Why Do Female Athletes Get Paid?

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We live in a world where gender in sports exceeds talent. Achieving equal pay in women's sports is not only a matter of fairness, but also essential for the growth of all professional athletes. Despite women's sports going up in popularity, the amount of money they are making does not reflect that. It’s time for the amount that athletes are getting paid to be based on their dedication and achievements, and not on their gender. Athletes' paychecks not only differ because of their gender, but also by the sport they play. The average female athlete earns 83% less than the average male athlete. The top paid male athlete was Lionel Messi who earned 130 million dollars in 2023 while the top female athlete tennis player Coco Gauff earned 24 million …show more content…
In 1972, Billie Jean King won the women's title in the U.S. Open and earned 10,000 dollars for her efforts, while the men's champion was awarded 25,000 dollars. She told tournament officials that neither she nor any other female pro would return the next year unless they were paid the same prize money as men. The tactic worked and the following year both champions earned the same prize fund.Venus Williams also spoke out against an organization for equal pay. The day before playing in the 2005 final for the French Open, Venus Williams addressed a meeting of the Grand Slam Board, urging Wimbledon and the French Open to offer equal pay to male and female players. The following afternoon, she won one of her seven major singles championships. About 112 years later, Wimbledon announced it would, indeed, offer the same prize money to men and women in all rounds of the tournament, and the French Open soon followed suit eliminating the pay gap at the four majors. After a long and hard fight, many of these women have gotten closer to the equal pay they deserve. In 2022 the FIFA women's and men’s teams came together, pooled their prize money and split it