Men and women. Should athletes be paid the same?

10/21/2019

The supposed wage gap between men and women has been a topic growing in popularity. I say supposedly because there is no “gender pay gap.” The reason that studies show a vast difference in men and women’s wages even if they are in the same field or position, is that more men are in the workforce. This completely skews percentages and other logistics regarding wages. There is no gap, women that have the same job, same degrees in education, work the same hours and work in the same capacity are paid equally to men.

That being said, this is not the case in professional sports. Let us review basketball. The highest paid player in 2019 in the Women’s National Basketball Association will be Dewanna Bonner who earned 127,500 dollars for the season. Stephen Curry is making 37,457,154 dollars in the 2019 season. At first glance this may or may not be surprising, but as we look at more statistics we can further understand the chasm between the players salaries. The average net worth of an NBA franchise is 1.9 billion while the average worth of a WNBA team, in terms of financial worth, is hovering at about 250,000. The problem is that the WNBA just isn’t making the caliber of money that the NBA is. We could look at other statistics such as how the average attendance of a men’s game is between 15 and 20 thousand while a woman’s is about 6 thousand. We could also see that the WNBA made in total profit of about 60 million while the NBA made 8. Billion. What would you rather watch?

Do you think that the WNBA players and women athletes should be paid more? Do you think they are being paid sufficiently now or even overpaid? Have you ever heard of a WNBA player or team? Should we focus on the male athletes and paying them less?

Sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/071415/how-nba-makes-money.asp
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidberri/2018/09/04/what-wnba-players-want/#73fdc7bb33eb
https://www.slice.ca/money/photos/highest-paid-nba-players-2019/#!top-earning-nba-players-james-harden

36 Comments

Kately

10/26/2019 10:14:12 pm

Sports are a favored activity all across America, whether you are an athlete yourself or a fan watching from the stadium. The wage gap between men and women is still a subject of debate, though it mostly refers to desk jobs. The salary of an athlete is dependent on several factors like their contract, performance, and year-to-year salary. Perhaps the biggest reason of all would be the viewer ratings. Men's sports have a bigger viewership than woman's sports, which will ultimately affect their earnings.

People will still claim that the gap is far wider than it should be,

"In professional basketball at the highest level, the minimum salary for men is nearly five times higher than the maximum salary for women. The highest-paid female tennis stars earn a third of what the highest paid men make, and the highest-paid female soccer player in the world makes 182 times less than the highest-paid male.

Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/84792/11-things-you-might-not-know-about-athlete-salaries

Andy Gebhardt

10/27/2019 01:47:38 pm

I agree that viewers determine a lot of the players salary. That is what happens when it is a fan based professional sports. However, could there be a way to even out the pay between men and women? Are there any solutions that could make the wage gap smaller?

Faith

10/27/2019 02:25:10 pm

I like how you included some statistics on other sports beyond basketball. Do you think wages will ever be equal? Should they be?

Kately

10/28/2019 08:16:39 am

It’s hard to say if things will ever be solved, the wage gap has several good arguments on both sides of the argument. Things like maternity leave are what is most commonly talked about, perhaps this issue could be addressed more in the future.

Andy Gebhardt

10/27/2019 01:45:49 pm

As far as the wage gap between men and women, I believe as the original post says. Because there are so many men in the workforce it can alter results. However, when it comes to professional sports there is a definite gap. For example, tennis players have a significant gap in their wages. Men routinely make more during matches than women do because the prize money is higher. There are several large scale tournaments where the prizes are the same but in general they are different.
For any sport that deals with athleticism, it is necessary to consider physical characteristics. On average men have much more muscle, speed, and agility than women. So when competing at a high level, men have an advantage which is why there are gender separated sports. Because of this fact, more viewers would rather see a better, faster level of competition if they have a choice. This seems biased but it is true. Would a person rather watch a t-ball game or a high school baseball game? Unless there is someone personal involved, the answer will be the high school team.
This idea is the same as between the NBA and the WNBA. The women cannot compete at the same level as the men and therefore more viewers will watch the men’s games. As hard as it is to say this, it is obvious from the amount of viewers and fans each association has. Therefore the wage gap is lower as well.
I do believe that the pay should be equal in professional sports so that gender equality is as it should be. However, I find issue with how that is going to be done without more money to support a program. There are ways to improve but they will be hard to achieve for most sports.

