Game changers
Australia is currently alive with football fever, thanks in large part to Sam Kerr and the mighty Matildas. Australia’s round of 16 match against Denmark saw an audience of 2.29 million people across Australia’s capital cities, with a total estimated audience across all streaming platforms of approximately 6.54 million people – an incredible figure that surpasses the State of Origin and even last year’s AFL grand final. With such a huge number of people tuning in, it is astonishing to learn that the winners of the FIFA Women’s World Cup will only receive roughly 10% of the winnings earned by their male counterparts in Qatar in 2022. The argument from organisers and sponsors: that the women do not receive the same amount of attention.
If that isn’t enough to make you take pause, then consider this fact: the winner of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – we are talking about the best team in the world – will earn $4.3 million USD for their efforts. Comparatively, teams who were eliminated in the round of 16 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup – teams that didn’t even make the quarter finals – earnt a staggering sum of $13 million USD each. With such a huge disparity between the prizes, it’s no surprise that the Canadian women’s team wore shirts embellished with the slogan “enough is enough” when they failed to receive any money at all for their match appearances in 2022.
How does such inequality still exist in professional sport? It’s hard to go from watching Barbie to grappling with this inequity. Are the women just not good “kenough”? If this World Cup has taught us anything, it’s that the quality of women’s football is outstanding. Just ask the 6.54 million people that tuned in to watch.
In the land of the Premier League, the Champions League and the home of Jamie Tartt, the pay gap between the salaries of men and women football players is a staggering -2,425%. If you’re asking yourself whether you read that correctly, the answer is sadly a yes. The average salary for a female footballer in England is $532,959. The average salary for a male footballer in England is $13,456,420. Do the women train less, play less games, not work as hard? The answer to all these questions is a resounding no. For those who play in the A League Women’s competition in Australia, many are required to have second jobs just to support themselves.
For those who play in the A League Women’s competition in Australia, many are required to have second jobs just to support themselves.
But it’s not just about the money! At the core of the problem is the lack of respect and recognition that is shown to women for the same contributions as men. It’s less advertisement deals, less grassroots investment, inferior facilities and reduced representative opportunities. Even at a local level, women’s football is not treated the same as men’s football. In 2022 there was a referee shortage in the area with priority and a higher pay rate dedicated to the men’s leagues. We’re talking inequality at just your run-of-the-mill local Saturday afternoon competition. If this is where it starts, how do we ever get it to change at the bigger end of town? Perhaps all spectators can do now is to keep on shining that spotlight on the issue and hope that it eventually sheds enough light to force some change.
Ava R, Year 10