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Now that it’s a file The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry guaranteed equal prize money for women and men cricketers After finishing in similar positions in similar events as well as the same amount of matches won, he has done his homework to prove that talent is in fact gender-neutral and of equal value. And while there is still a long way to go, in a country where cricket is a religion and sets a template for other sporting disciplines, there could not be a stronger message for female professional athletes. They take just as much physical and mental effort and require the same amount of institutional and financial support to make winning worth it.
Many would argue that this is equivalent to the continued success of our female cricketers over the past two decades. By that measure, tennis should have been one of the first professional sports to set the record straight. But on the eve of Women’s Day in March, Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov wrote an article in The Players’ Tribune calling for equal pay between the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The four major leagues follow the principle of equality of play but not the other leagues. “I’m not sure everyone realizes how bad this is for tennis. It’s unfair. It makes no sense at all. And that matters because the expenses are insane in tennis: You travel all year, you stay in hotels, you pay coaching staff. You don’t have to worry about The big stars are about it, but many on tour struggle just to break even. For these guys, the prize money isn’t about getting a ton of extra cash. It’s about staying,” he wrote. This is also the main reason sometimes for leaving a female athlete mid-career.
For a long time, female athletes, whether successful or not, have had to fight for the right to the public image on their terms, simply because corporate sponsorships have always projected the power of sports through men. They get more tournaments, they get higher value by brands, they get more sponsors for their tournaments, and they are a bigger draw for ticket sales and media broadcasts. This return on investment has always fueled the sporting economy and placed a premium on the male star. Women may be sweating a lot but they just couldn’t get the numbers that make business sense to support them. In fact, for a long time, the athlete’s income-generating potential was cited as a reason for unequal representation and thus disproportionate pay.
Unfortunately, the media projection of athletes has also followed this logic for a long time. Even in sports like tennis, where female players have far more currency than in other disciplines, the media projection hasn’t been balanced, with the likes of Serena Williams writing more about their dressing style than their accomplishments (Williams’ health issues notwithstanding). Or unless they have a story, like that of Anas Jaber, whose courage is often overshadowed by the politics of her Tunisian identity. Usually the media was looking for another story to dress up the story of this athlete, her pure talent was never enough.
In fact, for a long time, the primetime interest decided the preferred niche and tennis court for male tennis players, leaving the vacant places for women. This is also the reason why there are so few mathematical institutions commemorating female athletes, whose legacy does not seem to suffice for the icon given to the mathematicians. How many sports academies do we see named after legendary female athletes unless, like Mary Kom or PT Osha, they are self-run efforts to keep young girls invested in sports?
Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom, and women’s sports are winning a lot of fans in recent years — though it’ll take some time to reach the numbers associated with men’s sports, according to a 2022 study by US-based National Research. group. She says 30 percent of sports fans watch more women’s sports than they used to over the past five years, while 25 percent watch more over the past year. The change came largely due to the youth-driven audience. It is not logical that the increase in the interest of the new public should attract investment in the promotion and media projection of women’s sports. The study asked new viewers why they watch more women’s sports. 41 percent said they did so because they were broadcasting more. The same study identified the value of women’s sports broadcast rights in the United States, which has grown from $36.9 million in 2021 to $47.7 million in 2022. Europe is seeing a steady rise in spectators for women’s soccer leagues. Networks such as ESPN are now seeing an increase in viewership since they took the initiative to select slots in women’s competitive sports coverage.
This, then, is a vicious circle – between the athlete’s performance and sports fan interest, sponsorship, investment and promotion. And in this, we need to know how many women, young and old, watch professional leagues or single majors. This statement may not occur on a granular level but anecdotally, how many women follow women’s cricket with a passionate interest in men’s cricket? Or any other specialty for that matter?
This change in mindset begins with building a sports culture in the schools, not only as part of the “catch them young” drive to build future athletes and sharpen the competitive spirit but to ensure participation in and appreciation of every sporting discipline. For example, after International Women’s Day in 2023, the UK government unveiled a £600m package for schools across the country so that girls are given equal opportunities to take part in sport at school as part of the legacy of England’s victory at Euro 2022 once they are A gender-neutral sports culture takes hold, kids grow up loving their disciplines, even if they don’t stand out as top performers. They can at least be mined as the future audience.
Too often, gender parity in sport is viewed in terms of policy enablers and what officials can do. But the push must also come from the spectators themselves and their willingness to change the market. It comes from respecting a sporting culture rather than just paying salaries.
rinku.ghosh@expressindia.com
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