Failing to invest in women’s sports isn’t just failing women - it’s bad business.
I’ll say it: The gender pay gap in professional sports is an outrage. More than an outrage, it’s downright embarrassing, and frankly, shortsighted. I’m not sure how it’s possible that in today’s day and age, 58% of female athletes earn less than $25,000 annually from their sport, which for context, is below the 2023 U.S. median individual income of $48,060.
Source: The Women's Game
Despite the undeniable talent, skill, and dedication of women athletes – and the recent growth in women’s sports fandom – women athletes continue to earn a fraction of what their male counterparts do. The pay disparity in sports is not just about numbers; it is rooted in misogyny and a stark reflection of how society values women, both in sports and beyond.
Let’s Talk About It
In case you missed it, Sportico recently released the list of the 100 highest paid athletes in 2024. Missing from the list? Women athletes – for the second year in a row. That’s right, not a single woman athlete cracked into the top 100 highest paid athletes in 2024.
To put the gender pay gap in sports into further perspective, consider these stats:
- The NFL salary cap for 2025 is set at $279.2 million per team. The NWSL salary cap is set at $3.3 million per team, and the WNBA is $1.57 million per team.
- As the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick in 2024, Caitlin Clark’s rookie salary was $77,000—while Victor Wembanyama, the NBA’s top pick had a salary of $12.2M.
- Even men’s sports mascots make more than some of the highest paid women athletes. Rocky, the mascot for the Denver Nuggets, earns $625,000 annually, while the highest salaries in the WNBA range from $241-$252K.
- Emma Hayes, the head coach of the USWNT, has an annual salary of $1.6 million. Mauricio Pochettino, the head coach of the USMNT, has an annual salary of $6 million.
Let’s be clear: These aren’t just gaps – they’re entire canyons. And these examples are included very intentionally to show that even top talent in top women’s sports properties are incredibly undervalued. We didn’t even touch on “emerging” women’s sports like football, hockey, and rugby. When Parity surveyed 500 verified professional women athletes from 55 sports last year, they found that half of the respondents reported no net income from their sport after accounting for related expenses.
You read that right: ZERO net income for the entire year from their respective sports.
“It’s Just Economics”
If you check the social media comments on pretty much any post about the gender pay gap in professional sports, you will most certainly be met with comments that look something like this:
“The market determines salaries.”
“If people cared about women’s sports the salaries would be higher.”
“It’s basic economics.”
Basically, the justifications for the pay disparities often focus on revenue generation and perceived popularity. However, what these arguments fail to acknowledge is the systemic lack of investment that has stunted the growth of the women’s sports industry for decades. Until very recently, women’s sports were not treated like a business, receiving limited primetime slots, minimal marketing dollars, and second-tier facilities. A perfect example is the NCAA’s 2021 weight room scandal during the women’s basketball tournament that put the resources gap in plain sight. Women athletes weren’t given inferior resources because they weren’t talented or entertaining; they were given less because of deeply ingrained biases that were prioritizing men’s sports.
Women’s sports have not received proper financial, media or marketing support, yet the product of women’s sports has historically been blamed for the lack of business results. But the reality is that women athletes have every ounce of talent, skill, and star power that their male counterparts possess — they have simply lacked the investment necessary to create fair and sustainable careers for athletes.
Brittni Mason, a three-time Paralympic medalist and sprinter, spends most of her morning training and lifting weights, before quickly transitioning to her other career in the afternoon: seeing clients as an esthetician. Source: Women's Health
As soccer icon Midge Purce once said, “You would never expect a flower to bloom without water, but women in sport who have been denied water, sunlight, and soil are somehow expected to blossom."
If leagues, sponsors, and networks refuse to promote and market women’s sports at the same level as men’s, it is inevitable that revenue will lag. We understand the “economics”; but what naysayers fail to understand is that women’s sports have been stuck in a vicious cycle due to a lack of investment. Fewer resources means less revenue, means less pay for women athletes.
A Reflection of Society’s Priorities
An especially tough pill to swallow here is knowing that sports are a microcosm of society. The gender pay gap in sports mirrors the gender wage gap in nearly every other industry. Women across all professions earn less than men for the same work, often facing the same excuses about revenue, "market forces," or interest. But the truth is, society has long undervalued women’s labor, whether it’s in boardrooms, hospitals, or in sports.
Yet, when given equal investment and attention, women’s sports thrive. 2 billion people across the globe watched the 2023 Women’s World Cup, 18.9M people watched the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, and the Women’s Softball World Series consistently outperforms the Men’s Baseball World Series. We’re living in a time where investment in women’s sports consistently leads to positive business results.
So How Do We Close The Gaps?
Fixing this issue will require intentional investment, paired with strategic labor negotiations, and a shift in how society sees and values women. Sponsors must put their dollars behind women’s leagues, networks must give equal airtime, and fans must demand better. When that happens, women athletes will be better positioned to negotiate more competitive salaries from the leagues and teams that employ them.
All of this being said, I will reiterate that investing in women’s sports and closing these pay gaps is not just the “right thing to do.” Currently, some of the largest returns on investment in the sports industry are taking place in women’s sports. Brands that sponsor women’s sports are rewarded by fans with loyalty and spend, media returns are off the charts, and team values climb every single day.
The gender pay gap in sports is a reflection of how society has failed women, there’s no question about it. However, there are (somewhat) simple solutions that can help. By confronting these disparities head-on and committing to equitable and smart business practices, the pay gaps will continue to close, and we’ll be able to use sports to change the way society values women.
Read Parity’s “Beyond the Game: Exposing the Economic Realities of Professional Women Athletes’ research here.
About Caroline Fitzgerald
Caroline Fitzgerald (she/her) is a contributing writer for Parity and the CEO & Founder of GOALS - a women's sports marketing consultancy & media platform. Caroline launched GOALS in 2020 after recognizing that there was an opportunity to help brands, networks and fans see the social and economic value that can come from investing in women's sports. GOALS also produces the leading women's sports business podcast - 🎙️The Business Case for Women's Sports, which is presented by Ally. For more information on GOALS, visit https://goals-sports.com or follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Threads.
About Parity
Minority-founded in 2020, Parity's mission is to close the gender income and opportunity gap in professional sports. By developing high-impact collaborations between brands, professional women athletes and their fans, Parity has proudly put more than $3.5 million in the pockets of women athletes, attracting dozens of brands to the movement in the process. The platform offers connections to more than 1000 women athletes from 80+ sports, including well over 200 Olympians and Paralympians. For more information on how to tap into the rapidly rising influence and popularity of women athletes, visit https://paritynow.co or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Threads.
