Tennis: WTA Reveals 'Pathway' to Equal Prize Money
The Women's Tennis Association, WTA, on Tuesday, announced a 10-year pathway to sustainably close the gender pay gap, committing to delivering prize money equal to the standard of the men's tour at the two tiers right below the Grand Slams.
Facts
- The Women's Tennis Association, WTA, on Tuesday, announced a 10-year pathway to sustainably close the gender pay gap, committing to delivering prize money equal to the standard of the men's tour at the two tiers right below the Grand Slams.1
- This comes after months of negotiations within the WTA Tour, which includes tournament organizers who, for decades, have paid female tennis players less than their male counterparts.2
- While equal prize pots will be reached at tournaments featuring both men and women by 2027, pay equality at non-combined events, such as one-week 1000 and 500s, will be hit by 2033.3
- WTA Chairman & CEO Steve Simon stated that the additional money would come from incremental boosts by the events and from revenue related to broadcast, data, and sponsorship rights via the tour's commercial enterprise WTA Ventures, launched in March.4
- As part of the plan, the WTA calendar will have ten 1000-level tournaments, with two-week events being held in Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid, Beijing, Toronto/Montreal, and Cincinnati and one-week events in Doha, Dubai, and a yet to be announced venue, as well as 17 500-level events.5
- According to Forbes, four women — Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, and Serena and Venus Williams — were among the ten highest-paid tennis players between August 2021 and August 2022, substantially from off-court endorsements.6
Sources: 1The Telegraph, 2New York Times, 3BBC News, 4FOX News, 5The Athletic, and 6Forbes.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by New York Times. The announced plan requires patience to address the unjustifiable treatment of female tennis players as the gender pay gap will remain an issue for years under this timeframe. Additionally, lower prize money is not the only discrimination women face in their road to stardom as tournament organizers often make them play in less desirable time slots and on smaller courts compared to men.
- Narrative B, as provided by News. While tennis is leading the way to tackle the gender pay gap in sports, prize pots outside of the four two-week Grand Slams are not equal and this disparity is widening as the WTA consistently fails to increase its own revenue, collecting less than half of men's ATP in 2021. True equality can only be achieved when female tennis players become represented by the outperforming ATP.
Predictions
