The average salary for an athlete in the NBA is $6.2 million. The average salary for an athlete in the WNBA is $71,365. The average salary for an athlete playing MLB is $3.4 million. The average salary for an athlete playing NPF is $5-6,000 with a salary cap of only $150,000 per team. It’s the same sport with the same rules — the only difference is the gender. So what’s up with the enormous pay gap? Winthrop student athletes talked about why they think male athletes are paid more than female athletes.
“When sports first came around, men were the only gender that was really allowed to participate,” Carleigh Greene, junior sports management major, responded. “I think that the pay gap between male and female athletes dates all the way back to when sports were first introduced. I don’t think it is based on whether women are good enough. There are arguments that women are just as capable as men, but I don’t think it is based on whether women are good enough, I think it is a societal issue that has existed since the beginning of sports.”
Sara Dixson, senior biology major, added, “Most people think that women athletes are not as good or stronger than men athletes so they don’t need to be paid as much.” Along with this reasoning, it’s believed that marketing plays a huge role in the pay gap. “Men and women could be competing in the same sport and putting in the same number of hours into their practice time and truly dedicating themselves to their sport, but men come out on top with how much money they make. It is an issue with equality which leads to the lack of marketing for women’s sports,” Greene concluded.
“I believe male athletes are paid more than female athletes because male leagues are televised and streamed more on the biggest networks at prime times and because of that they have more viewers and more money is generated,” said junior business management major, Michael Smith. Since there isn’t any major marketing
