Despite the progress that has been made in gender pay equity across industries, the pay disparity between female and male athletes is still problematic. According to a report released by My Top Sportsbooks, most sports categories shows female athletes receiving significantly less than their male counterparts.
Some of the findings of the report reveal that female UFC fighters earn half of what male UFC fighters make. Female basketball players earn less than 1% of what men make, while women soccer players make on average about 4%. The lowest of all professional sports are women softball players who only make 0.1% of what men make in baseball. Outside of sports, women earn an average of 84% of what men earn. The only sport to match this salary data across industries is tennis where women earn 84% of men’s salaries.
My Top Sportsbooks concludes that the disparity is a matter of who draws more attention to the sport.
“If you bring more money, you earn more money”, the report states. “Thus, salaries are determined by the audience’s willingness to watch and support the sport or players. Even justifications from Forbes such as pay disparities in baseball/softball and basketball come down almost entirely to the revenue their league generates.”
With salaries so dependent on audience engagement, the report says that women athletes can level the playing field by securing endorsements, brand sponsorships, and impressive social media analytics.
“With the rise of social media there are some cases where women are earning more than men through their social media following and brand sponsorships,” the report continues. “This goes to show athletes with a positive influence and strong following can appeal to audiences outside their sport demographic and compensate their potential earnings through that.”
How do you feel about the state of the gender pay gap in sports? Should sport entities backing women athletes do more to draw in audiences and corporate sponsors?
