Another argument is that women's national teams for sports like soccer have far more success than the men's national team. But, with all this growth, are mens and womens earnings in line? Major League Soccer played their first game in 1996, after the United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In the same year, DeWanna Bonner, the highest-paid WNBA player, was eligible for a base salary of $127,500, a difference of almost 200%. In today's society, one should be paid according to the jobs economic importance and their value to society. This leads to more wins and, in turn, more viewers, more merchandise sold and increased brand worth. In strength, speed and endurance, how do basketball players fare against other sports' athletes? Women in male-dominated sports such as racecar driver Danica Patrick and UFC and WWE star Ronda Rousey ranked among the top earners in their sports when they were active. How much do you think the comparative revenue of mens and womens teams matters in determining pay? But one of the biggest moves was the WNBAs 2020 community bargaining agreement. However, the past decade has seen some attempts to narrow that gap. [48], A 2019 Seton Hall Sports Poll found that 60% of those surveyed agreed that college athletes should be allowed compensation for their name, image, and/or likeness, while 32% disagreed, and 8% were unsure. Managers, owners and other administrators can have direct input in how much players get paid. U.S. Soccer and Womens Players Agree to Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit, ice hockey Olympic gold medalists, Canadian soccer pros and W.N.B.A. Photo Illustration by Vanessa Irena for Scholastic. And the few athletes who get that far have relatively short careersjust 5 to 10 years to earn a living, compared with 40 or 50 years for other jobs. In 2020, the league difference in rookie pay decreased by 50% (down from 154%), while the salary budget gap closed by 22%. So if you think pro athletes make too much money, maybe you should stop watching them. As professional sporting brings in a ridiculous amount of money in general, we should find a way to invest more in our female athletes and pay them the same as their male counterparts. The NCAA is not above the law. [43] [44], On June 28, 2021, the NCAA Division I Council recommended to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors that student athletes be allowed to profit from their name, image, and likeness. There is still quite a ways to go to close this gap, but the NWSL is making changes to offer more competitive compensation. [45], On June 30, 2021, fewer than 12 hours before some states NIL laws went into effect, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors issued an interim ruling stating that Bylaw 12 (the rules that say athletes cannot receive payment) will not be enforced. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is a nonprofit organization formed in 1906 that regulates college athletics, including game rules, athlete eligibility, and college tournaments. Plus, we tend to forget that published professional athletes salaries are gross salaries. Athletes are paid huge sums of money to play sports. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average total cost of public college (tuition, fees, room, and board) for the 201718 academic year was $17,797. [3], California was the first state to pass a NIL (name, image, and likeness) law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2023. Erin McGeoy, a former water polo athlete at George Washington University, explained, a common occurrence was that we would run out of meal money halfway through the semester and thats when I started to run into troubles of food insecurity. She turned to boarding dogs in her no-dogs-allowed apartment in order to pay rent because housing costs increased each year but her housing allowance remained static. More significant, though, is that players put their bodies in danger daily. No Division II or III schools revenue exceeded expenses. If you are interested in equalizing athlete pay, or if you want to push for better compensation for players overall, consider a career in sport management. In the N.B.A., the average annual salary was $7.1million. The odds are even lower for womens basketball at 0.6%. The average American will retire between the ages of 65-75, but a professional athlete will last a lot less in their career than someone who sits at a desk all day. TM & 2021 Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved. In today's society, one should be paid according to. In other words, it would be more prudent and more profitable for college athletes to focus on education as their compensation. Do you think well-established minor-league systems would be attractive to high-school graduates and college athletes less interested in (or ill-prepared for) higher education? [25] [26], If college players earned about 50% of their teams revenues like the NFL and NBA players do, the average football players yearly salary would be $360,000 and the average basketball players yearly salary would be $500,000. As there can be only one best, who is it? 4. Things improve when men and . It's truly a pity that none of these true heroes are given the same recognition by society as athletes such as Brett Favre or Michael Jordan are given. But paying athletes would distort the economics of college sports in a way that would hurt the broader community of student-athletes, universities, fans and alumni. Firefighters are the next contributor to society. With ticket