Have you ever wondered why women and men athletes get paid unequally? Well, I have always wondered and thought about the answer to this, considering I am a female athlete. To see the big difference in the pay gap, here are a few facts I found. “We’ve come a long way since 1979 when women made on average 62 cents on the dollar. But since 2004, the gender pay gap hasn’t closed much, still hovering around 80–83 cents on the average man’s dollar.
When you break it down by industry, the legal industry has women making 64% as much as men on average, while women in arts, entertainment, and sports average a more promising 94% of men’s pay. As of 2017, 83% of sports now offer equal prize money to men and women. However, when you look closely at the complexities of this industry such as sponsorships and the discrepancy in the remaining 17% of sports, the wage gap in sports remains significant. When considering how many other industries are addressing the pay gap, sports still has a long way to go”,(https://goalfive.com/blogs/news/gender-pay-gap-in-sports-how-big-is-it-what-can-be-done).
I have done research and research on why female athletes are paid less than their counterparts. Some interesting things I have found is that women’s sports are far less popular and watched than men’s, which means the females do not create as much revenue as men’s sports. Another reason is historically, females were restricted from playing sports. This was probably because they believed women were not meant to play sports because sports are “a man’s job” or not lady-like. Unequal pay can affect female athletes in many other ways.
“The Equal Pay Act mandates identical compensation for identical work under the same employer, conditions, and responsibilities, but it’s hard to determine how that applies to sports when so many more factors are at play compared to most industries. Athletic organization governing bodies have a lot of control over athlete pay. Governing bodies can also rework how much they invest in media coverage and TV contracts, which massively influence attendance, ratings, and ultimately revenue. Corporate sponsorships are another major variable that widens the gap. Sponsorships are related to female athletes’ visibility and fandom, which hinges on organizations’ marketing and promotional investments”,(https://goalfive.com/blogs/news/gender-pay-gap-in-sports-how-big-is-it-what-can-be-done). If a female athlete does not get the coverage they need, this may hinder their chances of moving on to the next level, if that is what they want to do.
Recently, the United States men’s soccer team and the women’s team signed an agreement that allows for both of the teams to get paid the same amount as their counterpart. “In February, the two sides settled the lawsuit, with U.S. Soccer agreeing to pay the women $24 million. But the settlement was contingent on reaching new labor agreements with both teams.The men had been playing under the terms of a CBA that expired in December 2018. The women’s CBA expired at the end of March, but talks continued after the lawsuit was settled.The sticking point in negotiations was World Cup prize money, which is based on how far a team advances in soccer’s most prestigious tournament. While the U.S. women have been successful on the international stage with back-to-back World Cup titles, differences in FIFA prize money meant they took home far less than the men’s winners. American women received a $110,000 bonus for winning the 2019 World Cup; the U.S. men would have received $407,000 had they won in 2018.The unions agreed to pool FIFA’s payments for the men’s World Cup later this year and next year’s Women’s World Cup, as well as for the 2026 and 2027 tournaments”, (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/u-s-mens-and-womens-soccer-teams-formally-sign-equal-pay-agreements). I really think this is cool. We see the female counterparts sticking up for them and saying that they should be paid just the same. “USWNT players first filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March 2016, claiming unequal pay and treatment. A federal lawsuit followed three years later, ahead of the team’s 2019 World Cup triumph, and the relationship between players and federation got worse from there before it got better.
The low point came in March 2020, when players warmed up for a match with their shirts inside-out to hide the U.S. Soccer logo in solidarity, following the public release of sexist legal arguments from the federation, which suggested that women’s players were inferior to men.
Then U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro apologized before resigning within the week. Former USWNT player Cindy Parlow Cone stepped in as U.S. Soccer president, and in February 2022 the parties settled a class action lawsuit for $24 million”, (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37631743/united-states-women-men-formally-sign-new-collective-bargaining-agreements) I believe all sports, men and women, need to come together and protest for equal pay.