For instance, the Mexican womens football league, the Liga MX Femenil, played some of its first (20172018) seasons initial games at training grounds with minimal room for fans. Throughout the 2019 tournament, too, individual playoff games generated significant audiences in terms of both absolute size and audience share. Right now, ticket revenue accounts for roughly 35% of the Current's total revenue, club . In the eight FIFA World Cup tournaments held on the womens side, the U.S. womens team has won four and either came in second or third place in the others. Deloitte Insights delivers proprietary research designed to helporganizations turn their aspirations into action. "The womens national team players raise issues not just about compensation but also safe work environments (they are put at risk more frequently by having to play on non-grass fields than the male players); travel (the men fly charter, while the women fly commercial); ticket prices (which are lower for WNT games compared to the men); and marketing efforts (less of an investment in the womens game)," said Ellen J. Staurowsky, a professor of sport management at Drexel University. Womens sports gets down to business: On track for rising monetization has been saved, Womens sports gets down to business: On track for rising monetization has been removed, An Article Titled Womens sports gets down to business: On track for rising monetization already exists in Saved items. Social login not available on Microsoft Edge browser at this time. Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube! When this happens, youll see more money pouring into womens soccer and the prize money will grow exponentially. That said, there is anecdotal evidence that the on-the-field success of the womens team has given the federation a windfall. No U.S. presidents elected before Donald Trump were racist. Chief women's football officer Sarai Bareman says FIFA is 'keeping a very, very close eye' the ongoing investigations following the release of the Yates report. These achievements are even more notable given what the womens team argues in the lawsuit: that U.S. Soccer has given them fewer resources and does not announce their games with enough time to get the biggest audience. Change takes time, and it may take a decade, or even a generation, for womens sports to attain its full potential. The women's team got a higher percentage with 13 percent, but the bottom line was . For example, in January 2020, the WNBA agreed to new terms that included a 53% pay raise. But FIFA's survey also comes at a turbulent time for the game. In the United States, TV ratings for tennis grand slamsa major driver of pay TV subscriptions and advertising revenueshave been slightly higher for women than men. Since there is more money in the mens soccer globally, the teams and players get a larger payout. THE FILIPINAS are bringing back the core of their AFF Women's Championship-winning team as they hunt for a historic gold medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Cambodia. The report found that just 7% of clubs globally reported more than $1 million in revenue from matches, broadcast, commercial and prize money. As sponsorship interest grows, rights for womens teams are increasingly being sold individually rather than being bundled with the mens team. Chants of "equal pay" erupted after the teams victory over the Netherlands and during its triumphant victory parade in New York City. Sarai Bareman, FIFA's chief women's football officer, said the report underscores women's soccer is a wise investment. "When the U.S. Soccer Federation defends its differential treatment of women players by pointing to market arguments, they fuel old stereotypes that people are not interested in womens sport and womens sport is not interesting," she said. Our friends at the Washington Post Fact Checker did obtain a copy of the new agreement. Paul also leads the Deloitte Global Mobile Consumer Survey, now in its sixth year, which tracks usage of mobile around the world, based on a 53,000 user survey fielded in 31 countries. The womens team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation, its parent organization, in March over gender discrimination. "Thats because the men earn a $5,000 bonus when they lose and the women have a $100,000 base salary.". The team subsequently ranked as the fourth-best team in England after just two seasons.80. This number was nearly 50% higher than the average viewership of the US mens Major League Soccer (MLS) games in the seasons opening weekend.14 And even niche audiences for womens soccer are growing. The all-time record for a womens football match was for the Womens World Cup final in 1999 when the United States played China, with a live audience of 90,185.46, National games are among the most popular for matchday attendance. Deloittes TMT Predictions reports have historically required a base level of a billion dollars in revenue before an emerging industry would be considered for inclusion. A Division of NBC Universal, Carli Lloyd of USA Women during the World Cup Women match between USA v Chile at the Parc des Princes on June 16, 2019 in Paris, France. TV rights are the biggest source of revenue for major sports rights holders. In 2021, we predict womens sports revenues will be well under a billion dollarsa fraction of the global value of all sports (mens, womens, and mixed), which in 2018 reached US$481 billion, an increase of 45% over 2011.2. "While Warren is 100% right that USWNT is No. "Women deserve equal pay for equal (or better!) - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.). The Democrats dont want to do anything having to do with protecting people from eviction., The average cost of child care in this country is more than what