Faith

10/27/2019 02:23:41 pm

I believe popularity of teams has a lot of influence on pay. I also agree with what you said about the support given to a program, and how that affects their wages.

Tori Weir

10/27/2019 03:49:03 pm

Many people would assume that the difference of pay wage is sexism, but as you said people find it more entertaining to watch a higher competition. The difference physically between the female and male athleticism is easy to see. If athleticism did not play a part of the popularity, do you think it would change the views?

Madicyn

10/27/2019 05:11:42 pm

I also agree that it would be great to have the pay equal for the Women's National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association, but the WNBA would have to really up their game. (haha accidental pun) They would need to get more attention to their side, and begin selling more team apparel, tickets to the games, concessions, and all the other ways to bring in money.

Sabrina

10/27/2019 07:17:53 pm

Is equal pay the same amount for both genders or the same percentage of money that their franchise is worth? The WNBA can't pay as much as the NBA but the women are being overpaid if we look at percentages. Lowering their pay to make it "equal" would look terrible because of the already large gap. Should we change anything?

J.Farzark

5/20/2021 11:25:36 am

check your facts, female tennis players get equal pay even though they work less, 3 vs 5 sets...I totally disagree with anything you had to say.

Faith

10/27/2019 02:18:43 pm

Personally, I know nothing about professional sports because they don’t necessarily interest me as much as they do to many other people. I am all for equal rights and equal pay, but in this case the statistics show that it may be nearly impossible to have equal pay for both men and women in sports. Women’s basketball is not near as popular as men’s basketball, and doesn’t bring in enough profit to pay their players the same amount as a men’s team. Their pay has nothing to do with what their gender is, just how popular their sport/team is. However, I don’t think a males pay should be cut down simply because their team is well known and successful.

Tori Weir

10/27/2019 03:39:44 pm

It is interesting the difference between watching the women team play versus when the male team does it. In addition the popularity also plays a part of the pay wage difference. Why do you think women's basketball is less popular than the males?

Madicyn

10/27/2019 05:06:41 pm

While I was researching this same question, some of the highlights of watching basketball are the cool techniques and shots they make. While some players in the NBA are breaking records for independent dunks in a year at 279, by Rudy Gobert, the WNBA is not doing so with, "The first dunk in the WNBA was in 2002, by Lisa Leslie. It took another six years for that to happen during an official game again, in 2008, by Candace Parker". I am not a huge sport person, but when a game is on T.V. it is much more interesting to watch these 7ft tall men, dunk a basketball, rather than regular shots.

Erykah

10/27/2019 04:41:51 pm

I agree that it would not be fair to men athletes to cut their pay. Most of the jobs for popular sports, including players, coaches, commentators, and managers, are male-dominated. Do you think female sports would become more favored if women started to take these positions?

Ezra

10/27/2019 06:04:50 pm

This is very true. How could the WNBA become more popular? does the problem lie in the marketing strategy.

Alyssa Farnworth

10/27/2019 06:11:05 pm

I agree with your statements about gender not playing a role in how the teams are paid. How do you think the women’s teams could get more popularity? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a commercial for the WNBA, how might these types of advertisements improve pay?

Paige

10/27/2019 06:19:10 pm

I am glad you noted popularity of a sport. I agree that popularity determines spectators, which in turn determines wages.

Brax Kauffman

10/27/2019 06:54:55 pm

I’m glad that people that don’t follow professional sports are still able to see that the pay gap isn’t because of gender roles but simply because their rating are lower.

Tori Weir

10/27/2019 03:34:27 pm

The fight for gender equality is one of the main topics of today and in these past years, there also has been progress. Sports, especially are where many people can see the unfair payment between the women and male athletes. I believe there should be equal pay despite the popularity of male sports and female sports. Many sports are male-dominated which therefore viewers are most likely going to watch the males play sports over watching women play them. It all comes down to how many people would watch this sport or game and their sponsors. The larger the views the more money comes out of the game. Although there are some instances where it is confusing. For example, the difference between the female and male teams of US soccer are paid unfairly. The female soccer athletes are paid less but are more successful than their male counterparts.
Personally, I am not a huge sports fan and do not know much about a lot of sports. I never watched professional basketball and have no idea who plays on what team, but I do know there is a difference in popularity between males and females. More people watch the MBA than the WNBA and that affects the pay wage. .

