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Ava Ibanez

Ms. Rodgers

ENG 112

12 January 2023

The Gender Inequalities in Professional Sports

Women all over the world dedicate their blood, sweat, and tears to the sport they love,

only to receive discrimination, hate, and unfair treatment. The debate over gender equalities in

sports remains a controversial topic to all parties involved. Women are being underpaid,

undervalued, and underfunded in the sports industry. Others are comparing revenue and using

that unfair measurement to justify the pay gap. Although men’s professional sports generate

more revenue than women’s professional sports, female athletes deserve the same financial

compensation, opportunities, and amenities as their male counterparts because they can perform

the same or better statistically and they’re just as entertaining.

Firstly, female athletes deserve the same financial compensation as their male

counterparts because they perform the same or even better than them. In 2019, after winning

their fourth World Cup title, the U.S women’s national soccer team filed a gender discrimination

lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). This lawsuit claimed that the U.S.

women’s team was paid less than the men’s team even though they “earned more revenues,

generated larger television audiences, and won more games” (“Women in Professional Sports”).

The Wall Street Journal obtained audited financial statements from the USSF that proves women

deserve more. For instance, in 2016, women’s games brought in well over a million dollars more

in revenue than men’s games. Also, the men’s national team has won zero World Cup titles to
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that of the four the women’s national team has won. This debunks the argument that the only

reason female athletes get paid less is because their sports have a lower income. Moreover, the

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has undervalued its yearly women's basketball

tournament by an enormous amount of money and should reexamine how it operates and sells

rights to the event. According to Kaplan’s firm report, “the NCAA bundled the women's

tournament with 28 other sports championships and sold the entire package to ESPN for about

$34 million a year” (Bachman and Higgins). The system is unfairly made against women to

begin with. The NCAA's structure and culture prioritize Division I men's basketball over

everything else in ways that create, normalize, and perpetuate gender inequities. These systems

in place prohibit women from becoming as successful as men no matter the circumstance. If

women’s sports were aired on the radio and television shows as often as men’s, they would have

a chance to make more money. Many female athletes are giving their all and outperforming their

male counterparts, yet aren’t given the deserved space to move forward up in the industry.

However, wage differences aren’t the only reason women are facing issues of inequality.

In addition, female athletes deserve the same opportunities and amenities as male athletes

because they perform the same or even better than their male counterparts. Relating back to the

lawsuit, the New York Times stated that these allegations are more than just the pay gap. The

lawsuit includes the fact that U.S. Soccer also “invests less in the team’s practice facilities, travel

arrangements, and medical care” (“Show Them the Money”). The women’s soccer team

represents the United States. They wear the colors red, blue, and white with pride on the

international stage. Their reputation and the country’s reputations are put on the line with every

action they take, whether that be on the field or off. However, the USSF is treating these very
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same women as second-class citizens. Furthermore, women’s sports are not promoted in the

same ways that men’s sports are. As stated by the University of Minnesota's College of

Education and Human Development’s report, the “women's athletics received only 2 to 4 percent

of all US sports media coverage” (“Women in Professional Sports”). Also, another analysis noted

that “TV coverage of women's sports actually declined over the previous quarter-century”

(“Women in Professional Sports”). Taking that into account, although the NCAA’s womens

tournament had a smaller audience than the mens, statistics show otherwise. The viewership of

the women's tournament increased by 32% since 2015 despite being carried on ESPN. On the

contrary, viewership of the men's tournament declined 40% despite being on more widely

available network TV. This supports my point that female athletes deserve the same opportunities

as men because they perform the same or even better than them.

A common argument is that female athletes are paid lower in high-level sports simply

because they bring in substantially smaller audiences which directly connects to revenue

generated than mens sports. However, this has been proven wrong in many cases, such as the

2015 Women’s World Cup. According to Steidinger, the Women’s World Cup games drew more

than 24 million people–“as many watchers as garnered by the NBA Finals” (18). Despite having

won the World Cup though, they only received $2 million. In contrary, during their World Cup

run the previous year, the men's team won $9 million and only made it to round 16. This further

supports my argument that women deserve equal pay and opportunities than their male

counterparts. These hard working and dedicated women on the national team deserve more

respect on their name.

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Despite the fact men’s professional sports generate more revenue than women’s

professional sports, female athletes should be treated equally in sports because they have the

ability to compete and play as well as men. Thus, these gender inequalities in the sports industry

need to be thoroughly looked over and reexamined and justice needs to be served.
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Works Cited Page

Bachman, Rachel, and Laine Higgins. “NCAA Found to Undervalue Women's Basketball.” The
Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition, Eastern edition, 2021.
https://global-factiva-com.eztcc.vccs.edu/ha/default.aspx#./!?&_suid=167292577779901
4725243721549597

Joan Steidinger. Stand Up and Shout Out : Women’s Fight for Equal Pay, Equal Rights, and
Equal Opportunities in Sports. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2020. EBSCOhost,
https://search-ebscohost-com.eztcc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=239
8718&site=ehost-live.

"Show Them the Money." New York Times, 10 July 2019, p. A26(L). Gale In Context: Global
Issues,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A592758556/GIC?u=vbcps&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=9c3504eb.

"Women in Professional Sports." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale
In Context: Global Issues,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/ZCMWBA044368671/GIC?u=vbcps&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=
cc495245.