International Equal Pay Day: Football and basketball two of the worst sports for gender pay gap

As we marked International Equal Pay Day on September 18th, a study from Casumo has discovered that there is still a significant pay disparity between men and women sports stars across the board in five of the world’s biggest sports — namely in football and basketball, where the top male athletes can earn over 2,000% more than their female counterparts.

The sportsbook and online casino investigated the gender pay gap in sport, factoring in salaries/winnings and endorsement deals to discover which sports are making the biggest strides to become more equal and which governing bodies still have a bit of work to do to ensure that female stars don’t trail so far behind the men.

It’ll come as no surprise that football has the biggest pay discrepancy out of the world’s biggest sports, with United States Women’s National Team star Alex Morgan earning a massive 2,067% less than Lionel Messi. The Argentine topped the recent Forbes highest-paid athlete list after his move to Paris Saint-Germain, making an eye-watering £64m in salary/winnings and a further £47m in endorsements from his lifelong partnership with Adidas, Hard Rock Café and Mastercard to name just a few.

Morgan — who is one of the biggest ambassadors for equal pay in football — on the other hand, made just £6m in the last 12 months from her salary/winnings and sponsorships with the likes of Nike and soft drink giants Coca-Cola. There’s a stark difference between her £11.50 per minute income and the tricky Argentina’s mammoth £247 every 60 seconds.

It's an issue elevated to football management as well, as England women’s manager Sarina Weigman — who guided the Lionesses to history earlier this year by spearheading them to a maiden Women’s Euros success — earns a reported £4m less a year than England men’s gaffer Gareth Southgate.

Lebron James came in second just behind Messi in the highest-paid athlete list, making a huge £103.3m in the last year. It was a bigger 12 months off the court for the Los Angeles Lakers star than it was on it, with the 37-year-old making £35.4m playing for the California franchise as they missed out on the play-offs and £68m away from the game due to having a leading role in Space Jam: A New Legacy amongst other business ventures.

‘King’ James, therefore, earns 2,026% more than Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star Candace Parker (£4.9). The two-time ‘Best WNBA Player’ recipient makes around £170,000 on the court, which is the salary cap in the division, so relies heavily on endorsement deals — which helps boost her income by about £4.7m.

Tennis is arguably the biggest sport doing the most to close the gender pay gap. The winnings for the four Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open) are equal for men and women across the board, but there is still work to be done by the Association of Tennis (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to make it more of a level playing field on the respective tours.