Mind the Gap - Gender inequality in sports, why it happens and how to solve it

A popular and often controversial topic of conversation at the moment is the pay gap and general gender equality in sports. It alludes to the fact that sportswomen get paid less in their fields than their male’s counterparts, and whether or not they should be paid the equal amount. In this article, I hope to identify reasons for and against the argument, and suggest ways in which the situation can ultimately be improved.

Even though this debate has been around for years, it has recently come back into the public conscious after it was discovered that the New Zealand women’s cricket team had travelled to India in economy class, while the men travelled in business class. To clarify, the International Cricket Council had paid for all of the men’s teams to fly business class but refused to allow the women’s teams do the same. Personally I find this a disappointing act from the International Cricket Council. These are professional sports teams travelling to a World Cup and should be treated as such. There was a good article written by Madeleine Chapman for the Spinoff regarding the circumstances and how ridiculous they were. But she, like many others, missed a key point that is often forgotten. The fact is that women’s cricket is a young game in the professional era, much younger than for men. This means that the game is growing, but it is a long way behind their counterparts. It is therefore not right to put women’s cricket on the same pedestal as men at this stage. When the first men’s World Cup was held in 1975, the total prize money was £9000. In 2011 it was £6 million. Over time the game grows. However, it is unlikely that the women’s game will grow that rapidly. Historically, women’s sports are a tough sell to a male-dominated market. There are ways to help increase popularity but I will address that later. In my opinion, all national sports teams should be able to travel comfortably to overseas tournaments. I therefore also have an issue with the All Blacks Sevens team travelling in economy. They are one of the best sides in the world. For all the money World Rugby makes I would expect them to be treated better. Although I agree that the ICC’s act was one of sexism, sometimes the controlling organisations prefer not to let go of their precious cash.

This leads me to my next example, this time at FIFA, a truly genuine and philanthropic organisation. Last year following the Women’s World Cup there was major controversy surrounding the prize money awarded compared to the men’s tournament a year earlier. In 2014, the total prize money for the men’s tournament was $576 million, with winners Germany receiving $35 million for their efforts. In comparison, a year later the total prize money available for the women was a measly $15 million. At first glance this disparity looks like a despicable act of sexism and should call into question whether football be played altogether. But don’t jump to conclusions. First off, the $15 million is a 50% hike from the 2011 edition. That is a huge gain and FIFA has said that they hope to do the same in the future as they try to expand the game. Let’s not forget the part that revenue has to play in all of this. The 2014 World Cup had a total revenue of $4.8 billion, $529 million of which was sponsor revenue. The women meanwhile generated $40 million of sponsor revenue, annihilating initial estimates of $17 million. This was a massive leap in the right direction. In 2011, broadcaster ESPN only generated $6 million in sponsor revenue for the women’s event, meaning that there was an increase of 667% over the four year period. Also, when the US contested Japan for the final of last year’s edition, 25.4 million Americans tuned in, making it the most viewed football match in US history, which is amazing considering they hosted the men’s 1994 World Cup.

So if so many people tuned in then why did the women not get paid? Well, to be honest, FIFA doesn’t like to pay anyone. Hell, it makes countries pay to host their events, then takes all the revenue for themselves. So while the men may have received $576 million in prize money, it was only 8% of the total revenue. The women received a similar percentage last year. In all honesty, it’s an issue for both genders. The fact that participants get less than 10% of the revenue is ridiculous and shows just how greedy and corrupt FIFA really is. In a separate incident last month, five members of the U.S. women’s team that won the World Cup, filed a wage-discrimination complaint against their federation U.S. Soccer. They stated that the federation paid them only 40% of the wages that their male counterparts received for friendly matches, while they created at least the same amount of revenue. Now this is also discrimination that shouldn’t be happening. If I were the federation I would focus my attention on the success of the women and give them the money they need to keep having such success. Let’s be honest the men’s team isn’t going to win the World Cup any time soon, and probably never will. Sure, they have a better chance than the All Whites, but even we could give them a run for their money. In this instance I agree that the women should be getting paid the same amount as men, especially considering they bring in equal revenue and actually have a reputation as a quality football side.

Speaking of revenue, a lot of people have pointed at advertising as the issue for why women’s sports don’t generate the same amount of money. Now this is a very valid point. For example, who even knew the women were playing their own T20 World Cup at the same time as the men? Sky wasn’t interested in advertising it but heavily advertised the men’s tournament instead. The first step towards higher revenue and athlete income is awareness. The general public need to be made aware of women’s sports by advertisers and broadcasters such as Sky. However, that is only part one. If and when that happens, people need to tune in and watch these events in the same way they do for men’s sports. There cannot be complaints from anyone if an event is advertised and in the public eye, only to see no one tune in. People need to follow through on their claims. Women will only get paid more if more people watch them play. Obviously broadcasters and advertisers have a responsibility to make these events known, but ultimately it is the viewer’s responsibility to watch these women compete. Try and base viewership on the same demographic split as for men’s sports, usually around a 65-35 male majority. If the same split could happen in women’s sports then revenue would almost certainly increase, and do so rapidly. However, at the moment the split is 50-50 at best (usually for Grand Slam tennis finals), and quite often is around a 60-40 male majority.

