Introduction to the Problem

In the sports industry there is a big difference between what men get paid and what women get paid. Men get paid hundreds of thousand’s more than women every year. Even when the women’s sport team are bringing in more money, they are still getting paid much less than the men. For years, this is how the sports industry has worked, and someone needs to make the change.

In 1972 Title IX of the the Education Amendment Act was placed. Title IX states..

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Title IX applies to all educational facilities that receive federal funds. Both public and private schools are included.

The reason I bring this up is because it applies to sports too, because of Title IX all women are given the same equal opportunities that men are given. This includes scholarships, equipment and supplies, locker rooms, practice times, and recruitment of student athletes.

Title IX does not enforce that the same money has to be spent on women compared to men. But the NCAA website gives a good explanation why.

The Javits Amendment stated that legitimate and justifiable discrepancies for nongender related differences in sports could be taken into account (i.e., the differing costs of equipment or event management expenditures). A male football player needs protective equipment such as pads and a helmet, and a female soccer player needs shin guards. Title IX does allow for a discrepancy in the cost of the equipment as long as both the football and soccer player received the same quality of equipment. However, a female ice hockey player must receive the same protective equipment that a male ice hockey player would receive, inasmuch as the protective equipment is the same.

Because of Title IX women have gotten several more opportunities. Now that women are able to receive scholarships for playing sports more women are bale to get an education at college that would not have been able to prior to Title IX.

Now that things are equal at the college level we need to work on making things equal at the professional level as well.

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