$360,000 vs $1200: Rarity of Mikaela Shiffrin Outearning Men in Skiing Still Doesn?t Solve Gender Pay Gap in Sports

The gender pay gap is a persisting issue even after decades of fighting. It travels across all fields of professions including sports. The gender pay gap is a result of the various disparities female athletes experience every day. Though there has been an increase in women’s pay as compared to men’s since the 60s, the gap still remains wide and unclosed.

According to reports, there wasn’t one female athlete in Forbes’ 2018 issue of ‘Highest earning athletes.’ The issue was a worsened continuation of 2017, when only Serena Williams made it to the list at No.56.?The matter follows through to the NCAA-monitored, NIL deals without a beat. As per ON3, most of the flow of cash through deals has been towards football and men?s basketball players. However, though unjustifiable, BBC states that 83% of sports have worked their way towards providing equal pay to women and men; entailing a long flight of injustice.

The fight against gendered pay disparities dates back to 1970 when Billy Jean King earned $2,900 less than her male contemporary. The tennis star was granted $600 while Ilie Nastase earned $3,500 at the Italian Open. The observation made Billy Jean stand against the disparity. The tennis star did not shy away from threatening to boycott the US Open. For the initial step, before Billy Jean’s threatening, Richard Nixon’s administration passed Title IX; protecting individuals from discrimination. However, with Billy’s strong stand, the US Open became the first Grand Slam to offer equal pay. Thus, starting the domino effect in the industry which evidently, very slowly caught on to Skiing.

Skiing industry’s pioneering efforts

The mention of the ‘domino effect’ forms a faster action in one’s mind heading toward the end. But in reality, the fall of one domino equals years. It took the Australian Open a good 2 decades to follow up on the move made by the US Open. And the pattern applies when talking about the efforts made by the Skiing industry. Earlier this year, Mikaela Shiffrin had her 13th World Cup victory in a Giant Slalom. Her win earned the alpine skiing star $1.04m in prize money; further helping her surpass Switzerland?s Marco Odermatt in earnings; reports The Guardian.

But the industry’s pay pattern wasn’t always a happy space. According to Olympian, Lindsey Vonn. ??All of our contracts are confidential, but I roughly know how much the men make and how much the women make. It is a pretty severe gap,??Lindsey Vonn added back in 2018. Even when a step towards equality is taken relating to elite female athletes, the issues on the matter stay rooted and dwell deep.

The staggering inconsistencies

To state the disparities hovering over the industry, Soccer naturally takes the first step. The sport undoubtedly is one of the most followed in the world. But the fact might consistently apply to men’s as compared the women’s; possibly justifying the followers’ reason for the wage gap. However, there is one instance that could counter the remark. In 2019, When the US women’s soccer team played the finals at the World Cup, 43 million people tuned in to watch the showdown. The viewership was the largest for any soccer game in American history.

Also Read: Not 100 Wins, Mikaela Shiffrin Focused on Unusual Days Before Career-Defining Season

Disappointingly, that doesn’t close the gap. According to reports, the women’s team earned just 38 percent of one game. Further, for the 2018, FIFA World Cup, women’s event was handed 15m as compared to $576 million for the men?s. Coming down to individual earnings, in 2016, Wayne Rooney took home ?300,000 a week while Steph Houghton, the best-paid female English player of the time, earned around ?65,000 a year, which is ?1,250 a week. The situation brings us back to the initial argument; the popularity of Men’s sport.

The underlying factors preventing equal stride

Men’s sport has always climbed the ladder of popularity, possibly stringing it back to their early start. The category had a leading start while women did not make a presence until later. This has let men’s sports easily garner continued viewership; acting as the first factor of the pay disparities. The industry works in a way to let viewership determine the value that an athlete might have; the number of fans that show up or the amount of media coverage an athlete might get.

But to one’s dismay, women’s representation in media remains highly unwished for. According to reports, Australian female athletes receive 7% of media coverage as compared to 93% of male. This continues through to USA and UK where women gain 4 and 7 percent of coverage each while men pull in the 90s. This representation affects the next factor; endorsements. Brand deals and endorsements help athletes earn their share of prize money with the right backing. However, the factor is again driven by viewership pushing female athletes down further. A study in the early 2010s suggest that women’s sports account for a total of 0.4 % of the sponsorships.

Interestingly, these factors are intrinsically linked with each other and create a continuous cycle. The viewership, endorsements, and economic returns, run around in a circle to decide the popularity. There have been several policies specifically made to break the cycle. However, they look away at the long-standing popularity of men’s sport; which is difficult to numb down. With that, pay equalization has a long way to go, but hopefully a bit faster with vigorous steps from the spectators.

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