Advantage men: The sex pay gap in professional tennis

In: International review for the sociology of sport: irss ; a quarterly edited on behalf of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), Band 48, Heft 3, S. 366-376

Abstract

Much of the literature on gender inequality in sport is devoted to media bias and conceptualizations of masculinity and femininity. In comparison, there is a paucity of empirical research on the sex pay gap. Our case study uses publically accessible data for professional tennis players ranked in the top 100 at the end of the 2009 season to determine to what extent a pay gap exists between men and women. We find that median earnings – both in 2009 and over a player's career – are substantially higher for men than women in the sample. Net of various productivity measures, the average female player earned less than her male counterpart for every singles tournament won in 2009. We also find that while prize money for men and women is equal in prestigious tournaments such as Grand Slam events, women's prize money is considerably lower in many of the less publicized tournaments. We submit that the sex pay gap among professional tennis players can be explained in part by productivity in 2009, as well as differential payouts for middle- and low-tier tournaments.