Erykah

10/27/2019 04:29:14 pm

How would women get paid equally? I suppose men would have to give up some of their salary for the women, but I don't know if that would be fair. I think if more people were interested in female sports, the inequality would be resolved. But the audience will watch what they are interested in, and it usually ends up being male sports.

Kately

10/28/2019 08:41:38 am

You’re right, taking pay from the men would not be fair, we would be back at square one. I believe that there is not much that can be done, unless there is a sudden spike in Women’s sports viewership ratings.

Erykah Foss

10/27/2019 04:18:14 pm

Although I’m not one to sit down and enjoy a football game or soccer tournament, I have noticed that female athletes are paid less than male athletes. I do not believe it is because there are men in the professional sports business that are sexist and reduce their pay-- it is because there are simply fewer people who enjoy watching female athletics. According to Dr. Marie Hardin, the dean of Penn State University’s college of communications who has studied this topic extensively, “nobody does more audience research and understands consumers of women’s sports better than ESPN. If they thought they could make massive amounts of money from coverage of women’s sports, they would be doing it.” Because there is little interest, publishers chose what their audience would read.

Women's sports, however, are gaining more popularity. This year, 14.3 million people in the U.S. alone tuned in on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final-- almost 3 million more viewers than the 2018 Men’s World Cup-- which makes it “the most-watched soccer match on English-language television, men’s or women’s, in the U.S. since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup final,” as stated by Abigail Hess, a reporter for CNBC Make It.

I think female athletes are paid fairly, even though their wages do not match male athletes. Perhaps the solution to more equal pay is to promote women’s athletics in the form of articles in sports magazines.

https://www.thenation.com/article/why-dont-people-watch-womens-sports/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/10/us-viewership-of-the-womens-world-cup-final-was-higher-than-the-mens.html

Madicyn

10/27/2019 04:58:21 pm

Within the last two years I have gained significantly more knowledge about sports of all sorts, high school, college, and professional. Getting involved with managing our high school football and basketball teams, along with dating athletes in the past, I was introduced into that whole world, and learned the importance that sports have with people. Now, with that being said, I personally have heard very little about the WNBA in comparison to the NBA. I never see social media posts about people attending the WNBA games, nor have I seen them on television.When I enter sports shops for Christmas presents, I don't think I've ever even seen a WNBA team. Looking into it a little more, the WNBA doesn't bring very much revenue with jerseys, tickets, concessions, team apparel, or other factors the NBA sells tons of. The NBA brings in many more viewers. It's thought to be more interesting to watch because of dunks and such. "The first dunk in the WNBA was in 2002, by Lisa Leslie. It took another six years for that to happen during an official game again, in 2008, by Candace Parker", so it does happen, it's just a less frequent and less common in the WNBA. The NBA brings in a revenue of $7.4 Billion, while the WNBA only brings in $25 million. What it really comes down to, is the WNBA cannot pay their players as much as the NBA is paid, due to the amount of money they get. There's nothing sexist or unfair. It's down to the income of the association as a whole, and the facts.

Madicyn

10/27/2019 05:00:14 pm

Links:
https://www.blackenterprise.com/top-wnba-nba-salaries-2019/
https://medium.com/the-wnba-hub/what-if-a-girl-can-dunk-66fb37789820

Sabrina

10/27/2019 07:11:31 pm

You mentioned that its not sexist or unfair and I completely agree. Many people could get mad about how large this gap is but not everything is an attack against women.

Paige

10/27/2019 05:28:46 pm

I believe that athletes are being paid adequately regarding the sport they are associated with. It is understandable that men in the NFL are making more than women in the WNBA. Football is America's sport and because of that it is more popular and receives more income.
However, I do believe that the amount NFL players get paid is slightly outrageous. They are getting paid for being extraordinarily gifted at a sport. In comparison to lawyers and doctors, it is interesting to see that NFL players are making a significant amount more than those who have spent 8 to 12 years in school.
Overall I am not extremely opinionated on the subject. I think athletes are being payed according to their sport and what the association is able to provide.

