How Do We Fill the Gap?

It seems that in almost all sports, women are underappreciated, but how would you feel if you were a woman in a game that few people enjoy watching? That would be like a double whammy. That is what the women in the game of golf have to deal with. Even though all athletes participate in a sport for the love of the game, they also hope to be in deep piles of something else. I’m talking about money. So why is it fair for women to get paid less, especially in golf?

Pro women golfers could make anything from $75,000 to just under $5 million per year depending on their national rank. Men pro golfers make anything from $1 million to $10 million. Right there shows a 5 million dollar gap between men’s and women’s salaries in the game of golf. The question is how and why such a big gap was created. It all comes down to the amount of interest in the sport.

The main reason why the men get paid more is because there is more interest in men’s golf. This interest generates more support and more revenues to fund prize money for the players to get paid with. It’s the same case with AHS, since there is more support for boy’s golf and basketball, there are more opportunities for boys’ sports to be funded.

For example, the prize money for the men’s PGA Tour is $256 million. For women on the LPGA Tour the prize money is one fifth of that at $50 million. Guess which one has more viewers?

The only way to fill the huge salary gap is to generate more interest in women’s sports. Female athletes are doing all the same things as the men, working as hard, playing in the same amount of tournaments; the only difference is that men have more of the fans.

I think it is important for people to try and fill this gap so there will be more equality among men and women in sports. Women deserve to be appreciated and their talent is deserving of the same acknowledgment that men get, and there are many ways that this can happen. Go to a women’s game or tournament. Just take a couple of your friends out to show your support. Buy some merchandise in support of your favorite team, or just simply turn on the TV and enjoy.

So the next time you decide to sit down and watch some sports on a Sunday, why not see if women’s golf is on, try something new. You never know, you could end up loving it, and eventually make a difference for women’s sports.