This page was created by Collin Hardwick. 

Gender Pay Gap in Sports

Wimbledon

Starting in 2007, the Wimbledon has paid men and women’s single and double winner equally in prize money. This would indicate that tennis has closed the gender pay gap by awarding equal prize money. Tennis has come a long way, in 1968 the men’s singles winner was awarded 2,000 British pounds while the women’s singles winner received a mere 750 pounds (“Prize Money and Finance”). In 2007, the purse increased to 700,000 British pounds for both men’s and women’s singles (“Prize Money and Finance”).

A few reasons why people feel that women do not deserve equal pay is because women play 2 less sets then men do and there is a stigma that society finds women less entertaining than men (Close). The women however do not have a say in the number of matches they play, the rules and decisions are created by the International Tennis Foundation which could just as easily make women play the same amount of matches (Close). Additionally, players like Billie Jean King and the Williams sisters are famous celebrities because of their ability to play tennis exceptionally. If they are popular, people must find them entertaining. Numbers indicate that a U.S. Open Tournament that involved the Williams sisters sold out faster than the men’s and in 2013 and 2014 the women’s open championship had more views. At the end of the day men and women both win or lose regardless of the amount of points and number of matches played. They also receive the same title for winning; men’s singles champion or women’s singles champion. Athletes are not paid based off of the amount of time played or else overtime and penalties would mean that players would make more money (Close). Therefore, the argument that men should be paid more because they play longer is an invalid argument. 

(Above Photo) https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/attractions/wimbledon-tickets-2018-how-to-watch-the-tennis-on-centre-court-see-the-final-and-enter-the-2019-a3884901.html

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