Equal playing field? Why women sports persons get paid less than men

A recent IIM Ahmedabad survey has found that corporates are making a big push to bridge the gender pay gap for senior executives, but when it comes to sports, there is not much breakthrough, barring some exceptions.

In a watershed moment for women’s sport, New Zealand Cricket has decided to award equal match pay for both women and men at both the domestic and international levels. This move is expected to bring some change in the way other countries' sports bodies and associations look at paying sports women.

Meanwhile, Indian cricket still has a lot of ground to cover. Despite BCCI being the richest cricket body and having the financial heft and wherewithal to initiate path breaking changes in pay structures for women, not much progress is seen. According to the BCCI pay structure, the highest grade men international cricketer, that is Grade A+, will bag Rs 7 crore in annual salary, while cricketers in the following grades A, B and C get Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively.

Meanwhile, highest grade international women cricketers get only Rs 50 lakh in annual salary, while women cricketers in Grade B and C earn Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.

The disparity is not just in India, but also a global phenomenon plaguing the sport. If we look at the prize money at premiere world cup events, while 2019 Men’s World Cup Champions took home a prize money of $4 million, women Champions bagged only a fraction of the sum at $1.32 million. A 2017 study by BBC Sport found that 83% of global sports award men and women the same prize money and cricket is not one of these sports.

The International Cricket Committee plans to equalise the prize money for winners in its men’s and women’s tournaments in the next eight-year cycle starting from 2024 to 2031.

According to Nishant Dayal, Director, Elite Sports Management, fan following and star value attached to men's cricketers is much higher. However, women cricketers of late are the most sought after when it comes to endorsement deals. The commercial deal or sponsorship values are relatively less in women's sports. The number of women cricketers getting sponsorships and endorsements is a positive sign. 

If we look at other sports in India, even though there is no contract-based system, there is some effort being made to bring gender parity. Recently, the Table Tennis Federation of India decided to give the same pay or prize money to women as that of men in all tournaments and competitions of the game of table tennis.

Like in Table Tennis, all badminton tournaments, including India’s premier event, the India Open, gives equal prize money to winners in the men and women categories. In hockey, daily allowances and sponsorships are equally split for players in the national camp. However, the domestic level scenario is different.

Pritam Siwach, Former Hockey India Captain says at national level, there is equal pay in terms of allowances and sponsorships. But there are still some challenges at the domestic level. She hopes that Indian sports will make rapid strides to bridging the existing gender parity.

For elite competitions other than cricket, the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, designed to improve Indian performance in Olympics, hands over a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 for each athlete irrespective of the gender.

Women’s sport in India is better placed now in terms of facilities, match fees and sponsorship deals when compared with two decades or even a decade ago. However, there is scope for a lot of progress. If sport authorities can look at creating a favourable environment and make sports accessible to more and more women, it is a step in the right direction towards pay parity.