{"id":2226,"date":"2016-06-27T20:07:45","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/women-cricketers-gender-pay-gap-bcci\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T19:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:27:40","slug":"women-cricketers-gender-pay-gap-bcci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2226","title":{"rendered":"Should Women Cricketers Get Equal Pay? The Economic Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p><\/div>

he Indian women’s cricket team is on an absolute tear in the ongoing Asia Cup, demolishing opposition with an authority that rivals world-beating sides like Viv Richards’ West Indies and Steve Waugh’s Australia. Despite proving for the umpteenth time that the quality of their game is on the same level as their male counterparts, a yawning gap exists when it comes to how they’re rewarded. The prize amount for winning Player of the Match, an honour bagged so far by captain Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur, is a paltry 250 USD. In comparison, the Man of the Match in the 2016 men’s Asia Cup final, Shikhar Dhawan, took home 7,500 USD. When it comes to getting a slice of the monetary pie, women cricketers are still getting the stepchild treatment from the BCCI.\n\nIn March this year, BCCI announced new contracts for both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s cricket teams. A few of Kohli\u2019s boys would be earning\u00a014 times<\/span><\/a> more money than Mithali & Co. To sum up the irony, they decided to make the announcement just a day before <\/span>Women\u2019s Day<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\n\nThe pay gap between men and women players of the Indian cricket teams needs more scrutiny than merely comparing final contract figures of male and female cricketers. Not only is it a gender issue, there are also economic realities of the free market attached to it. It is important to understand why these differences exist, how the BCCI \u2013 generally regarded one of our most corrupt admin bodies \u2013 has failed, and what they can do to correct course. And there\u2019s a lot that the richest sporting body in cricket can do.<\/span>\n\nWhy do male cricketers get paid so much more than their female counterparts? <\/span>\n\nThink of men\u2019s cricket as a chain reaction, where one thing leads to another. Male cricketers attract bigger crowds and large viewership on TV. These in turn attract big sponsorship and branding deals, which result in higher revenues being generated from the game, which then enable these fat cheques and huge monetary contracts for male players. <\/span>\n

Think about the success of the Women\u2019s Big Bash League in Australia, that has been an economic success and witnessed record viewership in 2017<\/blockquote>\nOne of the reasons women are paid less is because \u2013 sadly \u2013 women\u2019s sport makes less money.<\/span>\n\nIt brings us to a difficult question that needs deeper introspection than just a knee-jerk Twitter outrage. Why do people not follow <\/span>women\u2019s cricket<\/span><\/a> with the same ardour and in the same capacity? If we don\u2019t watch the games and follow the team\u2019s progress with the same level of obsession that we followed Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma\u2019s <\/span>wedding<\/span><\/a>, can we really blame sponsors and advertisers if they don\u2019t see a similar potential in the women\u2019s game? The very people who want equal pay for women players haven\u2019t adapted to the game. Are we, then, not part of the same problem?<\/span>\n\nSome arguments have been made about how women\u2019s sport isn\u2019t as interesting. To which, I call bullshit. One only needs to recollect the enthralling Olympic final between <\/span>PV Sindhu<\/span><\/a> and Carolina Marin, or thousands of other exciting contests across sports day in and day out. To say that men\u2019s sport is 10, 20, or 40 times more interesting to demand that kind of a pay difference, is a ridiculous argument that holds very little ground. Besides, it\u2019s not true. Think about the success of the <\/span>Women\u2019s Big Bash League<\/span><\/a> in Australia, that has been an economic success <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> witnessed record viewership in 2017. The <\/span>2015 Women\u2019s Football World Cup<\/span><\/a> final had more viewership in the US than the men\u2019s football world cup final. <\/span>\n\nThe market and the opportunity is right out there. If only we \u2013 viewers, the BCCI, sponsors, and advertisers \u2013 knew how to take advantage of it.<\/span>\n\n\"Women\n\nIt is quite appalling how little Indian women\u2019s players are paid compared to their international counterparts in Australia and England.\n\nImage Credits: Getty Images\n\nBut we don\u2019t, because women\u2019s cricket has been primed for failure. This isn\u2019t an equal opportunity market at many levels, and the pay cheque is only a small part of it. <\/span>\n\nThis is where the BCCI can make amends. Women\u2019s cricket will catch up with the men’s game only and only when the body decides to invest in it commercially. This can\u2019t happen piecemeal. It has to be at a pace similar to the men\u2019s game. They have to ensure infrastructure and quality wherein women don\u2019t have to work part-time because sport is not a viable full-time profession. Senior domestic players make around <\/span>\u20b930,000<\/span><\/a> a year, which is \u20b92,500 per month. You probably pay your <\/span>house help<\/span><\/a> a little more than that. How can the players be expected to opt for cricket as a full-time career? <\/span>\n\nIt is quite appalling how little Indian women\u2019s players are paid compared to their international counterparts in Australia and England. <\/span>Cricket Australia<\/span><\/a> covers its domestic cricketers under central contracts and also came up with the Women\u2019s Big Bash League. Even the England Cricket Board has pledged <\/span>\u00a33 million<\/span><\/a> for a Women\u2019s Twenty20 Super League.<\/span>\n\nThis is an important time to <\/span>emphasise, yet again, that the BCCI is the richest sporting body in the cricket. In the entire world. What gives? <\/span>\n\nThe solution lies in another chain reaction. If the BCCI decides to invest in the game, women players can think of it as a full-time profession. Which in turn means, that the quality of the players and the overall game will get better. We\u2019ll see an influx of fans and sponsors that the women\u2019s game truly deserves. <\/span>\n\nIndia keenly followed the 2017 Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup, with the final attracting <\/span>19.53 million<\/span><\/a> impressions, making it the most watched women\u2019s sporting event in India. It\u2019s a no brainer that we love cricket in India, and the women in blue made us super proud. After the end of the tournament, captain <\/span>Mithali Raj<\/span><\/a> floated the idea of a <\/span>women\u2019s T20 league<\/span><\/a> in India, saying that the \u201ctime is right\u201d. <\/span>\n\nThe BCCI keeps paying lip service, making public statements about doing more for the women\u2019s game. Now, however, the time is right for them to put their money where their mouth is. Equal pay will follow.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the Man of the Match in the men’s 2016 Asia Cup won 7,500 USD, the women’s captain Mithali Raj received a prize of only 250 USD. Why does the women’s game receive the stepchild treatment in the same tournament?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":2229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[4483,2263,4484,449,4485,4486,353,291,4487,4488,4489,4475],"class_list":["post-2226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-2017-womens-cricket-world-cup","tag-bcci","tag-carolina-marin","tag-cricket","tag-gender-pay-gap","tag-pv-sindhu","tag-sports","tag-tv","tag-viewership","tag-wages","tag-women-cricketers","tag-womens-day"],"yoast_head":"\nShould Women Cricketers Get Equal Pay? The Economic Argument<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While the Man of the Match in the men's 2016 Asia Cup won 7,500 USD, the women's captain Mithali Raj received a prize of only 250 USD. Why does the women's game receive the stepchild treatment in the same tournament?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=2226\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should Women Cricketers Get Equal Pay? The Economic Argument\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the Man of the Match in the men's 2016 Asia Cup won 7,500 USD, the women's captain Mithali Raj received a prize of only 250 USD. 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