The Exposé Series

By: Meredith Haberfield

Wage Gap in Athletics

Prominent wage disparities are a problem we all know exist between men and women in many jobs in today’s world. Athletics, unfortunately, is one place where that does not change. Women in the LPGA get paid an astonishing amount less than the men for winning the same tournament. The Women’s U.S. Open winner in 2019, Jeongeun Lee6 earned $1 million, while the second place finisher, Angel Yin, earned $412,168. The Men’s U.S. Open winner in 2019, Brooks Koepka, won $2,160,000, and the second place finisher, Tommy Fleetwood, won $1,296,000. Up until the sixth place finisher on the men’s side, they all earned more than the second place finisher on the women’s side. This is a classic example of women getting paid less for doing an identical job. The tournament was the same, yet the women made substantially less than the men for accomplishing the equivalent. 

Women in sports across the board are paid significantly less than men, even if their team performs better than their male counterparts. For example, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team makes approximately 7.5 times less than the men’s U.S. team, even though the women have been much more successful. Even comparably successful female and male players have a significantly different pay. Alex Morgan, one of the most talented players for the U.S. team, has a net worth of about $3 million, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, talented male players, each earn over $100 million. These male players make 100 times the salary Alex Morgan does, even though they are proportionately talented and successful. Christian Pulisic, a soccer player for both Chelsea F.C. and the United States Men’s National Team, signed a contract for $73 million with Chelsea, making him the highest paid American in soccer. For these gaps to occur in a relatively popular sport, especially in other countries throughout the world, sets the tone for less popular sports, such as golf. How do you feel about the wage gap between men and women in sports?

Sources:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/uswnt-player-salaries-usa-women-soccer-pay-vs-men-world-cup/qzuufgsku4cf1f1eu9p8uou5y

https://www.pledgesports.org/2017/06/top-10-most-popular-sports-in-the-world-by-participation/

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/golf/news/us-open-purse-2019-how-much-does-winner-make-prize-money-payouts/wuah3961bxj41nqrv75pqcwzv

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/heres-the-prize-money-payout-for-each-golfer-at-the-2019-us-womens-open

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/20-year-old-soccer-phenom-becomes-highest-paid-american-player-in-chelsea-deal

LFG: HBO MAX