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How To Solve the Equal Pay Issue Between Men & Women In Sports

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

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I've been thinking about this "issue" regarding the idea that women don't make the same amount of money as men in sports.

I have a solution. A simple "fix" for the problem. Also, this would solve the issue regarding transgender athletes.

Just eliminate the separation, and have everyone compete with, and against each other.

No ladies soccer. No ladies golf. No ladies weight lifting. No ladies track. No ladies tennis.

Just soccer, golf, track, weight lifting, MMA, tennis....

Same rules, same everything.

People want "fair". Make it fair.

If a female ice hockey player wants to make as much money as Sidney Crosby, let her get drafted into the NHL and play just as good as Sydney Crosby. On the same ice, and against the same opponents.

How many women could competitively play basketball in the NBA? Assuming there's no requirement to have some ratio of men to women.

Why isn't Serena Williams playing against Federer and/or Djokovic? She beats them, she can win all the money.

100 meter dash? Just the fastest top runners, regardless of gender.

Eliminate the gender/sex separation, and let the best athlete(s) win. Winner gets the prize.

Problem solved.
 
As a non-sports-watcher, I have no idea. Like, obviously women's sports don't tend to draw the same interest, which is what drives profits for most sports, but that's also a capitalist thing that doesn't necessarily have to to be true - so...maybe we pay male athletes less, because it's not exactly that hard to do sports, and then we even out the field for everyone else.

For at least some sports, maybe go coed, if not all sports.
 
nekrodev said:
obviously women's sports don't tend to draw the same interest,
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Exactly. So why should they pay the same?


You want equal pay, play on the same level as those you think are getting paid more than you.

Pretty simple.

Regardless of male/female - if you think you should make equal money as Tom Brady/Sydney Crosby/Lebron James, then play like them.
Prove you're worth that money by matching their stats, in the same league they play in, against the same competition.
 
Just establish a percentage of the teams salaries and league funds that will go towards sports players(labors).
So if women bring in less revenue then they get less pay and so forth.
 
Dragonfly said:
Exactly. So why should they pay the same?


You want equal pay, play on the same level as those you think are getting paid more than you.

Pretty simple.

Regardless of male/female - if you think you should make equal money as Tom Brady/Sydney Crosby/Lebron James, then play like them.
Prove you're worth that money by matching their stats, in the same league they play in, against the same competition.
Click to expand...


Regardless of how much some of the silly feminist types would like to pretend, the average female does not have the same physical strength or stamina that men have, it's just a fact. It's not a law, and some women perform better than many men, but just generally speaking, men perform on a higher level in sports.

That said, does someone doing the same job deserve less pay because of a physical limitation they can't control? Women's sports is also a very new phenomena compared to most other things. It's not a simple issue at all - and it gets even crazier when you start adding in transgender stuff. I'm not an expert on sex, gender, or any sports, but some people are, and they should be able to figure this out.
 
nekrodev said:
Regardless of how much some of the silly feminist types would like to pretend, the average female does not have the same physical strength or stamina that men have, it's just a fact. It's not a law, and some women perform better than many men, but just generally speaking, men perform on a higher level in sports.

That said, does someone doing the same job deserve less pay because of a physical limitation they can't control? Women's sports is also a very new phenomena compared to most other things. It's not a simple issue at all - and it gets even crazier when you start adding in transgender stuff. I'm not an expert on sex, gender, or any sports, but some people are, and they should be able to figure this out.
Click to expand...

Economics experts should be able to explain too. ;)
 
nekrodev said:
Regardless of how much some of the silly feminist types would like to pretend, the average female does not have the same physical strength or stamina that men have, it's just a fact. It's not a law, and some women perform better than many men, but just generally speaking, men perform on a higher level in sports.
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So why's there a problem with men getting paid more?
 
Dragonfly said:
So why's there a problem with men getting paid more?
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because as a society, we've decided labor costs should be decided by the job, not the about of consumer interest. that's why Lamborghinis cost more than Ford Fiestas, despite selling less than 1/1000th as many units. Most super expensive cars are at least partially handmade, and require very specific craftsmanship.
 
nekrodev said:
because as a society, we've decided labor costs should be decided by the job, not the about of consumer interest. that's why Lamborghinis cost more than Ford Fiestas, despite selling less than 1/1000th as many units. Most super expensive cars are at least partially handmade, and require very specific craftsmanship.
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Are you saying a Lamborghini should cost the same as a Ford Fiesta?
 
