Category: AthleteCompensation

In the world of professional sports, the compensation of men and women sports has always been a hot topic of conversation. Male and females aren’t being paid the same wage to perform the same task. With this may seem like a simple concept to understand, it’s a lot deeper than you may expect. Women have been given the short end of the stick. They are often paid less, given worse facilities to use, hotels to stay in, and food to eat. These discrepancies can be shown by the United States Women’s National Soccer Team. They have consistently placed higher in World Cup matches than the men’s national team. For example in 2014, the men’s team placed 15th and received twelve million dollars. In 2014 the women’s national team Won the World Cup and was awarded nine million dollars. This is a very frustrating source to see, especially knowing that both the men’s and women’s teams are employed by the same employer: The United States Soccer foundation. This foundation controls how the winnings are divided and how much money goes to the players. One of the main reasons the women are paid less is due to their contract clauses. The men’s follow a pay to play model where they are awarded money for just playing and additional money for winning. Women are given a year long salary that allows them to miss games and still get paid, but the money is very modest (around $72000 a year, plus $1350 per win). Using this method men will make more even if they lose every game and the females one all theirs.  Men are paid more than the women despite playing less games, and the women’s team produces more revenue. One main argument to help encourage equal pay is to pay players based on revenue shares. In 2015 females produced twenty three million dollars in revenue and the men’s produced twenty one million dollars. The issue with this data is the women’s team won the world cup in 2015 and the men’s team placed 16th. This comes from men statistically watching sports more and having more television time and people in the stadiums. While this is an ongoing issue there are many things that can be changed. 

One issue that could be changed is to remove the U.S Soccer Federation and have separate employers for both the men’s and women’s national team. If having separate employers is not a feasible option that there needs to be contract negotiations. The women’s team should change their approach from fighting for an “equal pay” model to a “pay to play” model similar to the men’s. Also growing the game. FIFA has been notoriously bad at contributing to growing the game of women’s soccer. The women’s national team needs to have more televisions and social media attention, as well as more friendly and exhibitions to help attract people to the game. While reading about this issue I was shocked to see the inequalities still present in U.S soccer and sports around the world. Without intervention from players or outside help, many of these issues are often ignored and overlooked. That’s why it’s important for players to stand up and fight for what they believe is fair and equal. Having learned this information allows me to better see and understand data that doesn’t relate to me, and to better understand the daily struggles of women in their fights for equal pay and opportunity. Two questions I have from my research is how is the U.S soccer foundation allowed to employ both the men’s and the women’s National team, yet have different bargaining agreements? And do you believe paying based off of revenue shares would benefit or harm the women’s National team.?

Works Cited 

Garris, Morgan, and Bill Wilkes. “Soccer Nomics: Salaries for World Cup Soccer Athletes.” Jwpress.com, International Journal of the Academic Business World, https://jwpress.com/Journals/IJABW/BackIssues/IJABW-Fall-2017.pdf.

 Jordan, Samantha. “Captain, My Captain: A Look at Autonomous Ships and How They Should Operate under Admiralty Law.” Indiana International & Comparative Law Review, vol. 30, no. 2, 2020, p. 283-318. HeinOnline, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/iicl30&i=338.    

 Rowan, Jenna N. “Equal Protection for Equal Play: A Constitutional Solution to Gender Discrimination in International Sports.” Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law, vol. 20, no. 3, Spring 2018, pp. 919-946. HeinOnline, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/vanep20&i=981.    

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By Johnny Cowdrick and Andrew Fearey

Summary of Issues:

The main issue that women face in sports is the significant gender differences in pay that male and female athletes receive. Information and data from Taylor Gerch’s article are depicted in our infographic below. These large differences are rooted in discrepancies within the media gap as women’s sports are often neglected on a national stage, as well as certain verbiage in the Equal Pay Act that prevent women in sports from receiving the benefits that they deserve. The disadvantages that women are at in sports is also related to the lack of opportunity women are given in respect to job opportunities and sponsorship deals.

Policy Recommendations:

In order to create equality, policy changes need to be made. As male professional sport leagues have much more funding they have the ability to help support female leagues as well. For example, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Women’s Association (WNBA) pay their players a considerable difference. The average salary from the NBA is more than one hundred times larger than the average of the WNBA. Policies such as salary restrictions and revenue sharing rules could be introduced to ensure a more equal distribution of funds among leagues. As Nicole Zerunyan presents in her research as well, changes to the Equal Pay Act such as eliminating the “same establishment” requirement and adding a sports specific clause could go a long way as well.

Consequences Without Intervention:

If we continue to neglect the issue of equal pay for female athletes, the pay disparities and overall respect for the athletes will continue to dwindle. It is very common for these female athletes to acquire a second job outside of their respective leagues as a way to pay their bills and support themselves. Without active change and salary reconsideration, women will begin to part ways with female professional leagues as the time commitment may not necessarily be worth it. If this pattern continues and women are not able to justify their involvement in sports, the gender differences will become even larger.

