NIL has changed the reality of college and high school athletics tenfold. However, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Pay disparity has been a problem since the construction workforce and the NIL is no different.
Despite the efforts of the executives and the athletes there is still an overwhelming pay gap because of the lack of opportunities to get endorsements. Women’s College basketball players and other female athletes do everything they can to expand their brand and their name.
They put in just as much work into creating their brand as much as the guys if not more so. I don’t think I know it and the data bares that out. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
“Excluding football, Opendorse found that NIL-compensated female athletes are engaging in 19.6% more social media activities for their deals than male counterparts”(Kaitlin Balasaygun).
According to Opendorse in 2022 6 out of the 10 sports receiving the most endorsement deals are women’s sports including Women’s basketball, Women’s Volleyball, Softball Women’s track and field, Women’s Gymnastics, and Women’s Swim and Dive.
You may be thinking, if this is the case what is the problem? The problem is there is one sport that takes up 49.6% of the deals.
Can you guess what it is? Yup its Football. To that I say to what point and purpose? Why does football get over 30% more deals than the next biggest sport? Men’s Basketball gets 18.9%, Women’s basketball gets 12.6% and then it all goes downhill from there.
If you think this is justified, think about this. NIL is already built on the premise of treating college athletes as if they are in the pros, fine we are there now. How many of those Athletes are actually worth the investment?
Are they that good of an investment that it is worth overlooking whole other sports including growing sports like Women’s Basketball. If some would just put their pride aside they would know the answer is no. Football is a sport that leaves its athletes prone to injuries more than most sports.
So what’s the thinking? And again I’m not saying that the sport of football is not profitable and its athletes are not deserving of some of these benefits. What I am saying is these athletes in other notable sports are worthy of the same opportunities.
There are so many talented individuals in these sports. Don’t take my word for it, go and watch. Women’s basketball, Women’s volleyball, and softball are all exhilarating to watch. They put the work on the court, on the field, and in their brand they should be rewarded for it.
There really is no reason why these athletes shouldn’t be getting the same privileges and treatment as the football players.
Now, there has been a lot of progress made but, there is still inequality of opportunities.
Here’s the kicker though, what people do not understand is that, it is just as much in the hands of the audience as it is the corporations making these offers.
Corporations are after one thing and that is money. If the audience made these collegiate athletes a hot commodity by taking the time to watch and voice their support it could shift the tide.
Networks didn’t give women’s sports the time of day and now you see what’s happened over the last 10 years. Money talks. If the public truly does want to see women’s sports grow they need to start stepping up and supporting these athletes.
Having a conniption on social media isn’t gonna cut it and that’s the way it is.