pricesgradually rising, not to mention merchandise price tags, sports fans might feel resentful toward funding overpaid athletes. And pros in less popular sports make even less than that. These infamous players must grow up, and prove to America that they can be positive role models for kids on and off the field. How should the NCAA (or another governing body) balance college athletes sport, educational, and financial interests? Source: Womens National Basketball Players Association (2019, 2020). [18] [19], Michael Sokolove, author of The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino (2018), explained, If you look at a program like [University of] Louisville, they generate about $45 million a year in revenue. [27], About 25% of Division I athletes reported food poverty in the past year and almost 14% reported being homeless in the past year. Every year since the Womens National Basketball Associations inaugural season in 1997, the highest-paid womens basketball player has earned less than the lowest-paid National Basketball Association player. In recent years, players, teams and even athletes in other sports ice hockey Olympic gold medalists, Canadian soccer pros and W.N.B.A. They save peoples' lives every day, should have more recognition than they are given, and deserve better pay. The pay disparities in baseball/softball and basketball come down almost entirely to the revenue their leagues generate. Those who need reminding that women generally get paid less than men for doing the same work got it on Tuesday. This is just one of the ways that professional sports are working to improve pay inequality. This supports the notion that some athletes get too caught up with how much they are earning and might begin to lose focus of why they wanted to play in the first place. Last modified on March 27, 2023. Theres no question that professional athletes are paid too much. There are a variety of reasons why some people believe professional athletes should be paid less. The compensation for professional athletes differs from traditional pay because, Matheson said, fans have limited choices compared to other industries - a phenomenon known as "superstar. The National Womens Soccer League played their first game in 2013, following the end of the Womens Professional Soccer league the previous year. The billionaire owners of the N.F.L., M.L.B., andN.B.A. As of June 10, 2021, 18 states have passed NIL laws; five more states have passed bills that were awaiting the governors signature to become law; 14 states have introduced NIL bills; and one state has a bill passed by the Senate and awaiting a House vote, according to the Business of College Sports. Their top-ranked masters is offered online and on campus, and its flexible curriculum allows students to take a general track or choose from specializations in sport marketing or collegiate athletic administration. Does it make any sense that someone who throws a football for a living is paid more than 700 times as much as someone who helps save peoples lives, or that swinging a bat gets you nearly 650 times as much as educating kids? Sports betting is now legal in the majority of US states. In 2019, the teams in the FIFA Womens World Cup shared a $30 million prize pool. are the three biggest sports organizations in the U.S. (Photo by Damien MEYER). The WNBA generates roughly $25 million annually from its TV deal with ESPN; the NBA's TV revenue from ESPN and TNT is 100 times that. Next, some MLB players will earn more in one game than the average American household makes in 10 years. Feldman explained, That was a shape-shifting decision that in many ways fundamentally changed economics of college football and college football television. Professional sports is a money-earning business. Panel Recommends," nytimes.com, June 28, 2021, Alan Blinder, "College Athletes May Earn Money from Their Fame, N.C.A.A. ProCon.org. In the N.F.L., the average was only $2.7million, but oneof footballs highest-paid players, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, just signed a four-year contract for $134 million. Source: Forbes (men 2010, 2019; women 2010, 2019). Have you been following this story, which involves some of the countrys biggest soccer stars? do professional athletes deserve their inflated salaries? Professional sports revenues are rapidly increasing because of the seemingly insatiable appetites for unique TV programs. College athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympic Games and be financially compensated, such as Joseph Schooling, a University of Texas swimmer, who earned a $740,000 bonus for winning Singapores first gold medal ever at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games for the 100m butterfly. Therefore, they deserve to earn more. Being put through the kind. Maybe highly paid athletes (along with team owners) should have to pay a special tax that would help fund better salaries for firefighters, teachers, nurses, and other people who work for the greater public good. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Scores of college athletes are being used to generate money for NCAA sports in a pandemic without the NCAA enforcing any COVID standards. [17], The NCAA reported over $1.06 billion in revenue in 2017 (the most recent available numbers). The bulk of that figure is back pay, a tacit admission that compensation for the mens and womens teams had been unequal for years. Is this for the better? while increasing income inequalitybetween the majority of athletes. Are there other factors that you think should be taken into account? What Should Be Done About the Gender Pay Gap in Sports? THAT'S IT! player was $4.1million. In fact, some pro athletes in minor league baseballdont even make minimum wage. That gap is narrowing slightly, however. In recent years,corporate culturehas creeped into some sports leagues. To learn more about the Adelphi University MS in Sport Management program, Ruth S. 