Research Questions:

• How have women in professional sports created awareness regarding the attention to their ongoing injustice?
• How can male professional leagues help support the funding and activate change for female athletes?

Personal Impact of These Issues:

These issues have impacted me on a personal level as I have been able to better understand my sister’s career as a collegiate athlete. The way both professional media and universities dedicate more time and attention to men’s sports makes it difficult for women to have opportunities in the sports world. I am also now more aware of the sports media I am consuming and how I can be a better fan by supporting women’s sports.

What We Learned:

We learned the true impacts of the gender inequalities that are present in our sports world. The sports world needs to develop a common middle ground for the benefits of both the leagues and the athletes. Players need to be represented correctly in comparison to those of the male counterparts while the leagues are also able to make a profit. This has opened my mind to a better understanding of how significantly businesses revolve around money, and how the problems women face in sports and other professional domains are institutionalized in all facets of business.

Infographic:

Sources:

Baker, E. (2020). A Comparison of NBA and WNBA Player Salaries. Kennesaw State University.

​​Gersch, Taylor (2021). The Gender Pay Gap: Seeking Fairness for Women in Professional Sports. Oregon Review of International Law, 22, 147-196.

Zerunyan, Nicole (2017). Time’s up: addressing gender-based wage discrimination in professional sports. Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review, 38(3), 229-258.

By: Jake Leonard and Tyler Colditz

Summary with support 

Despite winning the 2019 World Cup, the US Women’s National Team had a more significant and strenuous challenge ahead. The team earned and fought to achieve equal pay to their male counterparts. Even though the WNT was much more successful than the men, they still earned a fraction of what the men did. When brought to court, it was ruled that under the Equal Pay Act, there was no proven wage discrimination. Under their current bargaining agreement, the women were paid based on salaries and received bonuses on game appearance and wins. Within this same agreement, the men were given more opportunities to receive money which is why they were paid more. Since the women signed this agreement, changes could not be made until the 4-year cycle is over and a new agreement is reached. The fight for equal pay continues. 

This chart displays how, under the current bargaining agreement, the men still earn substantially more over the span of 20 games whether the teams win or lose all of them. If the men lose all 20 games they still receive $100,000 while if the women win all 20 of their games they only earn $99,000. This clear pay disparity further shows the problem and large gap in equal pay. 

Policy Recommendations

A policy recommendation that could counter this would be to cap the total amount a player on the men’s team could make, and give the excess money that goes over the cap to the women’s team. Another recommendation is to create a policy that gives the men’s and women’s teams the same base salary per game and the same potential bonuses per game based on wins and losses.

Consequences

A consequence without intervention would be women continuing to make significantly less than their male counterparts, despite performing better, having more success than men, and having the same job as men. Another consequence that could come without intervention is that some women would be turned away from attempting to play professional soccer for the US national team, or professional women’s sports in general, knowing this inequality of pay between the two gendered teams. 

Research Questions

Research questions based on the patterns we saw: 

1. Has the WNT’s fight for equality sparked a movement for all women sports/athletes? If so, has it been successful?
2. Once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, is it able to implement an opt-out option if the current situation shifts from equality?     

How issues impact us on a personal level

While neither of us plays soccer, we believe the women’s team should be paid equally to the men’s because of their continued success in their sport. We understand just how difficult it is not only for women in professional sports, but women all over the country. This unjust fight for equality has opened our eyes to the current situation and we will do whatever we can to achieve it. 

What we learned and how our view of the world has shifted

We learned that the US Women’s National Team is making significantly less than the men’s team, despite performing better. We learned about the women’s fight for equal pay, and the current bargaining agreement on which they are being paid. This has shifted our view of the world because the women’s team is being treated in such a negative manner regarding this situation. Even with the Equal Pay Act existing, there was no proven discrimination, but looking at the numbers it is clear there is.

Sources 

Adams, V. (2021). The End” Goal” to the US Women’s Soccer Team Equal Pay Lawsuit: Proposing a Resolution for Gender Equality by Examining the Equal Pay Laws for Male and Female Sports. U. Miami Bus. L. Rev., 29, 22. 

Campbell, H. (2017). Superior play, unequal pay: US women’s soccer and the pursuit for pay equity. USFL Rev., 51, 545.

Das, Andrew. (2016). Pay Disparity in U.S. Soccer? It’s Complicated. The New York Times.Kimbell, J., Macy, A., Hammer, E. E., & Philpot, D. (2018). Yellow card: US Women’s Soccer seeks pay equity. The CASE Journal.

Kimbell, J., Macy, A., Hammer, E. E., & Philpot, D. (2018). Yellow card: US Women’s Soccer seeks pay equity. The CASE Journal.

