Prize money

[Dirty Ewok]

So there an article on bbc sport about the lack of parity in prize money between mens and womens sports, with football being mentioned as one of the worst offenders.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29744400

This gist of it is that they want to close the gap and they talk about 70% of sports offering equal money which is what they are aspiring to.

I know Tennis is one of the most high profile sports where an equal prize fund is given, and although this has caused a bit of contention over the years because of the fact women play less tennis for the same money, on the whole people seem happy.

Obviously the gap between mens and womens football prize funds is huge but then of course so is the money generated by each game I would assume.

I always thought that prize funds were dictated by sponsors and linked to turnover etc so assuming football starting paying equal money, who foots the bill? Shouldn't popularity/competitiveness of the sport dictate earnings?

Be interested in gaining the opinion of some of the female members too @spursgirls @spurs_girl_tasha @CosmicHotspur @Hot-Spur (and any others it's not exclusive!) do you watch women's sports specifically? Do you find it as enjoyable? Etc.

My opinion is let the people decide. If the football is as entertaining then the viewing levels will be comparable and the sponsors will be more interested so prize funds should increase but I know it's a bit chicken/egg that if the money isn't there the standard will always be lacking.

Remember that prize money is generally driven by the audience that can be pulled in regardless of sport....

Women's tennis the prize money is on par with men's tennis at the major events because they can pull in marketing. It is not uncommon for the women's final at a major event to garner equal or greater TV ratings. In the states this means that the broadcaster is allowed to charge as much for ad time for women's tennis as men's tennis.

Take the US open, it generates something along the lines of $200m in revenue. Of that revenue something like 57% is generated by sponsorships and TV add time. The WTA is able to effectively argue that the women deserve an equal amount of the prize money as the men because they pull in an equal share of viewers and sponsorships.

Now if you look at the women's tour vs the men's tour and take away the majors the earning potential of the women looks different. The men's tour has 51 competitions with a total of ~£40m in prize money (on average ~£800k prize pool per event) the women's tour has about 20 fewer competitions with a total of about ~£15.5m in prize money (on average ~£500k prize pool per event), roughly a 40% difference in prize money per competition. This happens because women's tennis just isn't as big a draw as men's tennis.

In the states Women's gymnastics and figure skating will be aired in prime-time on TV (where the most add revenue is generated) whereas the male counterparts may not even be aired because there just isn't as much of an interest by the casual viewer. If there is interest that can be drawn by the sport then there is an increase in advertising revenue which translates to an increase in pay and prize money.

The US have tried several times to establish a women's professional football league on the back of success by the Women's national team which has repeatedly showed the ability to draw a substantial audience. The respective leagues continually fail and fold because they are unable to draw a consistent audience either over TV (where it is near impossible to see the matches) or at the stadiums (where it is not uncommon for the teams to give tickets away for free and still be unable to draw crowds).

In terms of pay and prize money there seems to be a natural equilibrium that will become established based on a blend of merit and marketability. Women's sports can see equal shares of prize money and pay if they can draw enough interest to do so. If they are able to draw enough interest it is at least in some manner based on the general public's view that the quality of the performance they are seeing is worth spending money on.

Personally i watch few women's sports however i have no issue with what they are paid as it is usually in line with the overall interest that is generated by the sport.