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Did Sexism Win the Women’s World Cup?
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team just became soccer champions of the world but they weren’t paid like it. The entire winning Women’s National team received $2 million, but the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team received $8 million after being eliminated in the first knockout round in the 2014 World Cup.
Representative Carolyn Maloney from New York wrote a letter to FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, on Monday urging him to address this pay inequality. In her letter to Blatter, she accuses FIFA officials of making excuses for the pay gap by arguing that there have been more soccer tournaments for men over the years.
This is true–there have only been seven FIFA Women’s World Cups as opposed to the twenty FIFA World Cups. But on the other hand, women’s soccer did not become popular until the 20th century when the first FIFA Women’s World Cup was played in 1991.
FIFA has a history of being a bit discriminatory toward women players. Many high profile players filed a lawsuit challenging FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association in January 2015 after FIFA announced women would play on artificial turf for the Women’s World Cup instead of grass like the men. Artificial turf is known for being hotter, shorter, and dryer. Playing on artificial turf has been proven to cause higher levels of fatigue and more injuries than playing on natural grass. Sydney Leroux, the U.S. Women’s Soccer forward posted this picture, illustrating the danger.
This is why soccer should be played on grass! pic.twitter.com/fsNGi27oRY
— Sydney Leroux Dwyer (@sydneyleroux) April 15, 2013
Unfortunately, this is not the first time women athletes have been paid less than their male counterparts. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, this problem exists in almost every sport. In golf, the total prize money for the PGA Tour is more than five times that of the LPGA Tour. In 2005, for the WNBA the salary cap per team was $673,000 compared to the NBA salary cap per team at $46 million.
There are some exceptions, but they’re few and far between. In 2007, Wimbledon changed its rules stating that both men and women would receive equal prize money. All four Grand Slam events in tennis now offer equal prize money for both male and female athletes.
So what is the difference between men and women’s sports? The answer is revenue. According to the Wall Street Journal, there was $17 million raised in sponsor revenue for the Women’s World Cup this year compared to the $529 million for the men’s tournament in 2014. This data shows sponsors are less interested in supporting women’s sports, which causes revenue to suffer.
UK Sport and Tourism Minister Helen Grant addressed the argument during an interview with BBC last year that women’s sports do not generate as much revenue as the men’s sports stating:
It’s not just about the bottom line and profits and the return on investment which I believe they will get, it’s also taking part in the battle for gender balance and fairness in the 21st century, Sports need to engage in the battle of gender balance and fairness.
Grant’s solution for pay equality in women’s athletics is to encourage media outlets to show women’s sports more frequently and in turn generate more commercial investment. With more media coverage, women’s sports would attract larger audiences of both viewers and sponsors. Like Grant said, gender pay inequality in sports underscores the larger issue that gender inequality still exists all over the world and must be addressed.
The Women’s World Cup this year crushed TV record ratings, making it the highest ever for a U.S. soccer game. FIFA should not only pay these women for their hard work and determination, but by ending the pay gap it would show the world that it supports women’s soccer and will continue to as it grows in the future.
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