. #Empowerment)

• There were no female soldiers shown by either the Marines or in the new "Independence Day" movie, despite the recent push for more gender equality in military opportunities.

• There was one female reporter (Tracey) and her reports were limited to how the players and coaches were "feeling," offering no commentary on the game itself.

With that said, there were a few moments that stood out to me as signs that popular sports culture is (finally) moving in the right direction:

• For the first time ever, GoDaddy.com had a Super Bowl ad that focused exclusively on their product instead of scantily clad ladies.
• Women constructed cars and inflated footballs.
• Axe’s commercial, while directed at men, was refreshingly body-positive.
• A girl, Marlo Mosley, was this year’s NFL Kid Correspondent/Play360 Superkid and got the honor of running the ball out onto the field before the kickoff.

Even beer companies—who are notorious for using women to laugh, take long drinks and look sexy next a guy holding their brand—seemed to have finally gotten the memo:

• Michelob ULTRA featured strong women working out without sexualizing them.
• Bud Light didn’t buy into the stereotype that women aren’t funny.

Overall, women remain sidelined and there is plenty of room for improvement, but I was happy to find that the 2016 Super Bowl coverage lacked the general air of sexism and misogynistic objectification that has been a hallmark of this sport for far too long.

(Go Broncos!)