Sports in general have become big business over the last several years. An important increasing trend within the arena of sports is the business of women’s sports. While there is no question that there is pent up demand for women’s sports – soccer viewership for example rose more than 300% last year – the unequal pay between male and female athletes is astonishing. Consider this case – last year, even though women comprised 40% of all competitive athletes, they received just 4% of overall sports media coverage. There’s no wonder then that only 0.4% of the sponsorship dollars that are available are being allocated to women in sports.
Thankfully, there have been some notable standouts. Naomi Osaka has been making waves in professional tennis, and Simone Biles won over our hearts in the Tokyo Olympics. If you’re a fan – try voting with your wallet. Attend women’s sports games, insist that your tv providers and news media covers women’s sports, and try to support in all ways that you can. You always have social media at your disposal as well. Do your part and help change the game to make a more even playing field.
Check out the following visual deep dive below on the unfairness found in the pay gap between men and women in sports:
