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Summary
Even with advancements in diversity, equity, and inclusion, the gender pay gap remains a significant issue across sports and various industries, highlighted by the absence of female athletes in Sportico's top 100 highest-paid list. This underscores the substantial disparity in earnings, endorsements, and prize money between women and their male counterparts.
Sportico has unveiled its annual ranking of the 100 highest-paid athletes globally for 2024, spanning eight sports and 27 countries that did not feature any female athlete. The top 100, primarily consisting of athletes from football, the NBA, NFL, golf, and boxing, amassed an estimated total income of $6.2 billion. The total amount comprises $4.8 billion in salary and prize money, along with an additional $1.4 billion from endorsements.
According to research by Adelphi University,
“Whether professional players receive salaries or individual prize money from competitions, male athletes in basketball, golf, soccer, baseball and tennis make anywhere from 15% to nearly 100% more than female athletes. While compensation for women has improved over the past decade, the gap still extends to even the world’s highest-paid players”.
In January 2025, it was reported that the female winner in qualifying at a ski jumping World Cup event, Selina Freitag, received a partner bag with towels and shampoo, while her male counterpart, Jan Haerl, got 3,000 Swiss francs (US$3,290),
Freitag told German TV channel BR24, “I received a partner bag with shower gel and shampoo and four hand towels,” after she finished first in qualifying at the Two nights Tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on December 30. “We unfortunately didn’t have a spare five hundred (euros) or so.”
However, Ronaldo’s highly profitable contract with the Saudi Arabian football club Al-Nassr has secured his position at the pinnacle for the second consecutive year following his transition to the Saudi Pro League in December 2022. Despite the absence of women in the top 100, Coco Gauff emerged as the highest-earning female athlete last year, amassing $30.4 million. This figure represents a $7.1 million gap compared to Daniel Jones of the Minnesota Vikings, whose total earning stood at 37.5M securing him the 100th spot on the list.
This pay gap does not just reside in the sports industry, according to Payscale: “The legal profession has the worst discrepancy at 61%, while arts, entertainment and sports comes in well above average at 96%. While this is heartening for advocates of equal pay, there is still progress that needs to be made — especially when it comes to professional sports.”
The gap in earnings between male and female athletes has grown to a level where women are still struggling to match the income of their male counterparts from 2012, while men have nearly doubled their earnings by 2022. The difference in prize money at the qualifying ski jumping World Cup event also exposes the inequalities and persistent disparities that continue to pervade the realm of sports and every industry till today.
The controversy surrounding the ski jumping prize money highlights the ongoing struggle for women in sports to achieve the recognition and compensation they rightfully deserve. As long as governing bodies, sponsors, and fans do not unite in advocating for change, women will continue to be overlooked and underpaid, not because of any deficiency in talent or commitment but because the system is inherently biased against them. Genuine equality in sports can only be realised when compensation is based on performance and influence rather than gender.
