Wimbledon to pay women as much as men

[RedHot25]

I put this in here because the OT gets more traffic; feel free though to move it to sports if that's better.

Anyways, just found this interesting....I didn't realize that Wimbleton was giving reduced prize money to the female winners....?

http://tsn.ca/tennis/news_story/?ID=197170&hubname=

After years of holding out against equal prize money, Wimbledon bowed to public pressure Thursday and agreed to pay women players as much as the men at the world's most prestigious tennis tournament.

....
Last year, men's champion Roger Federer received prize money worth US$1.170 million and women's winner Amelie Mauresmo got US$1.117 million.

....

The U.S. Open and Australian Open have paid equal prize money for years. The French Open paid the men's and women's champions the same for the first time last year, although the overall prize fund remained bigger for the men.
The WTA Tour has lobbied for years to get Wimbledon to drop its "Victorian-era view" and pay the women the same as the men.
"In the 21st century, it is morally indefensible that women competitors in a Grand Slam tournament should be receiving considerably less prize money than their male counterparts," WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott said last year.


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The unequal pay policy goes back 123 years. When the women started playing at Wimbledon in 1884, the female champion received a silver flower basket worth 20 guineas, while the men's winner got a gold prize worth 30 guineas.

[Lucky boy]

Well Men have to play a best of 5 where as Woman only play a best of 3.
So there is an argument that Men deserve more money.

On the other hand, Women tennis is very popular, partly due to the uniforms they wear. They probably draw the same number of crowds that Men do, so the argument can also be made that they deserve the same compensation.

[SeeGeeWhy]

"Last year, men's champion Roger Federer received prize money worth US$1.170 million and women's winner Amelie Mauresmo got US$1.117 million."

Wow, that 53,000 difference is really a slap in the face.

Women in tennis are already getting paid at a much higher rate (nearly 60% more based on the Federer/Mauresmo numbers quoted above) than their male coutnerparts... which is fair considering the growth in popularity in the sport. If the women played 5 game matches, as the men do, then theoretically a woman champion would be getting paid nearly 1.8 million for a tournament win at Wimbeldon at today's purse sizes.

I don't get what the complaint here is. They're getting paid roughly the same for almost half of the amount of work. Sounds pretty sweet to me.

Now, women's golf is a sport where their champions are paid nowhere near the level the guys are. Then again, it's not a tour full of Wies, Creamers, Kerrs and Gulbis', so the draw is not the comparable to the attention the PGA gets.

http://www.pga.com/tournaments/money...ey_leaders.cfm (LPGA Leaders)

http://www.pga.com/tournaments/money...ey_leaders.cfm (PGA Leaders)

[troutman]

The women probably make much more in endorsements.

[Fuzzy McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by Lucky boy

Well Men have to play a best of 5 where as Woman only play a best of 3.
So there is an argument that Men deserve more money.

On the other hand, Women tennis is very popular, partly due to the uniforms they wear. They probably draw the same number of crowds that Men do, so the argument can also be made that they deserve the same compensation.

Men's tennis is a power game. Sets tend to be shorter with less volleying. If women played best out of five, matches would last several hours.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy McGillicuddy

Men's tennis is a power game. Sets tend to be shorter with less volleying. If women played best out of five, matches would last several hours.

Several hours of hot, athletic chicks in short skirts running around making noises?

[Thunderball]

I have no problem with this... in fact, the women should probably be making more (and do, because of endorsements)

The market dictates salaries...

Women's Tennis > Men's Tennis = More money for women... and conversely:

WNBA<<<<<NBA = Men make way more
WUSA<<<<<MLS = Men make way more
LPGA<<PGA = Men make more
Women's Hockey<<<<<<NHL = Men make way more

Fact is, due to biology, most sports are better played by men, and in few instances where it can be comparable (tennis, curling), compensation should be equal. In the case of golf, where the top women can be around average male players, they should be paid approximately what that performance would garner in the PGA, and right now I think they make even more than that, cause of popularity, which is good.

[Addick]

If they deserve to get paid the same that means they are on the same level right? If so, should they not just get rid of the division by sex and put all the players in a single pool? If the men who lose in the quarter-finals are better than the women who lose in the Women's Semi-final doesn't the male quarter-finalists deserve to be paid more? I'm all for equality but not in this case, maybe the top female tennis players should ask for equal chance instead equal pay...

[RedHot25]

Wow, I am a bit surprised. They are just making the prize money the same for both groups, as it is for most other tournaments (according to the article).

Yah, its only 53 grand or whatever but put it into perspective/context with this: (I believe the article has been updated since I originally posted it)

When Wimbledon started paying players in 1968, King won 37.5 percent of the check earned by men's champion Rod Laver. Last year, Mauresmo got $1.117 million - 95.4 percent of the $1.170 million that Roger Federer received for winning the men's title.

They look like they are holding a bit onto the "men play more matches" idea that was stated here; however, it looks kind of lame with this in it as well:

The All England Club previously held out against equal prizes as a matter of principle. Phillips had cited that men play best-of-five set matches while the women play best of three. Also, some women can potentially make more money overall because they also play doubles, while the top men usually play only singles.