Topline
The Women’s Tennis Association has said it’s starting a move toward equal pay and hopes to even out purses for major men and women’s tennis events by 2033, a goal superstar Billie Jean King said she has had since she first founded the association 50 years ago.
Caroline Garcia of France celebrates after defeating Coco Gauff of the United States in their … [+]
Key Facts
The new pathway toward equal prize money will slowly increase women’s payouts overtime “to ensure the changes are sustainable for players and tournaments in the long term,” the WTA said Tuesday.
The WTA has said that female players will be awarded the same money as men at WTA-ATP 1000 and 500 tournaments — the levels directly below the Grand Slams — by 2027 and, at events where men and women aren’t at the same location, the prize money will be equal by 2033.
At the Italian open last month, men competed for $8.5 million while the women competed for $3.9 million, the New York Times reported, one of several major tournaments that pay players of different genders significantly different amounts.
The US Open has offered equal prize money since 1973,, the first of the four Grand Slam tournaments to do so; contests that still pay differently include the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the National Bank Open in Canada, per the NYT.
Key Background
Billie Jean King, who won 39 major titles in her 22 years as a professional, brought about the first major equal pay shift when she threatened to boycott the U.S. Open until pay was equalized. She succeeded, and the other major Grand Slam tournaments followed, but the problem persisted. It wasn’t until 2007 that Wimbledon paiyed men and women equally, and that change came after prodding from another major star: Venus Williams. Annual prize money for WTA events was about 80 cents on the dollar for women until Tuesday’s announcement, the New York Times reported. The Williams sisters joined the advisory board of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative to address the wage gap in 2018, just three years after Serena took home $495,000 for winning the Western & Southern Open in Ohio. Roger Federer was paid $731,000 the same year.
Crucial Quote
WTA Founder Billie Jean King said she “hopes that women in other sports and walks of life are inspired by (the WTA’s) example.”
Big Number
£2,350,000, or $2,995,958. That’s how much the champions of Wimbledon will take home this year. In 2006, the last year the event paid unequally, Federer won £655,000 and Jelena Janković earned £625,000.
Further Reading
‘Supporting Women In Sports Is Good Business’: Billie Jean King Teams Up With The Tory Burch Foundation To Empower Women In Sports (Forbes)
Why Sports Empire Building Is On The Rise (Forbes)
U.S. Tennis Star Andy Kohlberg Takes Up Majority Ownership Of RCD Mallorca From Robert Sarver (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/06/27/womens-tennis-promises-equal-prize-money-as-mens-tennis-by-2033/