Womens football, Paygap, how is this legal and why is no one talking about it?

[Stupidbonfire]

Just as the title says really. I don’t understand how it’s legal to pay the women footballers so much less. The equality’s act 2010 seems to support equal pay for effort put in.

Am I being stupid? Could someone explain to me how the law is applied in this instance that it’s legal for such pay disparity and why the media seems silent on addressing it?

The women footballers have done our country proud and surely they deserve the same remuneration as the men would.

thank you so much.

Essentially they are entertaining rather than doing a productive job. Men attract more revenue. I think tennis is there equal pay between men and women in elite sports, and here some men argue they are playing longer and prize money should reflect that.
Not sure what happens in athletics?

Just as an example of the different market demand, last year's men's euro final was watched by over 30 million people, whereas last night was just under 18 million.

@WomanStanleyWoman2 this is the bit I dont understand. You are correct in that.

so, for example, take Liverpool fc. The womens first team do a different job than the mens first team? . In terms of effort put in and job description? I had no idea? I thought a goalie is a goalie. Obviously good ones and bad ones. But the jd and effort required at premier level the same?
As you can tell I know very little about football. And no I won’t be watching more womens football because I don’t like football. But the reason womens football doesn’t get as much viewing figures is because less investment as been out in, a historical ban by the fa on women playing football and deep seated misogyny in the game and society in general. So there’s no even playing field. So surely the clubs should divide the wages equally between the men and women and pay the men less if they can’t afford to pay women equally? Bit like the issue at the bbc?

@Stupidbonfire but the FA can only decide that for this country. If you cut the men's pay, they will all just go and play abroad and UK teams won't generate any revenue to split with the women in the first place.

What stadiums would they play at? Where would they get the facilities to train at, the physio support, the other infrastructure?
Where will they get the community of fans who have an emotional tie to the team/club, who will turn out and support them?

I do hope women's football will stand on its own feet in future but it would be utter madness not to be linked to the existing league clubs which are currently known for their men's teams - there's no other way.

Re athletics men and women at least for world championships and diamond league, get paid the same.

That’s just not how football works. The men don’t all get paid the same either. Liverpool players will earn more than Everton players, despite playing in the same league and playing the same number of games. And within those teams, not all players will be paid the same amount. Mo Salah for example earns far more than other Liverpool players despite being on the same team and playing in the same matches.

They just get a nominal fee but the tournament has allowed the lionesses to build a brand.
I’m assuming that they will make a ton of money on sponsorship deals in the very near future and good for them.

@JosephineGH
I think the “need” is coming from the want to be provided for by the mens clubs with money and facilities. As OP suggests, some believe - womens team affiliated with mens team = women doing the same job = women needing the same money.

I agree it’s very unoriginal. I really see that kind of thing of all the new womens sports building themselves through attachment to mens leagues as just a kind of new way of getting men to provide for women.

Women's Premier League played 132 matches in 2021-2022. The men played 380. There are only 12 teams in the WSL versus 20 in the EPL. Does that help?

so, for example, take Liverpool fc. The womens first team do a different job than the mens first team? . In terms of effort put in and job description? I had no idea? I thought a goalie is a goalie. Obviously good ones and bad ones. But the jd and effort required at premier level the same?

Liverpool FC men's team rake in vast amounts of money through TV rights, merchandise sales and ticket receipts. A top male footballer can command a high salary because of the amount of money in the game. If Liverpool aren't prepared to pay him, then Real Madrid or Man City will. It's market forces at work.

The same is not true of the women's game to anything like the same degree.

In football pay is linked to talent and performance. Club teams are able to employ international players because of this, millions pass hands because x player is in the top however many players in the world, each player will negotiate each season based on their performance against others, budgets are set according to revenue from the gate and TV rights and kits sales. Beckham went to LA and was never going to play a huge amount but his fame meant they sold so many replica kits and got so much publicity that was more valuable than him actually scoring many goals.
I think women will start to see better pay, more are paying internationally, some clubs are increasing their budget, but it’s not going to get close to the mens game any time soon.

A lot of people on this thread are talking out of their arses. Players are paid the same appearance fee when playing football for their country. However the bonuses are hugely different. So the England men got a lot more for losing the final than the women got for winning.

I actually don't think women's football should emulate the men's game in terms of pay. What made this tournament so incredible was how accessible it was to so many kids. Did you know there was no kids concession at the men's Euro's? That's bullshit. The ideal would be to take money AWAY from the men's game and invest it in the women's so you end up with something in the middle.

@ihavespoken

There is another way though. The way the men did it. Create something originally and grow it slowly in any way you can. If people are interested they will play and watch.

Theres no other way to get more money and exposure than is actually earned that is true.

So women should ban the men for 50 years so they can grow the game slowly and organically? That's the way men did it.🙄

@ihavespoken

How much physio support was there for a man playing the 1950’s? How much was he paid?

I find it sad and concerning that the way many see equality is by attaching women to what men do and making men give them a big slice. To me that’s men providing for women. Same as ever.

It's very simple op!!

Do a bit of research before trying to cause drama??

And that's a shame. But it doesn't mean that current male players should be paid less than their worth.

@YetiTeri

Men did what they did independent of women. Women were banned from their fields not from playing soccer itself. Those fields weren’t from the time of stongehenge, men made them. There are plenty of wealthy women these days and many fields - absolutely nothing is stopping women from starting their own leagues and teams independent to men, even making their own facilities to whatever level they can.

But of course if they aren’t attached to mens leagues and teams they will have to succeed or fail on their own - without the fail safe of being propped up by the mens leagues and being able to demand money from them.

I think current male players do well and are in no danger of losing out to women!

Also to add, you only have to look at tennis or the 100m sprint to see that interest in male sports is ALWAYS higher.

Down to bums on seats and sponsorship.

There was a womens football agent on the radio today who said that basically a womens league match will get 2-3 maybe 4 thousand attendance whilst the mens sell ourt Arsenal, Man U etc weekly.

As she said it is growing and it will change but it isn't going to happen overnight.