Jack Mathews and Bennett Teceno

Athlete Compensation

On April 24th, 1996, the WNBA was founded and eight teams were immediately created in the league. Since that day the association has been a strong tool for several social campaigns concerning all human rights. The league has been around for over 26 years, having several Hall of Fame careers on and off the court, giving solid aid for causes concerning women in all levels of athletics. The WNBA’s image started as a place where heterosexual females were competing at a high level, but in recent years the league has pushed for a diverse population of elite female athletes. Despite the constant, gradual growth of the league, the players’ salaries are proportionately lower than that of their male counterparts in the NBA. 

Title IX was institutionalized in 1972 giving rights to all female athletes, allowing them to participate in all levels of a sport, from high school to professional, and earn a salary adequate for their work. Although Title IX has given women a ground to be equal to men’s athletics, their climb to equality has been a steep one. Since 1972, Male athletes have dominated all forms of media and funding. Only 2-4% of all college sports coverage is focused on female sports, with a steady decline in recent years. Men’s college sports also receive far more funding than women, Men’s coaches are paid vastly more than women’s coaches, and there is a difference of over 60,000 opportunities between men and women athletes in college. Once you get to the professional level it is a similar story. The first pick in the NBA draft commonly makes around $5 million as their signing bonus on top of a large contract. Comparing this to the WNBA, a woman will make around $40-50,000 for theirs. Attendance rates are also significantly lower in the WNBA than in the NBA where an average of 18,000 people come to watch the men compared to the 7,000 who attend the WNBA games.

Currently, the NBA shares a much larger portion of its revenue with its players. The NBA generates $7.4 Billion annually, giving an average of $3.6 billion to all players combined while the WNBA generated $60 million, it only distributed $12 million to their players. There should be a policy that ensures that the NBA and WNBA pay out the same percentage of the league’s respective revenue, to its players. The NBA has such a policy, they must give 53% of the league’s revenue to their players.

The consequences of the WNBA’s resistance to raising salaries could cause the players to leave the league. The players have demanded pay proportionate to the WNBA for many years now and with little to no change they could possibly cause a lockout similar to the NBA’s a few year ago. If they don’t continue to be proactive in increasing the player’s pay, the image of the league that has been so positive since it has been founded could be diminished. 

As basketball fans and people who stand for equality in sports, the controversy over the WNBA’s problem with its salary is an ongoing issue that frustrates many players and fans. This is an issue that must be solved in the future and must continue to be publicized to the public as so. Personally, this issue also impacts our lives, because we have sisters and other family members that take sports like basketball very seriously. We recognize how much hard work female athletes put into their sports and undoubtedly believe that they should be rewarded on the same basis as male athletes. 

The most interesting fact that was found while researching this topic was the amount of exposure that women’s sports receive from television carriers. Channels like ESPN and NBS Sports only show women professional and college sports around 3% of the time. Watching sports my whole life I never thought about the amount that women’s sports were on television, after learning that women were only being shown 2% of the time, I would have thought that the big carriers would be proactive in growing their sports but I was wrong; they continue to be part of the problem.

How is it possible in today’s society to obtain an equal distribution of revenue between both the NBA and WNBA?

How can the NBA help publicize the WNBA through social media in order to provide another source of revenue?

What do women need to do in order to receive higher pay in the WNBA?

 

Sources 

 

Cronin, M. (1970, January 1). Filling the stands factors determining NBA and WNBA attendance. Institutional Scholarship Home. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/handle/10066/6952 

 DeBord, R. (2017). The representation of women and gender in Warner … – augustana college. digital commons. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=wollstonecraftaward

Ettienne, lerae. (2019). It’s Time to Pay Up, The Justification for Higher Salaries for WNBA Players: An Analysis of the WNBA’s Success and Employing Mediation between the WNBA and NBA to Leverage Future Success. Hein Online. Retrieved 2022, from https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=true&handle=hein.journals/pepds19&div=13&start_page=175&collection=journals&set_as_cursor=0&men_tab=srchresults#:~:text=Success%20and%20Employing-,Mediation,-between%20the%20WNBA 

Feldman, Torrey M. “Bet You Didn’t Know She Could Get Paid for That: Using Sports Betting and the Right of Publicity to Address the Gender Wage Gap in Professional Sports.” UCLA Women’s LJ 27 (2020): 249.

Kosofsky, Syda. “Toward gender equality in professional sports.” Hastings Women’s LJ 4 (1993): 209.

Leano, Aileen. “The Inequality in Female Professional Sports.” (2020). Unpublished Manuscript

Runcie, David Streeter. “The Gender Wage Gap in Sports: Explaining the Pay Gap in Sports.” (2019) Unpublished Manuscript

Terry Adams & C. A. Tuggle (2004) ESPN’s SportsCenter and Coverage of Women’s Athletics: “It’s a Boys’ Club”, Mass Communication and Society, 7:2, 237-248, DOI: 10.1207/s15327825mcs0702_6

Trolan, Eoin J. “The impact of the media on gender inequality within sport.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 91 (2013): 215-227.