Women Athletes vs Men Athletes
I am a woman yet I am not convinced that women deserve equal pay in sports. Don't get me wrong, women are great athletes. But it's a proven fact that women's sports don't bring in as much revenue as their counterparts. People are just less interested in watching the WNBA compared to the NBA. Can you blame them? I, for one, would much rather pay to watch the Celtics vs. the Knicks over the Storm vs. the Sparks. But what do you guys think? Should women finally be paid the same amount or not? Is this sexist? Should the amount of money an organization brings in effect the amount they play their players, regardless of the sex? Don't know? Well, here is some more information:
This website below shows the salary for a male athlete compared to a female in the same sport. "According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, the average NBA salary rose to $3.17 million per player in the 1999-2000 season, while the average WNBA salary was about $55,000" (askmen.com). So what about now? Well, The salary cap for the 2010–2011 NBA season is $58,044,000. The WNBA's salary cap is $852,000 per team for the 2010/2011 season and the average player makes $42,000. Kobe Bryant's salary for the 2009/2010 season is $23,034,375. There is a huge difference in salary wouldn't you say? And this is just basketball. There is also tennis, golf, and even bowling. All of which women get paid less.
Ok, so it's pretty obvious that man get paid A LOT more than women when it comes to sports. However, is there a good reason for it? Or is it sexist? Here are some of the reasons you see a salary difference:
Attendance: far less people attend women's sports compared to men's. When Seattle had a team (The Supersonics) attendance was twice as high as the Seattle Storm's. If twice as many people are filling the stands of the NBA versus the WNBA then it's no wonder they are bringing in less revenue. But it's not just the amount of fans in the stands, it's also a matter of ticket prices. The average attendance for
This website below shows the salary for a male athlete compared to a female in the same sport. "According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, the average NBA salary rose to $3.17 million per player in the 1999-2000 season, while the average WNBA salary was about $55,000" (askmen.com). So what about now? Well, The salary cap for the 2010–2011 NBA season is $58,044,000. The WNBA's salary cap is $852,000 per team for the 2010/2011 season and the average player makes $42,000. Kobe Bryant's salary for the 2009/2010 season is $23,034,375. There is a huge difference in salary wouldn't you say? And this is just basketball. There is also tennis, golf, and even bowling. All of which women get paid less.
Ok, so it's pretty obvious that man get paid A LOT more than women when it comes to sports. However, is there a good reason for it? Or is it sexist? Here are some of the reasons you see a salary difference:
Attendance: far less people attend women's sports compared to men's. When Seattle had a team (The Supersonics) attendance was twice as high as the Seattle Storm's. If twice as many people are filling the stands of the NBA versus the WNBA then it's no wonder they are bringing in less revenue. But it's not just the amount of fans in the stands, it's also a matter of ticket prices. The average attendance for