The Gender Pay Gap In Sports Needs to Close
By: Ila B.
She dribbles down the court. She hastily makes a pass, and she receives it again to skillfully make her shot. She wins herself and her team yet another game. She has the expertise, the awards, the fame, but none of the pay she deserves.
Take, for example, the USWNT (US Women’s National Soccer Team). The men’s U.S. Soccer team is paid a maximum of $600,000, while the women’s team is paid a maximum of $200,000. Not to mention the pay gap in the FIFA World Cup.
Last year in Qatar, the U.S. men were evicted at round 16. They won 13 million. If the women’s team were to be dismissed at round 16, which would be a historic loss for them, they would win a measly $1.9 million in comparison. The USWNT has won four world cup titles: 1991 ,1999, 2015, and 2019. The only time the men’s team made it to the semi-finals was in the 1930s. The women’s winner of the World Cup would receive $4.3 million, while the men’s team would receive $42 million.
This gap in FIFA prize money is trying to be solved by U.S. Soccer. According to an article from ESPN Soccer, “The two teams would pool together their FIFA prize money and then split it equally among both teams.” After donating 10% of the prize money to youth soccer programs, the women would receive $6.7 million, which would be more than the winner of the Women’s World Cup would receive! Other countries, however, are not participating in splitting the FIFA money in such a way.
The gender pay gap is embarrassingly large, and Maya Moore as well as the USWNT are but two examples of these inequalities. Things are being worked on to improve these unfair situations, but more must be done to even out the unequal odds.
I like your opinion about the men's and women's salaries for various sports. Mens get more money than woman. I agree with this opinion because you should basically get the same amount of money as mens does. I like how you said the gender pay gap is embarrassingly long.
ReplyDeleteIla’s opinion on this topic was that there is a gender pay gap in sports, which needs to stop. I totally agree with her. It’s extremely pathetic how underpaid females are being paid. In Ila’s Editorial she said, “Lebron James is paid $47 million, and Maya was paid a pathetic 1/500 of what his salary.” It’s ridiculous. Ila also said that, “The women’s winner of the World Cup would receive $4.3 million, while the men’s team would receive $42 million.” It’s extremely absurd. Men make $37,700,000 more than women. It’s absolutely crazy, and needs to stop.
ReplyDeleteIla, your opinion about the gender pay gap is what I took from this article. I completely agree with you. I think that this pay gap in women's and men's sports should be solved. Maya Moore is a perfect example of this. When she really only took eight years to get all these awards and honors. It took Lebron James about twenty-one years to get almost all of the same awards. And Maya gets $117,000. While Lebron gets $47million for the same thing. Overall this was a great editorial and I agree with you! Great job!
ReplyDeleteIla, Your opinion on the gender pay gap is negative, because women are paid less than men in sports, even though sometimes women play better. The examples that you provided made it easier to see how ridiculous the gender pay gap was. When I learned about how Lebron James got paid 500 times more money than Maya Moore, even though it took him 21 years to get all the titles she earned in eight seasons, I was shocked. When I learned the USWNT was paid less than the men’s team, even though the men’s team made it to semifinals once and the USWNT won four world cup titles, I was stunned. I agree with you on this issue. When I saw the gender pay gap for myself during the Statistics project in math class earlier this year, it made me angry and I too wanted to do something about it. I wrote about topics similar to yours for my Editorial (gender-based dress coding) and my Historical Fiction (Women’s March), so I can understand your point.
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