it costs to send a child to college for one year.. The sponsorships, television rights, merchandise and other monies, which are generated for the prize money, is much greater for the mens team compared to the womens team. "It is legally and morally wrong.". The tournament's 32 games were staffed by a safeguarding official as well as a representative from Costa Rica's National Children's Institute. "The @USWNT is #1 in the world & contributes higher revenues for @USSoccer than the mens team, but theyre still paid a fraction of what the men earn," Warren said. Attendance at womens matches has sometimes been in the low thousands or even hundreds, especially as some contests have taken place at training grounds with limited seating, potentially deterring fans from attending due to lack of capacity and facilities. One notable difference, Cooky said, is that when the women returned from their 2015 World Cup win, the games for the womens professional league, the National Womens Soccer League, were broadcast on YouTube. ", The @USWNT is #1 in the world & contributes higher revenues for @USSoccer than the mens team, but theyre still paid a fraction of what the men earn. to receive more business insights, analysis, and perspectives from Deloitte Insights. Mixed events, such as the Olympic Games and Grand Slam tennis, are not included in the revenue calculation. Contracted players have a base pay of $100,000 per year. In short, womens sports is ripe for greater monetizationif certain key elements fall into place. Elite sports revenues are founded on three main pillars: TV rights, event-day attendance, and sponsorships. Its goal is to increase the number of women playing football to 60 million by 2026.83. Together, we can help you imagine, deliver, and run your business, whereveryou compete, using the latest technologies like cloud and cognitive, from strategy developmentthrough implementation. More money flows into the mens professional leagues around the world, and that approach funnels down to the national teams. PARISIn the three years after the U.S. women's soccer team won the 2015 World Cup, U.S. women's games generated more total revenue than U.S. men's . For example, in the case of womens football in England, 53,000 people watched Dick Kerrs Ladies beat St Helens Ladies in 1920. In 2020, Frances Olympique Lyonnais Groupe paid US$3.15 million to acquire an 89.5% stake in NWSLs Seattle-based team.71 Real Madrid launched its womens team in July 2019 by acquiring the existing Madrid-based team CD Tacon for 500,000. The women's team generated $101.3m over the course of 238 games between 2009 and 2019 while the men generated $185.7m over 191 games,. Unfortunately, the reality is that although the women win more than the men, it is irrelevant to the equal-pay argument, as they play in a different league. Get Make It newsletters delivered to your inbox, Learn more about the world of CNBC Make It, 2023 CNBC LLC. BT Sport has committed to show 30 live matches per season, while the BBC is showing one live match per week via online or on-demand channels.35, Englands Football Association (FA) has appointed a company to manage the next round of rights sales from 20212022 onwards, with the expectation that coverage will be in exchange for fees.36 The FA has also appointed an agency for international sales of the WSL, and announced a three-year rights deal with Sky Mexico and the Scandinavian broadcaster NENT in September 2019.37, In France, Canal Plus and TF1 jointly obtained rights for Euro 2021 at a reported deal value of 13million,38 more than double the 5 million paid for the prior tournament in 2017.39, In Spain, the Womens Association of Football Clubs (ACFF) announced a three-year deal worth 9 million for the rights to Liga Iberdrola, the first Spanish womens football division.40Four of the clubs in ACFF have additional rights to show selected games on their own video platforms.41. Refuting the "Revenue Argument" in Women's Soccer Pay Inequality Megan K. Baloutch Published on 13 April 2022 Richard Heathcote (Getty Images) The US women's soccer team has won four FIFA World Cup titles in the nearly 37 years since its first game in Italy in 1985. And several Democratic presidential candidates have taken up the teams cause. When they calculated the same 20-game scenario as the lawsuit did for the old agreement, they found that a womens team player would now earn "$28,333 less, or about 89 percent of the compensation of a similarly situated mens team player.". Simply select text and choose how to share it: Email a customized link that shows your highlighted text. Several recent agreements exemplify the growing role of sponsorships in womens sports. According to the lawsuit, the Women's National Team Player's Association (WNTPA) has proposed a revenue-sharing model to "test the USSF's 'market realities' theory," describing a proposal that would tie player compensation to revenue generated by the women's national team for USSF. Senators to U.S. Soccer Federation, March 28, 2019, Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Womens Soccer Games Outearned Mens Games," June 17, 2019, Associated Press, "Goal reached: US womens soccer team gets new contract," April 5, 2017, New York Times, "Pay Disparity in U.S. Soccer? A German Soccer Team's Radical Fix for Declining Attendance: Free Tickets Fortuna Dsseldorf, a club in Germany's second division, has launched a pilot project to replace ticket revenue with . Ltd. and part of the UK TMT Insight team. Although the U.S. womens team has a more superior winning record, they are playing in a league that has a smaller pool of prize money to offer the winners. Paul has published 32 columns in the Financial Times, specializing in analysis of current trends in the TMT sector