Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 22 Issue 5 Article 25 June 2021 Wage Inequality of Women in Professional Tennis of the Leading International Tournaments: Gender Equality vs Market Discrimination? Isabel Cepeda Follow this and additional works at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Cepeda, Isabel (2021). Wage Inequality of Women in Professional Tennis of the Leading International Tournaments: Gender Equality vs Market Discrimination?. Journal of International Women's Studies, 22(5), 407-426. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss5/25 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2021 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Wage Inequality of Women in Professional Tennis of the Leading International Tournaments: Gender Equality vs Market Discrimination? By Isabel Cepeda1 Abstract This essay is framed in the transformative role that sports can play in gender relations. Particularly, this essay addresses the analysis of gender pay inequality in professional tennis. Although the economic analysis offers the instruments to determine the remuneration of equilibrium in the labor market, an analytical economic view may not be sufficient when ethical elements intervene, such as social justice, equity and the fight for gender equality. The methodology consisted of searching for, and collecting data on various aspects of professional tennis, with special emphasis on: a) the prizes money received by male and female professional tennis players who compete in the most important tournaments of the main international tennis organizations; and b) the income generated by professional tennis players for the companies organizing these tournaments. The essay applies economic theory to identify equilibrium wages in this industry. The article contributes to the literature in three ways: first, it provides the collection of data on gender discrimination in professional tennis; second, it shows that the inequality of awards between men and women responds to differences in labor productivity; and third, it puts forward measures for the equalization of awards between men and women without business damage. The results are relevant since sports inspires social changes and can contribute to gender equity in other branches of activity. Keywords: Wage inequality, Gender pay discrimination, Tennis, Economic rationality, Equilibrium salary, Social equity Introduction Professional sports are an industry with multiple economic, political and social aspects. A study of the sports industry from an economic viewpoint, (Gratton & Taylor, 2000), according to its economic impact (Milano and Chelladurai, 2011; Huang, 2011; Humphreys and Ruseski, 2009; Ashton et al, 2003; Pitts, 2001; Meek, 1997), focusing on the collective negotiations within (O'Leary, 2017; Jacobs & Winter, 1971), looking at the relations of the sports industry to politics and power (Lenskyj, 2000; Rich, 2000) or analyzing its impact on human development (Coalter, 2010) are among the many aspects treated in the literature. The important social role of the sports industry is another aspect studied. So, professional sports offer an unprecedented opportunity to study the scope of discrimination (Kahn, 1991), for which it has received 1 Isabel Cepeda is tenured assistant professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain (Department of Economic History and Moral Philosophy). Doctor in Economics. Teacher of domestic violence and gender and specializes in gender, sexism and discrimination. Her main research topics include: gender, discrimination and violence against women. Authoress of numerous articles, books and chapters of books, in national and international publications. Referee in top-notch international scientific journals. Referee in national and international congresses of recognized prestige. E-mail: [email protected] 407 Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 22, No. 5 June 2021 increasing attention from sociologists and economists. The literature tackles different types of discrimination in sports. The racial and ethnic discrimination (Lopiano, 2001; Kahn, 1991), discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation (Lee & Cunningham, 2016; Cunningham et al., 2010; Sartore and Cunningham, 2010; Scraton & Flintoff, 2002), gender discrimination in the treatment of sports and the under-representation of women's sports in the mass media (Sherry et al, 2016; Hall & Oglesby, 2016; Bruce, 2016; Heywood & Dworkin, 2003; Hall, 2002; Theberge, 2000; Burstyn, 1999). In addition, it should be noted that many sport competitions help to reflect entrenched ideologies of gender (Anderson, 2008), they tend to make women invisible (Bruce, 2016), they strengthen the idea of male superiority (Travers, 2008), they contribute to the normalization and perpetuation of gender inequality through the promotion of masculine exemplars (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005) and they can promote to the perpetuation of social inequality (Eckstein et al, 2010). Despite all the ways that in which sports builds, reinforces and perpetuates gender inequality, it can also have a transformative role under certain circumstances, given their large audiences and wide social impact. Sports can favor integration and social change (Wankel & Berger, 1990), it could help fostering social interaction (Chalip, 2006), self-esteem and social networks (Branscombe & Wann, 1991), it can contribute to social equality (Smith, 2009), to reduce inequalities, to oppose prejudices and stereotypes, and to become a model for eradicating discriminatory behavior. This essay is framed in the transformative role that sports can play in gender relations. The fight against gender discrimination in professional sports emerges as an unusually good opportunity to advance this goal in the whole of society by providing access to the strife for gender equality to much larger audiences. We focus on the case of professional tennis, that is directed and managed by international tennis organizations. We address different variables typical of professional tennis, as female presence in the collective of tennis referees, in the collective of tennis coaches, the sexist treatment of ball boy girls, audience differences, or gender income inequalities of players. The aim is to derive: a) whether there is gender discrimination in any aspect of professional tennis; b) whether there is payment discrimination by gender, that is to say, if the salary gap between men and women in this sports discipline is the result of discriminatory prejudices or if, on the contrary, it responds to economic rationality criteria; and c) if any of the variables studied could be used to fight against female discrimination in the sports field in a way that serves as a mirror and an example for society as a whole. The study of gender wage inequality allows a quantitative analysis of the differences in income between men and women in this discipline over time, its determinants and their meaning. It shows the productivity—and sales revenue—that men and women tennis players bring to tournament organizing companies. It is the variable that best reflects the preferences of the public and companies for women's tennis compared to men's, and significant enough to be isolated above the others, and, in addition, it is one of the few gender issues frequently covered by television cameras and the press and, therefore, capable of reaching a wide audience and propitiate an active debate on women´s rights. Proposals are suggested which might reconcile business interests with the social interest in the context of the struggle against gender inequality. The article is organized as follows. After this introduction, the second section addresses the tennis industry’s functioning. The third section discuss gender discrimination in professional tennis. In the fourth section, we turn to economic theory to explain how the salary balance between tennis professionals is decided. The fifth section analyzes whether the differences that exist in pay amounts to pay discrimination. In the sixth section, we make proposals for the 408 Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 22, No. 5 June 2021 equalization of wages in professional tennis without business damage. Finally, the sixth section summarizes the conclusions reached. The Tennis Industry There are three major global organizations in tennis: The International Tennis Federation (ITF), the world governing tennis body; the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP); and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). They are for-profit companies and their products are the tournaments they own. The spectacular development of this industry in the last thirty years can be observed in various indicators, such as the growth in the number of people who are 'very interested' in tennis in the US, that grew from 228,480,000 in 2008 to 249,640,000 in 2017, a growth of 9.26% in just nine years (Figure 1). Figure 1. Number of People “Very Interested” in Tennis in USA. 2008-2017. Source: The Statistics Portal, 2018 The second indicator is the growth of expenditure in tennis sponsorship worldwide. Figure 2 shows a growth rate of 33.5% in