A new study by money.co.uk reveals that tennis has the lowest gender pay gap in sports, even though men are still earning 34.32% more than women.
Tennis has the lowest gender pay gap in sports
The WTA has a lot to be proud of. Even though there is still room for improvement in the treatment of women’s tennis players, females in the sport enjoy the greatest equality compared to other female athletes.
Men are earning on average $4.8 million more than women each year, which is currently around 34%, as the study suggests.
In 2019, Forbes published a list of the highest-paid athletes in which Serena Williams was the only woman to make it into the Top 100. While one in a hundred demonstrates the lack of investment into female sports stars, tennis is the only sport to feature in the list. Naomi Osaka joined Serena in the 2021 Forbes list, positioned at No.12, well above 20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic who occupies spot No.46.
Basketball has the greatest gender pay disparity of staggering 8,567%
The situation is the worst in basketball, where men earn 8,567% more than women. NBA players earn $10,225,000 on average, while salaries in the women’s equivalent league average at just $118,000.
Pay in basketball is all dependent on league revenue, but with the men’s driving a higher viewership, this means more of a cut for their paychecks. The argument, however, is that more investments into women’s basketball would help to close the gender pay gap.
Male football players in the UK earn 7307% more than women
On both sides of the pond, funding and salaries of female players lag behind, with the gender pay gap sitting at $34,0000 in the US with men earning 86.72% more than women and a staggering £1.9 million in the UK.
Based on the average wage of the league, males in the Premier League would earn £772 a minute if they were to play every minute of a regular season but women only making £16.72 a minute in the FA Women’s Super League.
Jack Grealish recently made history as one the most expensive players in English football, after Manchester City invested in a £100m deal to secure him. In women’s football, however, Pernille Harder was the most expensive on record, with Chelsea paying £250,000 to Wolfsburg. The difference in figures shows the enormous disparity between the investment into the male and female games.
The sports industry is one of the most lucrative in the world, however, the study found that a considerable amount of money is being pumped into male teams, worsening the pay gap for female athletes. Women’s tennis players enjoy the best conditions, always dominating the lists of richest female athletes, thanks to the WTA’s continued efforts to promote women’s tennis and ensure equal pay for their players.
Read more: Is women’s tennis more popular than men’s tennis? Google stats answer the question.