Dragonfly said:
Are you saying a Lamborghini should cost the same as a Ford Fiesta?
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No, but you probably couldn't legitimately justify the actual cost difference in terms of labor and materials. I'm sure the name plays a very large part of it.
 
nekrodev said:
given our other disagreements, I don't know if we'd agree on anything involving economics, but maybe?
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I'm definitely no economics expert, but I do understand supply and demand.

What I don't understand is why a high school dropout commands $20 million a film or why athlete entertainers make so much money when EMSs and firefighters and etc. don't. What I mean is that we say we value thus and such but don't put our money where our mouths are.
 
nekrodev said:
No, but you probably couldn't legitimately justify the actual cost difference in terms of labor and materials. I'm sure the name plays a very large part of it.
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Actually I'm pretty sure the costs differences can be justified on many levels.

Bottom line though is, what are people wiling to pay for the product?

So regarding sports, how much money are teams/athletes generating?
TV rights, sponsors, fan purchases.....

If fans, TV, and sponsors are putting out the same money to watch women as men, then the women should get equal pay.
Otherwise....oh well...
 
nota bene said:
I'm definitely no economics expert, but I do understand supply and demand.

What I don't understand is why a high school dropout commands $20 million a film or why athlete entertainers make so much money when EMSs and firefighters and etc. don't. What I mean is that we say we value thus and such but don't put our money where our mouths are.
Click to expand...

maybe we would agree on this issue, then. i definitely agree that more crucial professions like EMS / police / firefighters should make more - under the condition that they are also required to be more rigorously trained (especially cops)
 
Dragonfly said:
Actually I'm pretty sure the costs differences can be justified on many levels.

Bottom line though is, what are people wiling to pay for the product?

So regarding sports, how much money are teams/athletes generating?
TV rights, sponsors, fan purchases.....

If fans, TV, and sponsors are putting out the same money to watch women as men, then the women should get equal pay.
Otherwise....oh well...
Click to expand...

Nothing should be determined by "what people are willing to pay". That's part of the problem with our current system.
 
nekrodev said:
because as a society, we've decided labor costs should be decided by the job, not the about of consumer interest. that's why Lamborghinis cost more than Ford Fiestas, despite selling less than 1/1000th as many units. Most super expensive cars are at least partially handmade, and require very specific craftsmanship.
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No we haven’t, all the top paying jobs are paid based on performance not by what job you have.
 
Crovax said:
No we haven’t, all the top paying jobs are paid based on performance not by what job you have.
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Especially when it comes to sports.

Why in Hell's Bells should anyone expect, or demand Elena Delle Donne get equal pay to Lebron James?
 
Dragonfly said:
Especially when it comes to sports.

Why in Hell's Bells should anyone expect, or demand Elena Delle Donne get equal pay to Lebron James?
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In any industry though, top executives get around 75% of their compensation based on performance
 
Crovax said:
In any industry though, top executives get around 75% of their compensation based on performance
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Just trying to keep this discussion grounded in sports.

But yeah, why should the top executives for the Cleveland Browns expect to get paid equal to top executives for the Patriots?

Clearly one group is performing their tasks much better than the other.
 
Dragonfly said:
So why's there a problem with men getting paid more?
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Simple. If you have a women's team that are actually world champions while the men's team sucks and never makes it into finals, why should the men make more when they draw considerably less crowds than the women's team.
 
Praxas said:
Simple. If you have a women's team that are actually world champions while the men's team sucks and never makes it into finals, why should the men make more when they draw considerably less crowds than the women's team.
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Throughout the entire season, does the women's league generate as much money as the men's league?

It's kinda like saying, "Why should the champions of the minor league baseball playoffs make less money than the losers of the major league baseball championship?"
 
nekrodev said:
maybe we would agree on this issue, then. i definitely agree that more crucial professions like EMS / police / firefighters should make more - under the condition that they are also required to be more rigorously trained (especially cops)
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I don't intend to diss the training of either athletes or actors; I've known actors who've been "rigorously training" since our childhoods. My point is that while we give pay lip service to the value of the "caring professions," we clearly deem our entertainment as more valuable.
 
Dragonfly said:
Problem solved.
Click to expand...

They would still be making less because they would not be winning... as long as winnings is based off of league/team revenues, as it is, there is no problem and no gender disparity.
 
Praxas said:
Simple. If you have a women's team that are actually world champions while the men's team sucks and never makes it into finals, why should the men make more when they draw considerably less crowds than the women's team.
Click to expand...

Because income in professional sports leagues is based off of shared league revenue, that way all team benefit. Women make less because they draw smaller crowds. I love watching women's sports but I see it time and time again... smaller crowds. Just happened at Wimbledon too...
 
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