Farrer & Co Women in Sport - Report - Page 8
Percentage of sports in
the UK awarding women
and men equal prize
money as at March 2019
83%
Learning
from the best
In promoting, securing and sustaining
women’s participation as a specific aim,
sport’s governing bodies and clubs are
not starting from scratch.
8
Each sport is at a different stage
of development, and the context
in which each operates and makes
plans varies considerably.
Spectator, supporter, funding
and sponsorship levels are also very
different for each. These differences
notwithstanding, some sports’
strategies on women’s and girls’
participation and leadership are far
enough advanced for lessons to be
learned for themselves and others.
The picture that emerges from
football and rugby, set out here by those
charged with delivering on these sports’
plans, is of a relationship between elite
sporting success – reflected in media
attention – and grassroots interest in
taking part. That success demonstrates
the existence of a previously untapped
audience and commercial interest,
which can both be used to build up the
infrastructure and playing opportunities
that support women’s participation.
That virtuous circle, though, does not
complete itself. Diversity and equality in
sports governance and leadership plays
a part in getting results, a topic to which
we return in part.
Money and prizes
In addition, we should consider the
role of the rewards available to players
and athletes. Prize money in women’s
football has increased significantly over
recent years: the total pot in 2019 was
$30 million dollars compared to some
$6 million in 2007. This is still nowhere
near the figures offered in the men’s
game. Prize money for the last men’s
World Cup was around ten times that
of the Women’s World Cup.
Research from the BBC cited in a
European Parliament report in March
2019 indicated that a total of 83% of
sports now award men and women
equal prize money, which is an increase
of a considerable margin on the figure
of 70% recorded in 2014. That said,
there are still huge salary disparities
within some sports.
The report references a 2017 global
sports salary survey that revealed the
combined salaries paid to women’s
leagues in the seven top-division football
competitions in France, Germany,
England, the US, Sweden, Australia,
and Mexico (which included 81 teams
and 1,693 players) were less than the
£32.9 million earned by Brazilian forward
Neymar for his playing contract for Paris
Saint-Germain in 2017-2018.
Women in Sport – Levelling the playing field