Equal Prize Money for Women and Men At The Winter X Games 13

ESPN, a leader in promoting women's sports, annouced that the Winter X Games 13 will include equal prize money for men and women. It is about time that someone recognizes that women who play the same sports as men deserve an equal purse. According to Katie Moses Swope, director of public relations for the Winter X Games, the decision to recognize an equal purse came from years of input from both, athletes and judges. Despite negative feedback from some, ESPN went with the best decision. Katie Moses Swope said, "this is a positive thing and we felt we wanted to recognize the talent and the caliber of these athletes. You’re going to have differences in talent in the X Games, but how athletes have progressed in certain disciplines, that’s how we based our decision.”


The debate for equal pay for prize money "transcends action sports" and is also one that ESPN has brought attention to when reporting on other sporting events, such as professional tennis and golf. Most organizers of sporting events are in favor of unequal pay because they feel there is a "talent gap" between men and women and that the pay reflects the gap.

The Women's Sports Foundation also believes that men and women athletes should get equal purses when they are partaking in the same competition, such as Wimbledon or X Games, that has both men and women athletes participating in the same events. When leagues are separate events in the "commercial marketplace" and are conducted solely on the money they earn, the amount a player makes will differ among leagues, regardless of whether they are male or female athletes. The issue of equal purses should be questioned when men and women are competing in the same sporting event in which a single ticket is offered. there is no justification of paying one sex higher than the other. The following statement from an article on the Women's Sports Foundation website says it all, "how would the public react if there were higher purses for white athletes than athletes of color? Sex discrimination is no different than race discrimination."

The bottome line here is that unequal purses goes way beyond money issues and beyond the playing field. When our kids watch a telecast and see female athletes valued less than their male counterparts, they are learning that women are less respected and rewarded in todays society. We are announcing values for future generations; we need to be sure that the "accepted values are acceptable ones."

For more information on pay inequity, check out http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Equity-Issues/P/Pay-Inequity-in-Athletics.aspx