Less money in women's golf

[Ethan]

The womens' game suffers because many blokes don't want to see players who hit the ball the same distance as themselves.

Also, there is a serious lack of personalities at the moment. Stacy Lewis is not very charismatic, and most of the other leading players are Korean or Chinese and the US audiences are turned off by them. When Sorenstam was at her peak, TV audiences were pretty good, but nowadays, just as Tiger's absence kills viewing figures, so too does the current crop of players. Maybe Lexi Thompson will revive things. The US audience, which drives the purses, wants a US or adopted pretty heroine to cheer for.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

And someone has done the sums and worked out that in grand slams tennis tournaments women add as much value as men

Would be interested to know the source for this claim as TV viewing figures do not appear to support it.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Can I just say the argument that women should get paid less in tennis as they play fewer sets or are performing for a lesser time is mostly rubbish IMHO. Professional sports people are rarely, if ever paid per hour/minute/set/game/hole, but on their 'market value' or how far they proceed in a tournament. And someone has done the sums and worked out that in grand slams tennis tournaments women add as much value as men do.

If we are basing it on length of time performing the sport then test cricketers would be the highest paid sportspeople in the world and Usain Bolt would be penny less.

Personally I can't agree, as far as I am concerned women's tennis is played at a much lower pace/skill/fitness level than the men's game and is simply not as entertaining for me, I can see why some people enjoy it but I want to see entertaining tennis, the womens game doesn't provide that for me. I am not in the camp that believes they deserve equal prize money, its like comparing a donkey derby to the real thing.

 

[gdc]

I think LPGA is more interesting than PGA at the moment. The last 2 PGA events have been borefests.
I would also love to see more amateur golf on TV like county and national competitions.

 

[sev112]

I would assume the difference is based mainly upon the fact that the mens professional game is far more established and far reaching.

So lets compare like with like (disregarding the influences of media in the last 20 years for a moment).

Compare the tour ages:

PGA: Founded 1929 = 85 years

LPGA: Founded 1950 = 64 years

Difference is 21 years

1993 US Open Prize = $290k then about $500k now

2014 Womens US Open Prize Money $720k

OK so without factoring in the explosion of media in the last 20 years the womens game is about $220K (44%) ahead of the mens game!

If we factor in the assistance the womens game has had by the media compared to the mens game, ie the internet, global media improvements, increases in womens spending power in the last 50 years etc they go even further ahead.

In conclusion I still don't agree men and women should be paid different for the same job! The statistics does say they are well on the way to rectifying the situation!

What a great argument
On this basis,for the purposes of equality the women's game should be paying the men's game for their early years investment which the women's game is currently benefitting from

I must admit for the first time in ages (ever?) I haven't even got a clue how to answer this debate !
Just imagine paying Arsenal ladies the same amount as Arsenal men!

So, how do we pay people ? On the basis of ability or potential ability ?
Glad I'm not PM

 

[muttleee]

Perhaps both the quality and appeal of women's sport would improve if there were more money in it..?

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I say we just become communists and everyone gets paid the same. This market economy business is discriminatory.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Personally I can't agree, as far as I am concerned women's tennis is played at a much lower pace/skill/fitness level than the men's game and is simply not as entertaining for me, I can see why some people enjoy it but I want to see entertaining tennis, the womens game doesn't provide that for me. I am not in the camp that believes they deserve equal prize money, its like comparing a donkey derby to the real thing.

Once again I will state I am not comparing fitness levels. Sportspeople are not paid on fitness levels. Jeez, some golfers earn more than enough and some are not that fit when compared to the majority of sportspeople. And I am sure most female tennis players train just as hard as male tennis players when you are getting to the elite level, we are just seeing probably 1% of all thew work they or most sports people put in.

Also if we are talking pure entertainments then you could make a very strong argument that doubles matches are often more exciting and entertaining than male singles matches where you have 2 very powerful male tennis players bashing down unreturnable serves at 150 mph. But it is very subjective. I am just saying that the argument that x male player has been on course for 2 hours 20 minutes and y female player has been on course for 1 hour 37 is not the main reason to justify the female player getting paid less. Which is sometimes trotted out.

5 of the worlds top ten best paid players are female, including Sharpova at number 2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbad...-fuel-the-worlds-highest-paid-tennis-players/ And most of the amounts are made up from endorsements and not tournament winnings. So you could extrapolate from this that there are a a lot of companies that think womens tennis players are worth investing in and of equal value and standing to men in the game.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Is it womens tennis they are endorsing or a very tall pretty blonde russian lady ?

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Once again I will state I am not comparing fitness levels. Sportspeople are not paid on fitness levels. Jeez, some golfers earn more than enough and some are not that fit when compared to the majority of sportspeople. And I am sure most female tennis players train just as hard as male tennis players when you are getting to the elite level, we are just seeing probably 1% of all thew work they or most sports people put in.

