The Pay Gap in Women’s Professional Sport: A Long Road to Equity
The recent news of former White Ferns captain Sophie Devine securing a lucrative deal in the United Kingdom’s professional cricket league has been widely celebrated as a positive indicator of growing investment in women’s sports. Her contract, reportedly worth £210,000 (approximately NZ$470,000), is among the highest in the UK league and signals a significant shift. However, while moments like these fuel optimism that women’s professional sport has truly “arrived,” Devine’s exceptional earnings also underscore a persistent reality: for the vast majority of elite female athletes, even those representing their countries internationally, professional sport simply doesn’t provide a sufficient income to make a full-time living.
This disparity is starkly evident across various popular sports, with netball and rugby serving as prime examples of the financial hurdles many athletes still face.
Netball: A Tale of Two Leagues
In New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership netball competition, players currently receive relatively modest retainers. Following a pay cut earlier this year, contracts are understood to range between NZ$20,000 and $45,000 per season. This financial reality often necessitates that many players pursue secondary employment to support their sporting careers.
In stark contrast, Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball competition operates with a team salary cap of approximately A$742,212. This allows for average player salaries to approach A$89,000, a figure attractive enough to draw top Kiwi talent away from home. The difference in investment and earning potential between these two neighbouring leagues highlights the uneven landscape of professional netball.
Rugby and Rugby League: A Chasm in Earnings
Rugby presents a similarly uneven playing field. Despite the resounding success of the New Zealand women’s team, the Black Ferns, at the 2022 Rugby World Cup – where the final at Eden Park attracted over 42,000 spectators, setting a new record for a women’s rugby match – the pay gap between the men’s and women’s games remains substantial.
Black Ferns players now receive retainers in the ballpark of NZ$50,000–$70,000, while those playing in the professional club competition, Super Rugby Aupiki, earn around $25,000 for their season’s efforts. This pales in comparison to their male counterparts in the Super Rugby Pacific competition, who commonly earn between NZ$150,000 and $250,000 per season. For the elite All Blacks, annual earnings can range from $400,000 to over $1 million.
The narrative is much the same in rugby league. While salaries in Australia’s NRL Women’s Premiership are on a steady upward trajectory, with minimum salaries projected to rise from A$30,000 in 2023 to $50,600 by 2027, the gulf remains immense. The men’s NRL operates under a salary cap exceeding A$12 million per club, and its top players can command salaries of $1.3–$1.4 million per season.
Beyond the Paycheck: Support Systems and Parental Leave
While financial compensation is a critical aspect of professional sport, it’s not the sole determinant of an athlete’s career longevity or success. Historically, pregnancy often marked the definitive end of a professional sporting career, with contractual protections being a rarity.
Fortunately, this is beginning to change. Several governing bodies are now implementing parental leave protections for contracted athletes. Cricket Australia, for instance, offers players access to paid parental leave for up to 12 months, with their contracts remaining active throughout this period. Similarly, the English Rugby Football Union’s maternity policy provides up to 26 weeks of full pay, supporting players through pregnancy and their subsequent return to elite competition.
Despite these important advancements, the availability and scope of such support continue to vary significantly across different sports and leagues. Many athletes still find themselves on short-term contracts, making long-term career planning and personal life decisions exceedingly difficult.
Investing for a Thriving Future
A common argument in discussions about pay equity in sport is that revenue from men’s competitions subsidises women’s sports. There is indeed some truth to this, as many sporting organisations bundle men’s and women’s events into broadcast deals and sponsorship packages, with income from men’s games contributing to the broader sporting ecosystem.
However, the fundamental issue lies not just in equal pay, but in the very architecture of how these sporting systems have been developed. Men’s professional programmes have, over many decades, evolved into intricate, multi-layered structures encompassing school competitions, domestic leagues, professional clubs, international tournaments, and commercial franchises. Each of these levels is designed to generate revenue.
For example, under the partnership agreement between New Zealand Rugby and the Players Association, a significant portion – 36.56% – of player-generated revenue is distributed directly to professional players. This means that player salaries are intrinsically linked to the commercial value and maturity of the competitions themselves.
This model, while effective in established competitions, underscores the challenge faced by women’s sports, many of which have yet to achieve this same depth of structure and commercial viability. If women athletes are to be paid strictly according to the current market value of their competitions, it could take decades to close the earnings gap.
Recognising this, some sporting organisations are proactively investing to build the foundations for women’s competitions, rather than waiting for them to achieve large audiences organically.
- The Hundred (UK Cricket): This professional cricket league features men’s and women’s matches played as double-headers on shared match days, increasing visibility for both.
- WNBA (USA Basketball): The Women’s National Basketball Association has benefited from sustained and significant investment from its parent organisation, fostering growth and stability.
- Liga F (Spain Football): Spain’s professional women’s football league has secured a substantial centralised broadcast deal worth €35 million over five seasons, providing a significant revenue stream.
The underlying principle is straightforward: strategic investment leads to increased visibility, which in turn cultivates larger audiences, attracts sponsors, and ultimately generates greater revenue. Over time, this process can establish the layered professional systems necessary to support sustainable careers. Sophie Devine’s record-breaking contract serves as a powerful illustration of what women’s sport can achieve when investment aligns with performance.
The critical challenge moving forward is to cultivate systems that enable entire competitions, not just individual star players, to flourish. By investing early to build deeper, more robust competitions and stronger commercial ecosystems, organisations can ensure that the next generation of female athletes will not be compelled to leave their country or their sport simply to earn a living.
