Thu Jun 23, 2022, 08:09 AM

Most Americans support gender equity in sports scholarships, poll finds

Source: Washington Post

As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, two-thirds of Americans say they know “not much” or “nothing at all” about the federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex at schools that receive federal funds, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

Nonetheless, there is broad support for its mandate as it relates to gender equity in sports, with 85 percent saying they believe colleges and universities should be required to award the same number of athletic scholarships for women as they do men, according to the poll, which was conducted May 4 through May 17 among 1,503 people across the United States.

More than half of Americans (55 percent) “strongly” support such a policy. Title IX does not require colleges and universities to provide an equal number of athletic scholarships to men and women but mandates that financial assistance be proportional to their participation in intercollegiate athletics. Elysia Mitchell, 29, of Santa Barbara, Calif., is among the women who strongly support requiring equal sports scholarships for female athletes. “If it’s not required, I think a lot of people just do what they think is best,” Mitchell said.

“As history has shown, that has usually cut a lot of women out of opportunities.” Support also differs along party lines. More Democrats (92 percent) than Republicans (79 percent) support requiring colleges to provide an equal number of athletic scholarships to men and women, though the partisan divide is much smaller than on many political issues. The poll was conducted as the nation marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on June 23, 1972.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/06/22/title-ix-poll-americans-support-gender-equity/

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14 replies	Author	Time	Post
Most Americans support gender equity in sports scholarships, poll finds (Original post)	BumRushDaShow	Jun 23	OP
There is no women's comparable to men's college football	Deminpenn	Jun 23	#1
Well as you know, they have been trying to work through	BumRushDaShow	Jun 23	#2
Need pay equity in other sports too	MichMan	Jun 23	#3
Pro sports is different than college athletics	Deminpenn	Jun 23	#5
I agree	BumRushDaShow	Jun 23	#7
With what money?	jcmaine72	Jun 24	#13
Merge the revenues and combine the players in the same bargaining unit	MichMan	Jun 24	#14
Apples and oranges	Deminpenn	Jun 23	#4
"Trying to equal out college scholarships between men and women is problematic"	BumRushDaShow	Jun 23	#6
The schools even it out by offering some womens' sports but	Jose Garcia	Jun 23	#10
If education were no cost to everyone I wonder what would happen to college sports.	twodogsbarking	Jun 23	#8
As capitalists	BumRushDaShow	Jun 23	#9
College athletes can now be paid through endorsements	MichMan	Jun 23	#11
They "know nothing at all" about the law that they are angry at? I know who to blame for this.	Initech	Jun 23	#12

Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 08:53 AM

Deminpenn (13,973 posts)

1. There is no women's comparable to men's college football

That's where the scholarship difference is. At any one time, a D1 program has 90 men on scholarship. All the other sports have equal numbers on men and women's teams although most colleges don't have women's wrestling teams.

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Response to Deminpenn (Reply #1)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 09:02 AM

BumRushDaShow (97,757 posts)

2. Well as you know, they have been trying to work through

other sports that are actually more popular around the rest of the world where "American football" does not exist, and that is the "world's 'football'" - soccer.

It took a major effort just to agree to "pay equity" in that sport and it only happened a month ago -

The U.S. men's and women's soccer teams will be paid equally under a new deal

Updated May 18, 20229:44 AM ET

Joe Hernandez

The U.S. Soccer Federation announced Wednesday that it has reached a deal to pay the U.S. Men's National Team and the U.S. Women's National Team equally, eliminating a contentious pay gap that saw female players earning less. The new collective bargaining agreements will run through 2028 and include the "equalization" of World Cup prize money, the organization announced.

In February, the governing body and the women's team announced a settlement to resolve the longstanding pay dispute, with the federation agreeing to pay the two teams equally in the next union contract and give the women's team $22 million in back pay. Becky Sauerbrunn, a player on the women's team and president of the United States Women's National Team Players Association, said achieving equal pay was the result of gains players had made both on and off the field.

"We hope that this Agreement and its historic achievements in not only providing for equal pay but also in improving the training and playing environment for national team players will similarly serve as the foundation for continued growth of women's soccer both in the United States and abroad," Sauerbrunn said.

