Research conducted by the USA online gambling platform HowToBet.com is exploring gender equality in major sports disciplines, including tennis. The main purpose of the research is to learn and understand the pay difference between males and females in this sport.
Tennis is one of the most popular sports for women. It is one of very few sports in which women command fame, popularity, and pay that equal those of their male counterparts.
This wasn’t the case before 1973, when the popular professional female athletes, Billie Jean King, and 8 other tennis players called Original 9 rebelled. King’s boycott in 1973, on the U.S. Open, changed the future of this sport.
Today, the four Grand Slam tournaments give equitable prize money for both genders, and tennis has one of the smallest gaps in pay between men and women.
“I spoke to some of the male players about that who were unhappy because the prize money was equal,” British tennis player Andy Murray said in his interview with CNN. “And I said, “Well, would you rather there was no increase at all?” You know, they said to me, “Yeah, actually”. That’s some of the sorts of mentalities that you’re working within these discussions where someone would actually rather make less money just so they’re not on an equal footing with some of the female players.”
Additionally, the only two females to be able to get on the 2021 Forbes list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world are tennis players – Naomi Osaka with total earnings of 60 million dollars and Serena Williams with total earnings of 41,5 million dollars.
Full Article: https://www.howtobet.com/understanding-the-gender-gap-in-sports-pay/
The study is also looking into the following gender pay gaps per sport:
· Hockey: In the National Hockey League (NHL) the average male salary for the season of 2021-22 is $750,000 per player, meanwhile in the Women National Hockey League (WNHL) is $300,000 per team of 20 players.
· Basketball: Stephen Curry who is the highest-paid NBA player, is making $550,000 per regular-season game, while Olympic stars like Brittney Griner, earn $6,900 per season game.
· Golf: Jon Rahm earned $2.25 million for winning at the 2021 U.S. Open, however Yuka Saso, who also had her major win, took home with her just $1 million.
· Baseball and Softball: MLB players make a minimum of $570,500, while NPF players only $3,000.
· Soccer: In 2021, women’s salaries ranged from $22,000 to $52,500, while men’s salaries can go up to $612,500.
Men play more sets in the majors. Men also account for the vast majority of the money in pro tennis.
That said, the money should reflect the percentage of money made by the men versus women.