August 13, (THEWILL) – As the struggle for equal pay and non-discrimination picks up steam in the USA, and across sports in general, the English Football Association has come upfront to defend the disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s FA Cup competitions as currently exists.
The defence was deemed necessary due to the varied reactions that followed last week’s release of recent earning figures. It showed that the winners of the men’s competition will earn £1.8m, in contrast to the winners of the women’s FA Cup this season who will receive £25,000, which comes up to just about 1.4 percent of the men’s.
Furthermore, the women’s FA Cup runners-up stand to pocket £15,000, compared to £900,000 in the men’s equivalent, a trend also reflected in the prize fund throughout the earlier rounds of the competition itself rather than just the final figures.
The rationale for the glaring discrepancy was explained by an FA spokesperson who claimed it had to do with income generated: “Whilst we recognise there is currently a significant disparity between prize money for the men’s and women’s competitions, these are determined by the amounts of money generated through commercial revenue, including national and international broadcast rights.
“The Emirates FA Cup is the biggest revenue producer for The FA and currently generates £212m per annum. This revenue enables us to invest back into football at all levels and we have made significant progress to develop the women’s game as a result.
“We invested over £18m into the ‘Gameplan for Growth’; our ambitious strategy for the women’s game, which doubled participation, delivered professional and semi-professional women’s football and a successful England team.
“In addition, we launched our new ‘Inspiring Positive Change’ strategy in October last year and we will work with Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Championship clubs to grow audiences and revenues, which will help make women’s football in England more commercially viable in the future and allow further re-investment.
“Unfortunately, like many organisations, The FA has been challenged financially by the pandemic, which has resulted in both the men’s and women’s competitions being affected.”
It is uncertain if this explanation will satisfy the critics of the disparity even if it has some facts going for it. There are many who will argue that the more money put into the female game, the more it will engender the type of growth that can bring it within measurable comparison with the male side and enable it to become now income generating as well.
However, the struggle to realise parity for both genders show no signs of stopping soon and, if anything, may be emboldened ever more.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
