Prize Money in Sport: Golf has the biggest athlete gender prize money gap

A comprehensive analysis by Keller Sports reveals the gender pay gap in prize money for various national sports competitions

Wimbledon is the first national competition to have introduced equal prize between women and men in 2007.
The London Marathon and Tour of Britain have also adapted their prize money to ensure gender equality standards.
In golf and football, women win almost £2 million less than their male counterparts.
Munich, Germany, 1th July 2022 – The sports and lifestyle brand Keller Sports has released a study that analyses the prize money of various national sports competitions. The findings highlight the differences in prize money for men versus women. The analysis reviews major international sports competitions such as the Wimbledon tournament and the FA cup.

Gender-Pay-Gap: These national sports competitions provide equal prize money for men and women

Wimbledon has offered equal payouts to male and female competitors since 2007. Until 2007 female winners won approximately £30,000 less than their male counterparts. However, since 2007 both genders are offered to win the same amount of prize money. In 2022, the prize money amounted £1.7 million.

Following Wimbledon, the London Marathon also ensured that both woman and men can win the same amount of prize money. Back in 2011, there was still a huge prize money pay gap. Woman were able to win around £13,000 less than their male counterparts.

The Tour of Britain cycling competition has also begun offering the same prize money, regardless of gender. In 2017, the prize money was around £10,000 less than that for men. From 2019, the prize money is equal for both men and women, amounting to £12,499.

Table 1: The different national sports competitions and prize money:

Competition
Sport
Prize
Men
Prize
Women
Difference
Equal
since

Wimbledon

Tennis
1,700,000 £
1,700,000 £
0
2007
London Marathon

Marathon
115,925.93 £
115,925.93 £
0
2011
Tour of Britain

Cycling
12,499 £
12,499 £
0
2019
The Open Championship
Golf
1,900,000 £
483,924 £
1,899,516.08 £
–
FA Cup

Football
1,800,000 £
25,000 £
1,775,000 £
–
Complete list for all national sports competitions and prize money is available here.

Football and golf show the biggest prize money gap between men and women to date

That said, the study reveals that the majority of national sports competitions still do not pay equal prize money. This is especially true for football and golf with a gender prize money gap of nearly £1.7 million in the FA Cup and almost £2 million in the golf’s Open Championship. Even in golf, a more niche sport than football, the prize money reserved for women is much less than for men.

“At Keller Sports, we are passionate about enabling amateur athletes to compete fiercely in competitions by giving them access to all the best possible sports equipment”, said Marcus Trute at Keller Sports. “Although few of them would say that prize money motivates them to take part in competitions, we were nonetheless curious to investigate which amateur sport competitions are the most lucrative. For the majority, it’s not about the money, but the adrenaline that comes from taking part.”