Female athletes earn significantly lower incomes than their male counterparts even when playing the same sport.
The gender wage gap, otherwise known as the pay gap, is a difference in income between genders and span across all occupations. Yet, the wage gap in sports is and has been much higher than the average profession.
Sport to Sport
Even within certain sports, the gender wage gap differs dramatically.
In tennis, the wage gap isn’t as substantial. The highest-paid male athlete of 2021 was Roger Federer, who netted $84 million and made 1.68 times the income than his female counterpart Naomi Osaka, who made $50 million.
Yet, in basketball, the wage gap is significantly different as the highest-paid NBA player for the 2021 season was Stephen Curry, who raked in a whopping $45.8 million, which is 206 times the amount the highest-paid female WNBA players Sue Bird, Liz Cambage, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, DeWanna Bonner, & Elena Delle Donne made who all reached the maximum salary cap of $221 450.
Soccer is another sport that has a similar difference between pay. The top earner for men was Cristiano Ronaldo profited $125 million, which is 241 times more than the two-time gold medal female Olympian Carli Lloyd who earned $518 000.
Two of the lowest income sports for women compared to men are baseball and hockey.
This year, NHL’s top earner was Edmonton Oilers team captain Connor McDavid, who netted $15 million compared to his counterpart olympian Kelli Stack who profited $25 000; McDavid earned 600 times more than Stack.
However, it drastically worsens MLB as Trevor Bauer of the Los Angeles Dodgers cashed in $40 million. In comparison, National Pro Fastpitch softball league’s player Monica Abbott only made $20 000, which is 2000 times less than Bauer.
Why Is This?
Media and marketing play a significant role in how viewers perceive and decide what to watch in sports. Large media corporations have the power to determine what sports get the most air time and advertisements.
Female sports only make up 4.7 per cent of the sports coverage compared to male sports, which dominate the amount of coverage by 95 per cent.
Previously women athletes used to be among the top earners. Yet, throughout the past 25 years, major sports news corporations have spent billions of dollars on live television coverage for male sports, leading to a surge in players’ salaries, according to Forbes Magazine.
The distribution of earnings is also another reason why the pay gap is extreme.
Within basketball, the NBA and WNBA provide their players with different percentages from their total earnings. For example, the WNBA only pays their athletes 23 per cent of the total revenue they earn, whereas the NBA pays their players more than 50 percent of the total income earned, according to Bard College.
What Needs To Be Done
Media corporations and sports organizations need to promote both female and male sports more equally by providing the same amount of coverage. Female athletes and women around the world will continue to keep fighting until they see equal pay.
