Over the past few years many female athletes, specifically soccer players, have been advocating for equal pay. In 2021 the highest salary for a male soccer player was Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Manchester United, was paid approximately 36 million dollars. The female soccer player with the highest salary was Carli Lloyd, who earned 158,000 dollars. The statistics obviously show that it is true that male athletes do get paid more than female athletes, at least in soccer. However, statistics also show that not as many people go to female sporting events as males. In 2019 the average number of people at a men’s soccer game was about 21,000 people. The average number of people at a women’s soccer game was significantly smaller, around 7,000 people. So, does this mean that female athletes should be paid less than men?
Some people say that they should be paid equally because a woman's effort is just as valuable as a man’s. They also say that they make money in other ways. For example, the USWNT (U.S. Women’s National Team) jersey is the best selling jersey of all time. Not to mention that the USWNT is a lot more successful than the USMNT (U.S. Men’s National Team.)
All of this is true, but the women are still not bringing in as much money as the men. Men’s sports are on the media more often and they are usually more well known. Not to mention that a lot of women athletes eventually begin to have kids, meaning that their career most likely won’t last as long and they have to take a specific amount of time off to care for themselves and their baby. During the last FIFA World Cup, the men’s tournament brought in 6 billion dollars with, 400 million going to other teams, while the women’s tournament only brought in 131 million dollars, with 30 million going to different teams. So, even though the women’s team is more successful than the men’s team, they still don’t bring in nearly as much money.
I personally believe that it is fair that female athletes do not get paid as much as male athletes because they don’t bring in as much money.
Do you think that female athletes should be paid as much as male athletes?
Replies
Great topic choice and well done Kassie!
I don't think that women should get paid as much as the males that do the same sport. For example, the NBA rakes in way more money than the WNBA does therefore the money that the WNBA can dish out to the players is way less because they don't have the money to keep up with the NBA.
I don't think that females athletes should be paid as much as males unless they bring in as much money as the males do. Since a sport like the WNBA doesn't have near the fanbase of the NBA so they won't bring as much money in for ticket sales or jersey sales.
I don't think that female athletes should be paid as much as male athletes because they don't bring in the same level of money. They don't have the amount of viewers that men do, so they can't afford to pay their athletes. Once they get the amount of viewers that men have, then they can be paid equally.
Yes, I do think that female athletes should be paid as much as male athletes because the sports they are playing are basically the same, with the exception of football. The best of the best play in every game no matter how they start. They should be paid as much as men who are athletes and people won't change my mind about it.
I agree that the sports that men and women play are basically the same, but the women don't bring in as much money, meaning that they can't be paid as much.
I do not think that female athletes should be paid the same as male athletes. The only reason I feel this way is simply because they do not bring in the same amount of money as male athletes. I fully believe that female athletes should be paid the same if they brought in the same level of revenue.
I agree that if female thletes brought in the same amount of money they should be paid more.
There are some good women athletets, and yes some do deserve to be payed more than what they do right now. Only reason I dont think females should get a big contract like males do, is because there sports aren't as tough as mens. Im sure you can argue that but, I dont really see what sport is tougher then the NFL in America for males.
I don't think that it is right that males get paid way more than females in the same sport. I think males and females should get paid equally in sports. Most sports are known as sports only for men when plenty of woman play them as well.