Typically, men’s professional sports are more viewed, payed for, and commercialized than women’s professional sports.

The NHL is one of the most successful sports leagues. Almost 50% of profit comes from TV deals while other revenue comes from merchandise, ticket sales, licensing rights, and sponsorship’s . In 2015 this alone accumulated 12 billion dollars according to investopedia.com

The National women’s soccer league recently could raise the combined salaries to $650,000 per team. The league, able to raise budget due to a 22% increase in attendance and sponsorship’s, still earns a fraction of what men make.

A sport nailed as a gender equalizer in professional sports in all grand slam tennis tournaments, there is no pay gap. The prize money is the same amount for men and women. Seems equal but the New York times reports female tennis players are paid 80 cents for each dollar a male tennis player makes. Which according to cnbc.com is the typical average in American workplaces.

Even major league baseball is considered one of Americas oldest pastimes with a 10- billion-dollar revenue giant, yet the National fast pitch association makes an average of 5-6 grand because of low revenue. The WNBA has a revenue of about 25 million from a TV deal with ESPN while the NBA’s TV revenue from ESPN and TNT is 100 times the women’s revenue.

Many factors influence the gap pay in professional sports. National coverage, sexism, women not holding priority in professional sports/popularity, endorsement deals and more.

Professional sports take an unmatched level of talent, commitment, and sacrifice to be a part of. There should be a price ceiling and floor in place, minimizing and maximizing the amount athletes both female and male can make.

Professional athletes can practice up to 5-6 hours a day 6 days per week, physically draining their bodies. Athletes must perform to the best of their ability for the crowd who’s paying to watch despite and personal blocks.

Magazines, tabloids, and media have painted a picture that athletes live a life of partying, extravagant cars, and luxury items when most athletes are under strict contracts, have curfews, and regular families at home.

Athletes deserve to have a minimum amount they should be paid to perform, train, and make sacrifices in order to supply the public with the entertainment and thrill of watching competitive professional sports. There is no reason for athletes to have such a major pay gap between gender and sport.