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While President Obama is hard at work reviving the economy, the unproven rookie in the MLB is earning way over that figure. The average American woman earns 81% of what an average American man earns, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the span of 34 years, the four major tennis tournaments decided to pay their mens and womens winners equally. They argued about whether they deserved the same charter flights as their male counterparts and about the definition of what constituted equal pay. Midfielder Lindsey Horan celebrates with forward, Megan Rapinoe after scoring a goal during the 2019 Women's World Cup on June 20, 2019. If adopted, the rule would only apply to Division I schools and would be temporary until the NCAA or Congress acts. When the WNBA players' union opted out of its collective bargaining agreement in November, Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the union, wrote for The Players' Tribune: This is not purely about salaries. The National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Basketball Association generate billions of dollars in revenue. Consider the pro position of the National College Players Association that paying college athletes is a civil rights issue. "Paying College Athletes Top 3 Pros and Cons." Forbesreleased its annual look at the worldshighest-paid athletesthis month, and the top 100 exemplified the stark contrast in pay between professional male and female athletes. ), and Major League Baseball (M.L.B.) They shouldn't have to become Maxim models to prove their worth. [34], The NCAA noted, [p]rofessional opportunities are extremely limited and the likelihood of a high school or even college athlete becoming a professional athlete is very low. And this stark disparity has hardly budged for more than a decade: the pay gap between men and women has sat at 80%-83% since 2004. Its hard to ignore the racist undertones when the financial benefit to these institutions is based on the unpaid work of young Black men. [22], The NCAA requires players to have health insurance but does not pay for that insurance and can refuse to pay medical expenses for sports injuries, some of which can have life-long consequences for the players bodies and career opportunities. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. This week, the United States Soccer Federation pledged to equalize pay for its mens and womens national teams as part of a settlement that included a $24 million payment to a group of players for the womens team who had sued the organization for gender discrimination. are thriving at the highest levels, all higher percentages than their non-athlete peers. In 2016, ESPN doubled their rights fee to show WNBA games, paying $25 million a year. Schools would also have to cut unprofitable sports including gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Mike Trout, a centerfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, gets $35.8 million a year. That equaled the prize money for a single winning mens team a decade earlier. Wouldn't it be great to make nearly $111 million a year simply to play a game? 23, 2023. That gap was once seen as an unbridgeable divide preventing any sort of equal pay settlement. Men earn 20 percent more than women on average, a difference that would require a female to work 10 more years to make up. Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate. Professional athletes sacrifice important aspects of their lives, especially their health and family. Obviously, what these individuals must not be aware of is the most important man in our nation, the president, who makes critical decisions that affect the entire world every day, only makes $400,000 a year. The phenomenal Portuguese Ronaldo or the one-team man Lionel Messi? Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). None of the largest ones are NFL stadiums. [39]. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom. Firefighters can abide in the fire station for up . 1. The athletes leave their families, so they can go to their work, will you do that. 1. The team salary cap for the National Pro Fastpitch softball league is $175,000; the Boston Red Sox will split $227 million in 2019. Men's sports receive vastly more media coverage, television licenses, and sponsorship deals, which contribute to higher revenue. The result is an explosion in player salaries in the major men's sports leagues. Men's sports generate higher revenue, so male athletes are paid higher salaries. This month . While this is heartening for advocates of equal pay, there is still progress that needs to be madeespecially when it comes to professional sports. In order for these players to gain respect, they need to have a more significant impact on the community. Bill gates paid 114.16 every second and athletes get paid 20 million per season, they both work hard for their money. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. These players are apart from their families and have to stay in hotels and eat out at many places. The NCAA is seemingly the final authority to decide whether college athletes should be paid to play college sports. [29] [30], Further, most college programs do not generate the income needed to run their athletic programs, much less pay athletes. Which of these groups do you think played a role in pushing U.S. Soccer to equalize pay? The top players in these leagues earn huge salaries that most Americans can only dream of. Excluding men's star Roger Federer, elite female tennis players compare very well with their male counterparts in terms of endorsement earnings. Only a tiny fraction actually make it to the big time. This change in purpose has a negative impact on athletes ambition to play. of footballs highest-paid players, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, just signed a four-year contract for $134 million. In team sports, though, the picture for women is bleak. Whether professional players receive salaries or individual prize money from competitions, male athletes in basketball, golf, soccer, baseball and tennis make anywhere from 15% to nearly 100% more than female athletes. In fiscal year 2019, the collective expenses of the 65 Power Five schoolsthe largest and richest Division I schools in the NCAAexceeded revenue by $7 million. 3. While these may seem huge, so are the deductions from them. However, players lived $778 below the federal poverty line and owed $3,624 in tuition. Explain your answer. 8, 2020, Steve Goldstein, Nine out of 10 New Jobs Are Going to Those with a College Degree, marketwatch.com, June 5, 2018, Gallup, A Study of NCAA Student-Athletes: Undergraduate Experiences and Post-College Outcomes, gallup.com, 2020, Greta Anderson, Study: College Athletes Have Better Academic, Life Outcomes, insiderhighered.com, June 24, 2020, Griffin Connolly, Wealth distribution is bad except when it comes to college athletes' money, top Republican senator suggests, theindependent.co.uk, Sep. 15, 2020, B. David Ridpath, A Path Forward for Reforming College Sports, jamesgmartin.center, Jan. 15, 2020, Molly Hensley-Clancy, NCAA Vows to Improve Conditions at Womens Basketball Tournament, as Outcry Continues, washingtonpost.com, Mar. Whether professional players receive salaries or individual prize money from competitions, male athletes in basketball, golf, soccer, baseball and tennis make anywhere from 15% to nearly 100% more than female athletes. To fix the problem, and separate athletes who are getting an education just because they want to play a sport from those who actually want to go to college, the United States needs a true amateur or minor league that feeds into professional sports. We'll have to wait and see what. Plus, making it to the pros takes years of hard work. The suit is still ongoing. If a college student is a talented artist or musician no one begrudges him the chance to make money from his skills. In 2018-19, the federation reported total revenue of $115,128,170, a growth of 160% over the last decade. Lower salaries wouldnt necessarily lead to lower ticket and hot dog prices for fans who go to the games. Nike hasnt made asignature shoefor a WNBA player in over 20 years. But do these athletes really deserve all that money? Nine other NCAA executives were paid more than $500,000 in 2018, with one paid more than $1.3 million. What puzzles me even more, is how after holding out for weeks, and sometimes months, the owners give in and pay them what they don't deserve. Given athletes large salaries, more youngsters want to become professional athletes but for the big money, not for the love of the game. Sport Management Blog: Olivia Franks 4 Tips for Success, Male vs Female Professional Sports Salary Comparison, 2010 Mens World Cup: $420 million, $30 million winners share, 2011 Womens World Cup: $5.8 million, $1 millions winners share, 2018 Mens World Cup: $400 million, $38 million, 2019 Womens World Cup: $30 million, $4 million winners share. Online/Blended Degree and Certificate Programs. One of the main reasons the league may just get away with that is that it's the off-season right now, meaning franchises aren't missing out on lucrative games. Bloomberg News recently touted soccer as the future of sports in America, and soccer fandom has clearly grown within the United States. Besides, not all athletes make millions of dollars. Furthermore, police officers, firefighters, and doctors save lives while risking their own for a fraction of what sports stars make. You are being redirecting to Scholastic's authentication page For more support materials,visit our Help Center. 5. While compensation for women has improved over the past decade, the gap still extends to even the worlds highest-paid players. Most players have no real amateur sport option and those who would rather not go to college have no other established feeder system to make it to a professional team. For example, players in the National Womens Soccer League make only between $16,000 and $44,000 a season. [35] Further, a Gallup poll of 74,385 U.S. adults with a bachelors degree, finds that college graduates who participated in NCAA athletics experience a host of positive long-term life outcomes at greater rates than non-athletes. [36], Those positive outcomes include: 70% of NCAA athletes graduated in four years or fewer, 50% agree that college was worth the cost, 39% earned an advanced degree, 33% have good jobs after graduation, and 24% How do you think stakeholders, such as fans, sponsors, tournament organizers, politicians and athletes, should engage with the fight for equal pay in womens sports, if at all? As of 2014, a Sergeant of U.S Military who had two years of experience made $26,172. [20], The highest paid mens basketball coach was the University of Kentucky head coach, John Calipari, who was paid $8.2 million per year. [47], By Jan. 2022, without a clear NIL structure from the NCAA, some schools were questioning how to navigate deals for players or whole teams without violating NCAA policy. Tennis is one of the few sports where the United States women, on average, make more than men. For much of the decade, the US Womens National Team and the U.S. Soccer Federation have clashed over equal pay. 3, 2021), NCAA, NCAA Defends Scholarships for College Athletes, ncaaorg (accessed Mar. Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to The New York TImes Upfrontmagazine. All rights reserved. [34], The major money-makers, football and mens basketball, have very low odds. Someone who tosses a ball shouldntearn 700 times as much as someone who saves lives. Professional athletes are incredibly talented in what they do. A second-year All-Star can be paid just above minimum salary. 3. It makes me sick to know that someone who is out fighting for our country gets paid significantly less than someone who simply plays a sport. The most marketable tennis players made four times as much from endorsements and appearance fees as they did from prize money over the last year. Another sign of growth toward pay equality is that tennis players from both the ATP and WTA have come together to campaign for a larger share of tournament revenues. Others will mimic as they try to keep up but eventually will fall short in trying to outbid Auburn University, Florida State, the University of Southern California or the University of Texas in the college player arms race. [33], The reality is that the vast majority of college athletes will never play professionally. For years, another major difference in compensation came in the form of revenue sharing. This cycle goes as follows: the fewer women who have access to sports, the fewer women have interest in sports, the fewer women who will become professional athletes, the fewer fans, the fewer commercial opportunities for revenue, the less interest in ad buys and investment in women's sport, the less money there is for female athlete salaries, The main problem is the huge amount of money involved in professional sports. Women athletes work just as hard as men. At both the start and end of the decade, the top female player in the United States made more than the top male player. The American League and now the National League both use designated hitters. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. Since then, the womens team has won four FIFA Womens World Cup titles. If it is closed by the federation in negotiations with both teams, the change could funnel millions of dollars to a new generation of womens national team players. College athletes may also play a second sport professionally and be compensated, such as Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker who earned a $1.4 million baseball signing bonus from the Colorado Rockies in 2010 while still playing football for the Tigers. Colleges reap billions from these student athletes sacrifices and success but, in the same breath, block them from earning a single dollar. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [42], The NCAA was scheduled to vote on new NIL rules in Jan. 2021, but it then postponed the vote, citing external factors. [10] Days before the scheduled vote Makan Delrahim, JD, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice under the Trump administration, questioned the proposed rules compliance with antitrust laws. Why or why not? Check back soon for more announcements and tutorials. But theyre still earning way too much money. In my opinion, no. This is about small changes the league can make that will impact the players. The team filed a complaint against U.S. Soccer in March that states: Female WNT players would earn a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game, while similarly situated male MNT players would earn an average of $263,320 or $13,166 per game. The players claim they face discrimination when it comes to where and how often they play, how they train and travel, the medical treatment and coaching they receive, and obviously their salaries. Soccer and Womens Players Agree to Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit, Andrew Das writes about the case and its implications for other sports: For six years, the members of the World Cup-winning United States womens soccer team and their bosses argued about equitable treatment of female players. All throughout the athletic department, people are making six-figure salaries. With leagues and team owners making such massive sums, the athletes who put their bodies on the line for their sports deserve a large share of it. Sixty percent of those polled said that salaries should be paid to all athletes, and 38% said salaries should only be paid to athletes playing sports that bring in revenue. 1 overall pick in the '07 draft. Of the 36,011 college baseball players, only 8,002 are eligible to play professionally each year. entertainment, news presenter | 4.8K views, 28 likes, 13 loves, 80 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from GBN Grenada Broadcasting Network: GBN News 28th April 2023 Anchor: Kenroy Baptiste. However, with fans willing to paymore than 100% premiumson tickets to see individual players, likeLeBron James, franchise players have extra responsibility to live up to their star power.
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