Andy Gebhardt

10/27/2019 05:56:43 pm

Your point about how they get our without education is true. They do get paid a ton of money for a simple athletic ability. However, the sports that get paid are spectator sports and so entertainment is what they provide and get paid from it. Other jobs are different but still it would be nice to see educated people get paid better.

Alyssa Farnworth

10/27/2019 06:04:34 pm

Personally, I don’t watch a lot of professional sports either, I agree that they are being payed more because they bring in more income. How do you think the women’s teams could gain more popularity? Or why do you think they are not as popular?

Alyssa Farnworth

10/27/2019 06:02:05 pm

I believe that men and women should be payed the same for the same work, most people do. When it comes to sports the companies are privately owned what they players get payed depend on what the corporation is able to provide. The NBA makes a lot more money than the WNBA and therefore can pay their players more. It would be great if the “wage gap” could be closed but the statistics and number of watchers do not support it. Therefore, I don’t feel their wages have to do with their gender but the amount of money they bring in.

Ezra

10/27/2019 06:06:57 pm

I completely agree to what you are saying. It has nothing to do with them being women it is only because the industry is not as big as the NBA.

Paige

10/27/2019 06:22:34 pm

Popularity is a large factor in the wage gap. Men's sports are more popular than women's and that is why they get paid more. Spectators determine athlete income and that is forming a gap between athlete wages based on gender.

Brax Kauffman

10/27/2019 06:45:29 pm

I am glad that you brought up how it has nothing to do with the gender gap. I think that it is important to be able to understand that it is become of the revenue rather than the gender.

Ezra

10/27/2019 06:02:24 pm

In basketball there is a great gap between the caliber of play. The NBA is really fast paced with dunking, and good creativity. WNBA is not as fast paced and they are very fundamental. If they could be more creative and fun to watch then I'm sure they would make a lot more. In Hockey they have the NHL and it is only mens which is very fast and creative with insane hits. I have watched the women's Olympic team and even thought they can not hit they are still some of the most creative people. It makes me realize how good they are working as a team and together.

Brax Kauffman

10/27/2019 06:40:44 pm

Athletics is much different than the common work place. Like many people have already said, the main difference between the NBA and the WNBA is the simple fact that the NBA gets more viewers on a nightly basis. It makes sense that if a program is making more money that they are going to be able to pay their employees a higher salary. Basketball players are employees of the association and are under contract like most people.
The same can be said for other sports. The reason most female athletes do not get paid nearly as much is because they do not make as much money for their respective field. However is some cases this is not the case. For example, the woman’s national soccer team is generally more successful and get just as many views as the the men’s yet they still get paid much less. This is the only case that I can think of where they are being unfairly but I am sure there are some other cases in athletics.
I think that the amount that male athletes are being paid is fair considering how much they are making for different organizations. This could change in the future and I think that there should be changes in these programs that go along with it.

Sabrina Reagan

10/27/2019 07:05:51 pm

The wage gap in the work force has been a major problem for many years but it has been solving itself. As more women enter the work force, the age gap lessens. In sports, men's games are more heavily attended and invested in. Naturally, players can and should be paid much more. Humans enjoy sports so it is a big money-maker. Women's sports, for whatever reason, are less popular. Because less money is invested in it, the players cannot and should not be paid as much. Women's players are already being paid a higher percentage based on the statistics given. Stephen Curry is making 0.02% of what the average NBA team is worth while Dewanna Bonner is making 0.51% of what the average WNBA team is worth. Half of the teams in the WNBA lose money and are supported by profits from the NBA and sponsorships. When the WNBA gets more popular, their pay can increase too, but as for now, we can't change what people like and the pay they're getting now is rather generous.

F.U

5/20/2021 11:18:30 am

If people are too stupid to understand capitalism and sport then they should never mention equality. Feminists, we are sick of your low IQ Bullshit.

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