Today we are going to take a look at difference between mens and women sports prize money and the salaries. Apart from Tennis and athletics mens competition of almost all major sports gets more prize money than the women competition. So today we take a look difference in the prize money for mens and women in major sports around the world.
Mens Football vs Women Football:
The difference between mens and women football competition is massive infact there is no comparison if you look at what the winners of mens world cup take and what women world cup gets. The difference is even huge in club football where prize money is huge for mens champions league but same kind of women competition get merely 30-40K. While Wayne Rooney earns £300k ($450k) a week 3 time women player of the year Marta nets around £4500 a week on average.
To begin with we take a look at the prize money pool of mens FIFA World Cup 2014 was is around $576 million where each and every 32 participating team gets minimum of $9.5 million guaranteed regardless of results. Plus there are performances bonuses as the teams go beyond group stages into the knockout stages and Germany the winners of the world cup 2014 got $35 million in total prize money while runner-ups Argentina got $25 million. teams losing in semifinals get $20 million each while the 4 quarter final losers pocket as much as $14m.
While the Women World Cup 2015 which took place in Canada earlier this year had a total prize money pool of $15 million where participation fee was $200,000 guaranteed compared to massive $9.5 million for mens world cup. While the United States Women Team the winners 2015 World Cup pocketed around $2 million which peanuts compared to what German mens team got for winning world cup 1 year before.
While there is no comparison if you compare club football in both mens and women category. Men’s Cmampions League winners can pocket as much as $100 million in prize money and broadcasting money while Women champions winners can pocket merely $30,000 to $40,000 max. The difference between top men footballer salary and women footballer salary is huge as well. Wayne Rooney earns around $400k a week with Manchester United while 3 time women player of the year Marta earns max $4500 a week with the clubs she played.
Thats largely down to the fact that mens football is the most watched and popular sport in the world. For example SkySports and BT Sports recently signed a new deal to broadcast Premier League games in United Kingdom for next three years for a massive $8 billion (5.1 billion gbp) which means every team in premier league will earn around £100 million a year from 2016-17 season. While Women football is rarely on tv but FIFA are promoting women football alright and according to FIFA they want to make sure by 2050 both mens and women world cup will have the same prize money.
Tennis Equal Prize Money For Men & Women:
Speaking of equal prize money Tennis is the only major sport in the world cup which has equal prize money for both mens and single competitions. Tennis was also the first sport to introduce the same prize money for both men and women. The highest paying Grand Slam Wimbledon singles winners of both men and women can take home as much as $3million each.
As far as off the court endorsement stuff is concerned top women tennis players has as lucrative endorsement deals with top brands as men tennis players. So by all means Tennis is the only sport in the world where top women tennis stars can earn same amount of money as mens stars like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic etc.
Boxing & MMA:
Floyd Mayweather is the ultimate kingpin of money in boxing, his recent fight against Manny Pacquiao was the highest grossing fight of all time where he earned around highest purse in boxing $250 millionin just one night while Pacquiao made just over a $100 million. But these two are exception in general the average purse from top rated boxers is around $1 million to $5 million each fight. But top rated undefeated women boxer Lucia Rijker hardley made around $200,000 from her 17 bouts.
But with the emergence of Ronda Rousey in MMA who is currently the highest paid women fighter of all times in Boxing and MMA combined. She headlined couple of PPV events and pocketed 7 figure salaries from those nights plus she also appeared in couple of block buster movies. So there is potential for women fighting scene to accelerate if necessary coverage is provided.