The federation said the two collective bargaining agreements – one for each team – have "identical economic terms" that include equal pay for all competitions, including the FIFA World Cup.

(snip)

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/18/1099697799/us-soccer-equal-pay-agreement-women

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Response to BumRushDaShow (Reply #2)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 09:18 AM

MichMan (7,032 posts)

3. Need pay equity in other sports too

No reason the starting salary for a male NBA player is $1 million a season, while the average salary for all female WNBA players is only $108k. The WNBA minimum is $60k.

Think about that; a NBA player with zero professional experience earns 9x a season what the average experienced WNBA player earns. No wonder Britney Griner had to play in Russia.

Both organizations operate under the auspices of the NBA. No reason why they couldn't be combined under the same collective bargaining agreement and the money be distributed more equitably.

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Response to MichMan (Reply #3)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 12:16 PM

Deminpenn (13,973 posts)

5. Pro sports is different than college athletics

If a pro league doesn't generate revenue, the players don't get paid as much.

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Response to MichMan (Reply #3)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 12:45 PM

BumRushDaShow (97,757 posts)

7. I agree

and it's thanks to a century's worth of male dominance in society's pro sports, notably which sports were and continue to be designated and promoted as the "primary" ones that will be supportable, and those decisions and greed, allow that practice to continue.

The NBA and WNBA are probably the closest to where this issue is starkly in view and has been the case for just over 3/4 of a century.

And unlike baseball and hockey, basketball (like football) is a biggy that pulls players out of college and where scholarships exist (although lately, they have been pulling some out of high school).

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Response to MichMan (Reply #3)

Fri Jun 24, 2022, 04:57 AM

jcmaine72 (1,722 posts)

13. With what money?

No reason the starting salary for a male NBA player is $1 million a season, while the average salary for all female WNBA players is only $108k. The WNBA minimum is $60k.

Yes, there is. The NBA generates almost $8 billion a year in revenue while the WNBA generates a shade under $60 million.

If the average starting salary (or salary period) per player in the WNBA was artificially elevated to $1 million per year without an significantly higher revenue stream to back it up, the WNBA would operate at such a massive loss that the NBA would probably dump it altogether.

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Response to jcmaine72 (Reply #13)

Fri Jun 24, 2022, 06:50 AM

MichMan (7,032 posts)

14. Merge the revenues and combine the players in the same bargaining unit

They are already part of the same corporate umbrella. The majority of the revenues comes from league sponsorships, TV revenues, merchandise sales, and is distributed to all teams. Pool all the revenues and divide it equitably.

The male players (through the combined bargaining unit) could agree to take a pay reduction and share some of their revenues with the female players.

Stephen Curry and LeBron James can probably figure out a way to live on only $30 million per year instead of $40 million. A rookie bench warmer might only get $750k a year instead of $1 million. I'm sure they will get by somehow.

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Response to BumRushDaShow (Reply #2)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 12:13 PM

Deminpenn (13,973 posts)

4. Apples and oranges

In the instance of international soccer, since the US women's team is far more successful than the men's team, they should be paid more than the men.

Trying to equal out college scholarships between men and women is problematic because of football. It's further complicated because football generates the most revenue and supports most of the other collegiate sports.

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Response to Deminpenn (Reply #4)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 12:33 PM

BumRushDaShow (97,757 posts)

6. "Trying to equal out college scholarships between men and women is problematic"

And that is the same kind of argument that slave-holders and non-slave holders debated.

Because there was suppression of one group's rights in the past, then that justifies continuing to do so because it's "problematic" and costs more money.

One had to clothe and feed their pile of 3/5ths of people while the other had to clothe, feed AND actually pay their pile of 3/5ths of people. Problematic!!!!!

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Response to Deminpenn (Reply #1)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 01:32 PM

Jose Garcia (2,061 posts)

10. The schools even it out by offering some womens' sports but

not offering a mens counterpart. Take the University of Miami for example. They have womens teams for rowing, golf, soccer, and volleyball. They do not have mens teams for these sports.

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Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Thu Jun 23, 2022, 01:05 PM

twodogsbarking (4,053 posts)