The Gender Pay Gap in Sports
Over the years, there have been many arguments over the gender pay gap in sports. Many argue that women should be paid just as much as men and blame gender inequality. I don’t think that men and women can be paid the same in sports and not because of gender inequality. While there can be gender inequality happening in the sports industry, men’s sports generate more viewers, revenue, and endorsements than women's sports causing men to be paid more than women.
Men’s sports have more viewers than women’s sports. For example, the FIFA World Cup is one of the most popular sporting events in the world. According to FIFA (the governing body of association soccer/football), the Men’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was watched
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A prime example of this would be the revenue difference between the NBA (men’s professional basketball league) and the WNBA (women’s professional basketball league). According to CBS News, the NBA makes around 10 billion in revenue every season while the WNBA makes about 86 million in revenue every season. While 86 million is a lot, it is nothing compared to 10 billion. According to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the WNBA has lost an average of $10 million every year. The WNBA is not running a profit. The NBA is generating way more money than the WNBA. This causes the men’s players to be paid more than the woman’s players. The more money made; the more money athletes are being paid. The less money women’s sports are making, the less the women are making compared to …show more content…
This goes back to the viewership between men’s sports and women’s sports. The more famous you are, the more people want to see you play and the more popular your brand becomes. Popular brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma look for famous athletes to sign to create brands and endorsements for the player. Because men’s sports receive more viewership, fans want to see more from male athletes causing big brands to pay more to male athletes. For example, Lebron James makes an estimated $75 million from sponsorships and endorsements (highest in the NBA). Candace Parker, a WNBA star makes only around $7 million in sponsorships and endorsements (highest in the WNBA). Therefore, men’s sports being more popular causes men to be paid more through sponsorships. The less viewers women’s sports has, the less brands will pay female