As long as women have been playing sports, they have been fighting for every penny they earn. There are countless examples throughout history that show women fighting for the same payment as men when they do the same job. One of the first moments that really made an impact was when Billie Jean King won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1972. She was awarded $10,000. But the men’s championship prize was a whopping $25,000. King fought for her rights and the year after the championship prizes for both the men and women’s US open were equal.
From 1972 to now, many competitive sports championships have changed their ways and now offer the same dollar amount prize for winners. Some example includes the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the World Surf League. While many other sports teams are fighting for equal pay, like the women’s national soccer team, basketball team, and ice hockey team, they are not there yet.
A big hurdle for equal pay for women in sports is the revenue teams bring in. While tennis is arguably one of the sports with the most correction in equal pay for women, there were a few bumps along the road. The main argument that kept setting women’s pay in sports back was the statement that men’s sports games bring in more revenue. They have more viewers and people that come to the matches, and they should, therefore, be paid more money.
Other arguments came in that the women’s corporations did not have as much money as a whole as the men’s corporations did. For example, the NBA receives billions of dollars in revenue, while the WNBA does not. Should the women get penalized when they do the same job as men, just because the company they work for isn’t as popular? Or should everyone be paid off of how much revenue they bring the company?
Whichever route you think is right, there is still pay gaps in women’s sports that are not proportional to the revenue received. A prime example of this is with the USWNT. From 2016-2018, right after the women won the 2015 World Cup, they generated 50.8 million in revenue compared to the U.S. Men’s national team’s 49.9 million in revenue. However, the USWNT was still paid less. This begs the question if the pay gap is strictly about the difference in revenue.
The USWNT has been one of the biggest supporters and fighters for equal pay for women in sports. They are not only role models for girls in sports, but they are also role models for girls everywhere. Right before the 2019 World Cup, the USWNT took their fight public, as they sued the US soccer federation for discrimination. They not only complained about unequal pay but also unequal training ground and equipment. They continue their fight for equality today.
Many women around the world are fighting every day to received equal pay for equal work. While some progress has been made like Title IX and sports teams like the USWNT suing the federation they work for on the bases of discrimination, there is still a long road ahead. The answer is not as simple as making all salaries exactly the same, as said before there is the question of how much revenue each team brings in, and how much money each corporation has to give. This is the problem that is not obvious on the surface.
A large majority of people don’t think of the revenue that teams bring in first. They see that women are playing the same game as men and are getting paid many times less. Many people say that women should get paid the exact same as men. Many people think this is the right thing to do. While not all companies are biased against women, they might still pay them less because they don’t have enough money to pay them the same salaries as men. For example, the women in the WNBA fight for proportionally equal pay, instead of just equal pay. The fight for equal pay is far from over as people still debate on the logistics behind how this would work for many different corporations who are in many different situations.
Works Cited:
https://www.inhersight.com/blog/insight-commentary/brief-history-unequal-pay-womens-sports?_n=62398236#
https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/24247429/why-increasing-wnba-player-salaries-more-complex-think
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-womens-soccer-games-out-earned-mens-games-11560765600