from a numerical perspective. It was developed with UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency. Under the new structure, top players could earn more than US$500,000 per year.73 Additional benefits under the new terms include paid maternity leave, dedicated areas for nursing mothers,74 fertility and adoption services, and improved travel conditions (flying premium economy rather than economy).75. "While doubling the prize money for the womens tournament, FIFA did so while also raising the prize money for the men. In the United Kingdom, the BBC reportedly paid 1012 million for the rights to the Womens Euro football competition in 2021 (now 2022) being hosted in England, up from the 1 million that Channel 4 reportedly paid for the 2017 edition.34, Also in the United Kingdom, where BT Sport and the BBC have a three-year deal with the Womens Super League (WSL) football franchise from 20182019 to 20202021, rights have been awarded on the basis of guaranteed coverage. In cricket, the opening game of the 2020 ICC Womens Twenty20 World Cup, in which Australia took on India, was watched in India by an average of 3.6 million viewers, with a total reach of 20 million.17 In India, the first 12 matches of the tournament generated 41 million viewing hours, a 213% increase over the 2018 figure.18, In rugby, 2.6 million viewers in the United Kingdom watched the final game of the 2017 Womens Rugby World Cup.19 According to Nielsen, 56% of the TV audience for this event was male.20, In netball, 550,000 people in the United Kingdom watched the semifinal of the 2019 Netball World Cup.21, The caveat here is that womens sports ability to deliver strong TV ratings is not matched by its representation in media coverage. While COVID-19 impacted club revenue in the prior . Women's soccer is seeing growing revenues globally from sponsorships, broadcast deals and merchandising, while also seeing greater interest from fans, according to a new survey by the game's governing body. If this trend continues, we may see rapid changes in the pay of professional women athletes. This pattern marked a reversal from prior years: In 2014 and 2015, the mens team earned $8.31 million and $11.71 million more than the womens team, respectively. Our expectation is that womens sports has similar potential for growth, especially as we believe that there is significant untapped interest in watching womens sports. "Woman's football is on a growth trajectory unlike any other sport in this world. In 2019, the average WNBA player earned US$116,000 per season; the new agreement raised the base salary to US$130,000 and created additional bonus and prize pools. However, COVID-19 has introduced some headwinds. Creating a womens team within an existing successful franchise best known for its mens team provides instant brand recognition and can also provide immediate access to facilities. The fan interest is there: A recent multicountry study found that 66% of people were interested in at least one womens sport, and among sports fans (of whom 49% are female), that figure rises to 84%.3 And the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed fundamental reappraisals of many aspects of society, one of which is how womens sports should be perceived, promoted, and commercialized. The 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup in France generated record viewership: A total of 993 million people watched it on TV, with a further 482 million accessing it via digital platforms. (Video: Meg Kelly/The Washington Post . The settlement includes a commitment from U.S. Soccer to provide "an equal rate of pay going forward for the women's and men's national teams in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World . The organization surveyed 30 of the top leagues and 294 clubs, building on the first benchmarking report released last year. Kevin Westcott is a vice chair and leads the US Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) practice of Deloitte; as well as serves as the global Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment (TME) practice leader. The most important lesson from all this is that womens sports has immense potential value, not just in monetary terms, but also in terms of what it signals for gender parity. With growing audiences and expanding coverage, the market for womens sports rights is starting to develop. While Warrens tweet focused on the money differences, its worth adding that the lawsuit also lays out disparities that arent strictly economic. Video content creators should consider the value of female athletes stories. The. The challenge in 2021 and beyond will be for womens sports to pull in substantial TV and stadium (as permitted) audiences consistently across multiple sports. Thats a difference of less than 2% in the womens favor. The resumption of elite sports will ideally embrace womens as well as mens sports. In November 2019, a record 77,868 fans watched Englands womens football team lose to Germany at Londons Wembley Stadium.47 This was slightly more than the 77,277 fans who attended the England mens team match against Montenegro in the same month at the same venue.48 National womens cricket teams have enjoyed similarly massive one-off attendances. The prize money for the womens 2019 World Cup was about $30 million, of which the winner takes home about $4 million. makes big bet on women with a new contract, Womens sport: The ten biggest moments in a transformative decade for women's sport, Bill Sweeney: RFU CEO on the future for English rugby and global calendar alignment, England Women announce 28 players on full-time contracts, Man Utd Women: How they built a top-four WSL side in two years, Fifa plans to exceed pledge to double Womens World Cup prize fund. The ability to