Progress Has Been Made But the Road is Long for Female Athletes and Wage Equality
The University of Iowa’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark’s fairy tale did come true as she was picked by the WNBA’s Indiana Fever as the number one draft selection. In March, the Iowa Hawkeye set the D1 NCAA womens and mens basketball all-time scoring record. Clark made history and herstory after she trained hard for several years, showed dedication on the court, and earned this achievement. She has garnered the respect of coaches, players, and fans worldwide. Basketball great LeBron James even complimented her success on X (formerly Twitter). CNN noted “her star power is also filling seats, boosting TV ratings and moving merchandise”. In all the celebration one important issue was revealed when the ongoing gender pay disparity was brought to light. Clark’s rookie salary as a female in the WNBA approximates $76,535 her inaugural season compared to Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs NBA rookie salary for the 2023–24 season of around $12 million as the number one draft pick, according to ABC News. Her reality, although unfair, is one faced by many female athletes.
What is the gender pay gap?
The gender pay gap as defined by Cambridge Dictionary is “the difference between the amounts of money paid to women and men, often for doing the same work”. In simple terms, women are undervalued in many professional settings even though their skills and training or education may be equal to those of a male counterpart.
Who is an Important Changemaker?
In August 2023, Billie Jean King was acknowledged by the sports world at the prestigious Grand Slam U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows for her contribution to advocating for pay equality in tennis. King has championed equity in all aspects of the tennis sphere on behalf of women for years from dress codes to racial diversity to equal investments. Her powerful stance against the wage gap in women’s tennis was honored five decades after the U.S. Open agreed to make the monetary winnings equal among both genders.
When King became the U.S. Open women’s champion in 1972, her prize money of $10,000 was significantly less than the $25,000 the men’s winner, Ilie Nastase, received. King’s progressive fight resulted in the tournament offering equal prize money between the genders as Bristol Myers subsidiary, Ban deodorant, became an important sponsor by contributing money to the women’s side to make up for the shortfall in 1973. It took decades for the three other Grand Slam tournaments to follow suit with gender pay equality. Equal pay was offered in 2001 for the Australian Open and 2007 for both Wimbledon and the French Open, according to Sportico.
However, not all tennis tournaments treat the genders equally when it comes to paying the winners. In 2023, at both the Cincinnati Open and Canadian Open the men who won received a prize of $6.6 million while the women were awarded far less at $2.8 million.
Final Thoughts
As an avid tennis player and a supporter of gender wage equality, I greatly admire King’s efforts as she fights for the future of women athletes. As she famously stated, “Unless I was number 1, I wouldn’t be listened to”. Her leadership has not only empowered women in the tennis world but also motivated females in a multitude of sports, industries, and sectors. Over 50 years since she began her campaign, King’s fight for wage equality continues.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/03/sport/caitlin-clark-record-ncaa-basketball-scorer-spt/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/16/business/caitlin-clark-marketing-licensing-womens-sports/index.html
https://www.billiejeanking.com/equality/
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gender-pay-gap
https://www.sportico.com/leagues/tennis/2023/us-open-prize-money-gender-pay-gap-1234736498/
