Female Athletes and Equitable Pay

According to new research led by Michele Musto, a doctoral student at the University of Southern California found that new segments on women’s sports are shorter, including fewer interviews and less entertaining commentary. And coverage of women’s sports features matter-of-fact reactions which make female athletes seem less exciting (SWNS 2017). The study went on to unfold that women’s sports coverage had less entertaining language, fewer interviews, fewer highlights and applause, and, most importantly, less airtime for live events. Feature stories on female athletes were nearly 50 percent shorter than that of a male, showing on air for just an average of one minute and 17 seconds, and when a story aired on local affiliates, they were cut down to 44 seconds of air time. When it came to commentary on a men’s game or highlights showing a top play from a male athlete, “the anchors/commentators made jokes and used more action-packed language with rapid speech more often when discussing men’s sports than women’s sports” (SWNS).

The lack of coverage in mainstream media is affecting female athletes’ salaries. The dominant coverage by male athletes is scurrying away potential corporate endorsements and sponsors for women athletes. Musto added in the study that, “Ultimately, the continued belief that women’s sports are less interesting may limit television ratings, ticket sales, the amount advertisers are willing to pay for a broadcast time during women’s events, the potential for corporate endorsements for women athletes and the salaries of players and coaches.”

When women’s sports lack the opportune media coverage, it not only takes away part of their pride, knowing they have just as much skill as male athletes, but it also denies them a chance to generate more revenue for their team. When a men’s sport is being shown on television, the thing you see the most, besides the players, is all the ads they have around their stadium, and these ads generate a good chunk of their revenue. Huge corporate endorsements love seeing their company logo being shown because it also makes them a lot more money. When a professional female sports team is looking for endorsements or sponsors, most are shut down because they don’t have enough media coverage that is worth the company’s while. Emma Gray, an author for the Huffington Post, mentioned in her article “Female Athletes.’

Endorsement Opportunities Hindered By Sexualization And Lack Of Visibility, Say Researchers”, written in 2012, that “Another major barrier to female athletes getting big sponsorships is their lack of visibility during most of the year. Only 1.6 percent of women’s sporting events were broadcast in 2008, reported USA Today. Often women’s teams are passed over for men’s, which garner far more attention and ratings. This means that female athletes are generally less recognizable than male athletes, even though the number of female athletes has substantially increased since Title IX went into effect in 1972, and this year the U.S. sent more female Olympians than male. Unfortunately, the lack of attention that these women get during the year means that their faces just aren’t as profitable” (Gray, 2012). While efforts have been made to fix this gender discrimination in professional female sports, there is still a way to go.

What do male athletes have to say about this hot-seat topic? Novak Djokovic is promptly known around the world as one of the best professional male tennis players. He believes that men should fight for more because he argues that “Women attract smaller crowds, generate less money for the sport, and their matches are far shorter (the best of three sets to men’s best of five)” (Edmond, 2017). Djokovic does have a valid point, but why do they confine these professional female tennis players from possibly reaching their max potential in regard to playing the best of five instead of the best of three and putting women’s matches in the main stage arenas more, to attract the crowds? If they could attract more crowds, that would give them a better chance to attract major endorsements and sponsors. These limitations have shackled female athletes to an unfair system for years and haven’t given them a fair fight.

HYPOTHESIS

The gender wage gap is an epidemic here in America, and it hurts women across the board by suppressing their earnings and making it harder to balance work and family. Serious attempts to understand the gender wage gap should not be shifted toward blaming women for earning more. Instead, these struggles should delve into where our economy implements unequal opportunities for women at every point in their education, career, and lifestyle choices thereafter. Because women earn less on average than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay.

METHODS

Participants in a qualitative survey will include both current and former professional athletes, preferably of the most gender-disparaging offenders in American sports (i.e., basketball, tennis, golf, and soccer), which they will measure satisfaction with their salary, stipends, team contracts, media exposure, and sponsorship contracts. Female athletes will complete a satisfaction measure created by the researchers for the present study. A Likert scale (Strongly Agree=5, Agree=4, Neutral=3, Disagree=2, Strongly Disagree=l) will be used to identify and assess levels of satisfaction or disapproval among participants fiscally and promotionally in their field of work.

Sample items include the following: ‘I feel that the amount of pay I receive is a direct reflection of the work and time I put into my career,’ “I believe my work and commitment to my sport is appropriately compensated for in my salary,’ “In comparison to the salaries of the male counterparts of my sport, I feel fairly compensated for,” “The media asks me topic appropriate questions in interviews,” “I feel like I am represented well throughout the media,” “I feel sexually objectified by the media.” Additional items will be included to assess the participants’ personal input on factors they dislike or would change about their roles in the professional sports world. Examples of these items will include, “What kind of questions would you prefer the media ask you in interviews,” “How can media and television networks better represent you,” and “Should certain laws be in place to ensure you have a fair salary in relation to your male counterparts,”

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