Did you know that tomorrow is National Girls and Women in Sports Day?
To celebrate, we thought we would do some digging into pay equity in sports.
Sports that deserve recognition:
Marathons – The World Marathon Majors is a series that includes six of the largest and most well known marathons in the world, including New York, Boston, London, Tokyo, Berlin, and Chicago. Winning men and women receive equal prize money when they participate.
Tennis – In 2007, Venus Williams shamed the All England Club (which hosts Wimbledon) into paying both male and female champions the same prize money. There is a whole documentary about how she did it called “Venus Vs.” Now all four grand slam tournaments pay the same amount to male and female players.
Surfing - In 2012, after undergoing new ownership, the World Surf League made a policy to pay men and women equal prize money.
Sports that should be embarrassed:
Golf – The total prize money for the PGA tour is more than five times that of the Ladies PGA, a difference of more than $275 million a year.
Basketball – In the WNBA, female basketball players can earn between $38,913 and to $109,500 annually. However, in the NBA, male basketball players’ salaries range from a low of $525,093 to a maximum of $16 million per year. To be clear, the maximum salary for a professional female basketball player is only 20% of the minimum salary for a male basketball player.
Soccer – After winning the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the US team won $2 million in prize money. Compare this to the staggering $35 million awarded to Germany’s men’s team, which won the year before. The US men’s team – who placed 11th – collected $9 million.
Clearly, equal pay isn’t just an issue for everyday workers. As a reminder, women in Montana make 67.5 cents to every dollar men make. Montana women earn less than men in every occupational category and industry, despite the fact that more women have high school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees than men.
We know that Superbowl is coming up, but in the next week take some time to appreciate women in sports. There are plenty of talented athletes in high schools and colleges to cheer on. And be sure to take your sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews with you.
Note: Much of the information in this post was found at the Women’s Sports Foundation.
MBPC is a nonprofit organization focused on providing credible and timely research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues that impact low- and moderate-income Montana families.