Disparities between the prize money in Men’s and Women’s World Cup highlights the Women’s World Cup set to begin today, 7th June 2019. The total prize money for the 2018 Russia World Cup was $44.2 billion compared to a $3.8 billion prize money expected to be generated in the Women’s World Cup.
After winning the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Russia, France earned Ksh 3.84 billion but the winner of this year’s Women’s World cup will earn Ksh 404.9 million. The winner of the Women’s World Cup will earn around 10% of what France earned in 2019.
[read: World Cup TV Ratings : England most watched in Sub-Saharan Africa]
The total prize money for the Women’s World Cup in France this July will be Ksh 3.03 billion compared with total prize money of Ksh 44.2 billion for the men’s teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Why such a huge difference? Both tournaments are World Cups but the Men’s pays more than the women’s one.
The Men’s showpiece of course attracts more attention than the Women’s world cup but with campaigns of gender equality taking over different sectors of life, is it okay if that is the case.
Women football has been receiving less attention over the years and it is not only the World Cup that is affected but leagues too. A lot of people from all over the World are fans of big European clubs but few know that those teams have women teams as well. A Manchester United fan will never miss a United match but he will also never watch a Manchester United Women’s match.
Perhaps it is because these matches are not aired on cable TV. Getting Women’s Football to the market is a responsibility of everyone. From the top governing body of the sport to the match broadcasters, everyone’s involvement will see Women’s football evolve and the difference with Men’s football diminish.
The differences in support are what bring the differences in revenue. The difference has raised debates in the past with women claiming that the difference should not be that big.
“The difference between the men’s and women’s prize money is ridiculous,” Tatjana Haenni, who oversaw women’s soccer for FIFA before stepping down in 2017, said, according to the Associated Press. “It’s really disappointing the gap between the men’s and women’s World Cups got bigger. It sends the wrong message.”
The difference is, however, not so big when it comes to the amount money the players will earn. After the US beat Japan to clinch the Women’s World Cup, there has been a difference in the revenue available to pay the teams.
The Women’s World Cup brought in almost Ksh 7.3 billion, of which the players got 13%. The 2010 men’s World Cup in South Africa made almost Ksh 404.9 billion, of which 9% went to the players.
The difference is not likely to reduce as the men still pull the World Cup money wagon. The men’s World Cup in Russia generated over Ksh 607.2 billion in revenue, with the participating teams sharing Ksh. 40.48 billion, less than 7% of revenue. Meanwhile, the Women’s World Cup is expected to earn Ksh. 13.3 billion for the full four-year cycle 2019-22 and dole out Ksh 3.03 billion to the participating teams.
The women receive a bigger percentage of the revenue earned but the Men still earn more money. Maybe the Women’s World Cup does not just generate enough money for the participants to take home almost as much as the men do.
[read: World Cup star: It’s “impossible” to be openly gay in football]
