MOUNT EVEREST

Through every walk of life sexism is etched into people’s opinions and culture. Women are downgraded and pushed against the ground for a large part, trying to find equality. In sport, it is likewise.

In the 2014 men’s World Cup, champions Germany received $35 million whilst in the 2015 women’s World Cup, the USA team received a mere $3 million. That is a 32-million-dollar gap. The gender pay gap in soccer is a very sticky situation. Technically it is possible to close that gap, but will it be sufficient or accepted willingly among the women’s soccer world?

There are a lot of factors causing that gender pay gap. When the media sit down and decide what they are going to cover this year, it is only about one question. How can we make more money? It is not down to their opinion of how good the women’s soccer game is or their belief about closing that pay gap. If a new business is launching a new product, they look for their target audience. Will this be successful? Will it get us sales? And will this make us money? It is no different in the women’s game.

If the media were going to make money from viewership, they would jump on the bandwagon. But if the majority of the public are not going to watch, what is going to cover their expenses for showing these games? Soccer is a business; money cannot come from nowhere. Therefore, only 2 percent of the world’s coverage is on women’s sport.

TV rights is where the big money comes from soccer. It is simple, if there is a large enough audience willing to watch, the more money media are going to make, which eventually increases the amount of pay and prize money that women’s soccer receives. Many people would love to see that gap closed, but the majority will not watch it on TV. You may have the rationale that by putting it on TV more people will watch it, however is that a gamble media companies are going to take? It is what the women’s game deserves. They put in the exact same amount of time and effort as the men. They deserve their elite status in women’s soccer, but sadly not in soccer now.

More needs to be done to promote viewership of the game. Start from scratch, support grassroots clubs to make more girls and women stay playing soccer. This increases the appeal of the women’s game, increasing the competitive level for places on teams. Some of the best soccer players out there might have dropped soccer or never even started playing it at all! More women in the game means more people interested in watching.

The women’s game needs to be given the same respect as the men’s game, in terms of accessibility. Instead of saying it is not financially viable to screen (which now it probably is not), start asking what can we do so that it is financially viable. What benefits can we get out of this?

People can brush these topics under the mat but eventually a heap of problems will unfold and crash before people’s eyes. The men’s game is great to watch but with the right attitude the women’s game can transform out of the dilemma it is in, to one of “oh no, which do I pick?”. Every sportsperson around the world, male or female, has worked tirelessly to get where they are today. The least people can do is support them and promote the work they do. That gender pay gap is like Mount Everest, however, even the largest mountains can be climbed.