What’s Behind the Gender Pay Gap in Sports?

While gender pay gap in sports has reduced over the last decade, there’s still significant difference even for the highest paid women sportspersons

As women in the 21st century become more empowered than ever, the issue of the gender pay gap has come to the forefront. In addition to the gender wage gap, the gender pay gap can also be seen in sports. For better understanding, let us take a look at the magnitude of the gender pay gap and what is behind the gender pay gap in sports.

Male vs. female sportspersons – How large is the gender pay gap?

As per a study conducted in 2021, it was found that the average pay gap between a male and female professional athlete in the United States was 4.1 times. This gender pay gap was seen across most of the popular sports such as tennis, basketball, soccer and golf. If the gender pay gap was small, it could have been ignored. But at around 4X, it is evident that steps need to be taken to reduce this gap.

Even the most popular female sportspersons have to face the gender pay gap. If we look at the Forbes list of highest paid athletes in 2024, there is not even a single woman in the list. The lowest entry in the list has earnings of $45.2 million. This is almost double that of the earnings of highest-paid female athlete Iga Świątek. A Polish tennis player, Iga Świątek had earned around $23.9 million in 2023.

What is behind the gender pay gap in sports?

Lower viewership – One of the key reasons for the gender pay gap in sports is the relatively less viewership for women sports events. The lower the viewership, the less is the revenue generated via advertisements. Due to this, women athletes are paid less in comparison to male athletes. As an example, we can consider the attendance at NBA and WNBA. During the 2022/23 NBA season, WNBA games registered an average attendance of 6,000 fans. This is around 1/3rd of the average attendance seen at NBA games.

Historical undervaluation – In earlier times, women sportspersons and events used to receive limited attention. As a result, the participation was also low in comparison to male sportspersons. Lower payment and fewer opportunities meant that many women were unable to pursue sports as a full-time career. And since there was a lack of social media platforms, the issue of gender pay gap in sports did not gain prominence.

Less fan following – Women sportspersons have relatively lower fan following in comparison to their male counterparts. This is linked to the viewing preferences, where fans prefer more adrenaline-pumping action. The possibility for such visuals is more in games like soccer, boxing, etc. where a lot of aggression and brute strength is involved.

Male dominated games – Many of the popular games that we have today started as male-only events. Some examples include cricket, basketball and football. Over the years, these sports remained to be male-dominated. As a result, generation after generation acquired a natural preference for male-dominated sporting events.

Less media coverage – As the fan following is more for male sportspersons, the media naturally gives more space to male athletes. In the UK, media coverage for female sports events is just around 7%. In the United States, around 40% of athletes are female. But their media coverage is only around 4%.

Gender pay gap in sports – Future outlook

Efforts are being made to promote women sporting events and increase the funding and sponsorships. In recent years, many women sportspersons have witnessed a growth in their earnings. According to Deloitte, revenue from women sporting events is expected to touch nearly $1.28 billion in 2024. This is around 300% more than what Deloitte had projected three years earlier. However, gender stereotypes and biases still exist in sports. Until viewership improves, achieving gender pay parity in sports will be a challenging task.