A BBC Sport study found that men earn "more prize money than their female counterparts in 30% of sports," according to the BBC. The "biggest differences in prize money were found in football, cricket and golf." U.K. Sports Minister Helen Grant said, "There is a gap, it needs to be closed but it's not going to
happen overnight. We do know that women's sport is very exciting, we
know it can draw really big audiences but we need more media coverage
and more commercial investment." A total of "56 global sports were looked at in the study." Out of 35 sports that "pay prize money, 25 pay equally and 10
do not." Fourteen sports, including rugby union and hockey, "do not pay any prize money at all." For winning this year's World Cup in Brazil, Germany received more than £21M ($34M) more than the female Brazilian team "did after they were crowned World
Champions" in '11. The FA has said men's and women's football were
"incomparable, describing them as 'polar opposites' in the size of audiences they attract around the world" (BBC, 10/28).
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| Source: BBC |