In some sports equality in some way has already been reached. Since 2007, all four tennis Grand Slams have had an equal amount of prize money for both men and women, regardless of revenue. This is a step in the right direction, although there is still a large gap in prize money for ATP and WTA events throughout the rest of the year. Controversially, world number one Novak Djokovic has argued that men should receive more prize money in Grand Slams as they draw in more viewers and sponsors. He later stated he had no problem with women fighting for their rights, he simply believed that men should do the same. Tennis is a tricky one for me but I think it goes further than the debate of prize money. Really it comes down to sponsorship and awareness from outside parties such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok. Think of all the male tennis players you know. Maybe you saw them on a Nike ad, heard them in the news, or scrolled past them on Facebook. Most people would have heard of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and maybe Stan Wawrinka. Now think about female players. Everyone knows Serena Williams. Everyone knows Maria Sharapova. But who else? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ad, article, or news story about someone like Victoria Azarenka, who won the Australian Open back to back in 2012 and 2013 and is consistently hovering near the top of the rankings. To emphasise my point, the number two in the world right now is Agnieszka Radwanska. Number three is Angelique Kerber. Who are these women? For all we know they could be Ukrainian politicians, that’s how little impact their names have. Going back to sponsors like Nike or Adidas, how often do you see adverts involving female athletes? Not very. Leading up to an event like the FIFA World Cup we always see some minute long ad that involves the world’s best players playing some weird match against each other while sporting the logo of whichever brand. I have never seen anything similar for a women’s event. It’s little things like this that will make a difference. Serena and Sharapova do have these adverts and sponsors and subsequently are known to almost everyone. These sponsors need to expand their sight beyond these two and advertise a group of players like they do for men. It doesn’t have to be huge, but enough for people like me to actually know who the number two and three in the world are.

Another angle that has been raised is that the media only wants to endorse male sports. Unfortunately for those that endorse this belief, it is untrue. The media aims certain things towards certain demographics based on popularity and interest. They cover women’s sports as much as public interest allows them to. It’s the same in men’s sports, or politics, or the environment, or any other topic. In this country the All Blacks get more attention than the national bowls team. Not because the media used propaganda and influence to force us to watch them, but because the public has a greater interest in rugby than it does bowls. It’s the same in politics. We receive a great deal of information about the U.S. election, yet what does anyone know about Somalian politics or Estonian politics? Everything in the media is based on public interest. If women’s sports are to become popular, they need a fan base, followers, and a genuine interest from society, none more so than from other women. In the last decade there are many examples of seemingly useless people becoming celebrities, i.e. the Kardashians. They are boring, dull, and have no right to be famous at all. I’ve seen pigeons with more brain power than that bunch. Yet every day we are subjected to hearing about them because they are popular and are in the public eye. For all the complaints of the media, it is time for women to realise that they more than anyone control trends and interests of the general public, particularly the 13-25 year old demographic. So while men may tell you that women can’t run as fast, jump as high, throw as far etc. and say that women’s sports are boring, it doesn’t matter. If you want it to be popular, just treat it like the Kardashians or Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or Geordie/Jersey Shore. If these idiots could become famous, then surely female sportspeople with actual talent can as well.

Now let’s remove ourselves from both the media and economics. A common argument by men regarding this topic is that women simply aren’t as good at sports as men are. Obviously this is partly true due to the genetic makeup of both genders, and a lack of testosterone limits a woman’s muscular capacity compared to that of a man. This therefore means that it is unlikely that they will ever hit a ball harder, run faster, or jump higher than men. However, it doesn’t mean that sports shouldn’t be encouraged at the grassroots level. For all the sports available to boys that can lead to professional careers, what do women have? Netball? Either that or individual sports. There don’t seem to be a lot, if any, sports academies for women, and it seems a shame that so much athletic talent is put to waste simply because they aren’t men. Take your minds back to school. Apart from netball, what team sports were girls really taken seriously? Sure, they could play football or hockey and form a cool social rugby team, but everyone knew that it didn’t lead anywhere, they just made up the numbers. In my opinion there should be equal gateways available to female athletes, particularly those in team sports. It needs to be drilled into kids at a young age that there are plenty of opportunities available to them, otherwise by the time they reach high school there won’t be enough numbers to have said teams. But there are females willing to play sport. Look at every NZ co-ed or girls high school. I’d say pretty much all of them have a netball team, and many would have multiple. There is no reason that these same people could play other sports, they just need the opportunity to be presented to them early on. If the grassroots could be improved, only good things can come from it.

In conclusion there are many factors that will contribute to sportswomen closing the pay gap with their male counterparts. I believe it has to begin at grassroots level, where girls with athletic ability need to be encouraged and guided to the professional level in the same way that men are. This will increase the amount of female athletes in professional sports, which in turn would raise the level of ability and competition. With a larger contingent of professional sportswomen across a range of sports, it becomes the responsibility of the media to advocate and promote them through advertising and broadcasting. Sponsors also need to purchase rights, build brands, and ultimately showcase talent to a worldwide audience. Once made aware, the responsibility will then shift to the general public to watch these women, purchase tickets, go to games, buy merchandise, and enhance revenue production. Only after these steps are completed will the pay gap close. Ultimately it all comes down to how much revenue sportswomen as a product can produce. They are a long way behind at the moment but there are ways to help them make more in the future. Hopefully over time these steps towards equality will be taken. If enough people support it then it will happen. But it is important to realise that women’s sports are still in the infancy stage. Just be patient and over time it develop grow into a product we can all be proud of.