Also if we are talking pure entertainments then you could make a very strong argument that doubles matches are often more exciting and entertaining than male singles matches where you have 2 very powerful male tennis players bashing down unreturnable serves at 150 mph. But it is very subjective. I am just saying that the argument that x male player has been on course for 2 hours 20 minutes and y female player has been on course for 1 hour 37 is not the main reason to justify the female player getting paid less. Which is sometimes trotted out.

5 of the worlds top ten best paid players are female, including Sharpova at number 2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbad...-fuel-the-worlds-highest-paid-tennis-players/ And most of the amounts are made up from endorsements and not tournament winnings. So you could extrapolate from this that there are a a lot of companies that think womens tennis players are worth investing in and of equal value and standing to men in the game.

I hear what you're saying Hacker, but isn't this simply economics?

If those companies were sponsoring the women's game, they'd be putting money into sponsoring tournaments rather than just endorsing the women individually, wouldn't they?

I'm not quite sure how prize money is calculated, but I would imagine it's representative of the sponsorship and ticket sales (inc prices, which in its self is a product of supply and demand).

If there is some artificial cap being put in place which can't be justified based on the amount of money generated by the women's game then I agree, something should be done. But if it's simply a market economy in action then to interfere in that for the sake of perceived political correctness would be bonkers.

 

[Hacker Khan]

I hear what you're saying Hacker, but isn't this simply economics?

If those companies were sponsoring the women's game, they'd be putting money into sponsoring tournaments rather than just endorsing the women individually, wouldn't they?

I'm not quite sure how prize money is calculated, but I would imagine it's representative of the sponsorship and ticket sales (inc prices, which in its self is a product of supply and demand).

If there is some artificial cap being put in place which can't be justified based on the amount of money generated by the women's game then I agree, something should be done. But if it's simply a market economy in action then to interfere in that for the sake of perceived political correctness would be bonkers.

I think we are kind of agreeing and I'm not actually saying that all women should automatically be paid as much as men in sport. As that is silly, as everyone has kind of said, the market mostly sets the price in sport. My beef is with men who moan when one the one occasion it does actually happen, saying they should not get equal amount because they don't play as many sets. As they come across as a bit misogynistic in my opinion.

 

[chrisd]

If there is some artificial cap being put in place which can't be justified based on the amount of money generated by the women's game then I agree, something should be done. But if it's simply a market economy in action then to interfere in that for the sake of perceived political correctness would be bonkers.

Which is pretty much what I believe Wimbledon did. I also think that they worried women may not play Wimbledon in protest as, like most sports, they don't really need the cash, the top players are wealthy enough.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Is it womens tennis they are endorsing or a very tall pretty blonde russian lady ?

They are paying the player to endorse their brand, much as when Nadal et al get sponsored, they are paying a handsome ripped Spaniard to wear their clothes, use their rackets, tell the time using their watch. They are not endorsing male tennis in the same was as Sharapova's sponsors are not endorsing women's tennis. Also 5 of the top 10 are women, they are not all pretty blonde and Russian.

If people are trying to say that Sharapova gets paid so much just because she is pretty then come out and say it. As there probably is some truth in that. And to some extent so what, what do you want her to do, put a bag over her head?

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I think we are kind of agreeing and I'm not actually saying that all women should automatically be paid as much as men in sport. As that is silly, as everyone has kind of said, the market mostly sets the price in sport. My beef is with men who moan when one the one occasion it does actually happen, saying they should not get equal amount because they don't play as many sets. As they come across as a bit misogynistic in my opinion.

I completely agree that's an idiotic argument.

I think the extra prize money would be better invested in the grassroots level of women's sport. The more girls that take up a particular sport and become interested in it the better that will be for the long term health of that sport. Prize money will come as more people are interested.

Upping prize money artificially just makes already wealthy people wealthier, it's not a long term solution.

 

[guest100718]

The womens' game suffers because many blokes don't want to see players who hit the ball the same distance as themselves.

Also, there is a serious lack of personalities at the moment. Stacy Lewis is not very charismatic, and most of the other leading players are Korean or Chinese and the US audiences are turned off by them. When Sorenstam was at her peak, TV audiences were pretty good, but nowadays, just as Tiger's absence kills viewing figures, so too does the current crop of players. Maybe Lexi Thompson will revive things. The US audience, which drives the purses, wants a US or adopted pretty heroine to cheer for.

you're being kind to most of the men on here...

 

[Pin-seeker]

Jessica Alba plays golf,get her on LPGA & viewing figures will go through the roof.
:whoo:

 

[Wildrover]

Bringing in some kind of law for equal pay in sport would kill most Women's sport overnight as sponsors would leave in their droves. Would BMW pay the same amount to sponsor the Ladies German Open as they do for Wentworth?

 

[muttleee]

Did you see the photoshopped photo of Beyonce playing golf? Scary.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

She definitely needs a lesson. Dodgy grip. Not sure her outfit would meet our club dress code either.