solve complexissues is critical. The nascency of the market may make womens sports better value for money than the mens equivalents. Not only are womens sports sponsorships a great value relative to those for mens events, but they are likely to appeal to female customers and staff members as a signal of commitment to positive changes in society. The women's team revenue spiked in 2016 after they won the World Cup, outpacing the men's team's earnings by $1.9 million. Beyond game revenue, U.S. Soccer brings in money through marketing and sponsorships; this category accounts for about half of the total revenues in recent years. In January 2019, 28 full-time contracts were introduced for Englands womens rugby team.76 This move was intended to help accelerate the teams development ahead of the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand by enabling players to focus on rugby full time.77 The French womens national football Under-16 to Under-19 teams have been based at the National Football Centrepart of INSEP,78 a national team training center for elite athletes in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelinessince 2014. U.S. Soccer commissioned the investigation following the dismissal last year of North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley after two former players accused him of harassment and sexual coercion in a story in The Athletic last fall. Other appealing factors are likely the relative ease of concluding a deal as well a steeper potential growth trajectory. Its Complicated," April 21, 2016, Washington Post Fact Checker, "Are U.S. womens soccer players really earning less than men?" This period could still be used, however, to improve skills in areas such as fitness and flexibility. The United States Men's National Soccer Team's (USNMT) annual revenue for the official year 2020-21 was $273,702 and $11.9 million; in comparison, their counterparts, the women's national Team, earned $773,819 and $35.5 million. Its lineup includes a new Extraordinary Women series featuring sports stars such as rower Victoria Evans.31 Other programs include Training with MMA Star Leah McCourt and My Life in Lyon, a behind-the-scenes look at the life of footballer Lucy Bronze.32. Already, we are seeing increased investment in womens teams around the world, often via acquisitions. We wanted to take a closer look at the issue. But the teams compensation remains the subject of considerable controversy. On this basis, the global womens sports industry (excluding mixed events),1 measured by the aggregate of TV rights, sponsorship, and matchday (live-event) revenues, is unlikely to qualify in 2021. As the U.S. women's soccer team was celebrating its fourth World Cup title this summer, lobbyists hired by the U.S. Soccer Federation were in Washington, D.C. arguing . His industry experience spans film, television, home entertainment, broadcasting, over-the top, publishing, licensing, and games. Michelle Joyce and LaJoyce Brookshire aren't just friends, they are partners in . The United States three games in the 2019 SheBelieves Cup (an invitational round robin between the United States, England, Japan, and Brazil) recorded an average viewership of 439,667 in the United States. In this scenario, players on the womens team would earn 38% of what the men earn. Slowly but surely, the gender gap in mens and womens sports revenue is beginning to close. July 8, 2019, Washington Post, "USWNT, USSF agree to mediation in gender-discrimination lawsuit after World Cup," June 21, 2019, Markets Insider, "Nike is selling a record number of USA women's soccer jerseys thanks to World Cup fever," June 28, 2019, Hadley Heath Manning, "The so-called 'wage gap' doesn't apply to the women's soccer team," July 9, 2019, Email interview with Elizabeth Warren Senate office, June 17, 2019, Email interview with Jeffrey Kessler, attorney with the firm Winston & Strawn who is representing the womens team, July 10, 2019, Email interview with Ryan J. Kevin has more than 30 years of experience in strategic and operational planning, as well as implementing global business change and technology projects for major telecom and media organizations. (1:08). But there's also room for growth. Tennis, for which the prize money at Grand Slam events is the same for women as men, is arguably the best example. The USSF sells broadcast and sponsorship rights for the men's and women's teams together, and as a result, it can be difficult to determine the exact broadcast value of the two teams. The United Kingdoms BT Sport and Insight TV have partnered to create a reality TV show, Ultimate Goal, that follows the journey of 28 women competing for the chance to play in a one-off match watched by talent scouts from leading womens football clubs. In 2021, we predict women's sports revenues will be well under a billion dollarsa fraction of the global value of all sports (men's, women's, and mixed), which in 2018 reached US$481 billion, an increase of 45% over 2011. In 2017, both teams brought in about the same revenue at $14.61 million, and in 2018, the mens team brought in $13 million compared to the womens $12.03 million. In 2019, CBS Sports Network, a US cable channel available in 50 million homes, agreed to a deal in which it would televise 40 regular-season Womens National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball games during the 20192020 seasons.25 These games expand the WNBAs existing coverage on ESPN (16 regular games plus playoffs), Twitter (20 games), and NBA TV (40 games). There is a similar uncomfortable feeling about the FIFA World Cup, as it relates to the U.S. womens and mens national teams. In the midst of all the frustration over the financial remuneration, some basic facts are left out of the discussion.