Moving Towards Equal Pay for Professional Female Athletes: What We Can Learn from Equal Pay Legislation in Iceland

Abstract

Equal pay legislation has existed in the United States for over fifty years, yet the equal pay gap continues to be an issue for working women across all professions. 1 Professional female athletes fight a much larger pay disparity than working women in conventional careers because the higher a woman's salary, the greater the wage gap. 2 Despite the vast pay disparity between professional male and female athletes, female athletes are not suing to gain pay equality in the United States. In fact, the Women's National Soccer Team's complaint-filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission detailing the unequal pay they received from their governing body, the United States Soccer Federation-was the first legal action taken by professional athletes of its kind. 3 This raises the question, with such a large gender pay gap in professional sports, why aren't more female athletes suing their governing bodies in order to obtain equal pay? This Note will explore the issue of gender pay inequality in professional sports and whether Iceland's new legislation, enacted in January 2018, would help achieve pay equality for female athletes. 4 In Part 1, this Note will provide background and historical information about the gender pay gap nationally in the United States as well as in professional sports. This Note will examine the popular cases of the Women's National Soccer Team and the Women's National Hockey Team, as well as pay equality issues in other professional sports. Part 2 will detail the current legislation used in the U.S. in pay inequality cases, including the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Part 3 of this Note will detail Iceland's history of leading the world in gender equality issues and the new legislation this country enacted with the specific purpose of eliminating gender pay inequality in all careers. Finally, part 4 will determine whether the United States should enact legislation similar to Iceland's new law in order to fight pay inequality more effectively in professional sports.

The Biological Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance: Consensus Statement for the American College of Sports Medicine

“…A consequence of insufficient participation in physical activity and exercise is that women are more vulnerable to diseases that are preventable with physical activity (53,54). The reasons for low participation of women are multifactorial, and some include socialization (55), lower incentives, and access to training facilities and resources (56,57) for women than men at the elite, subelite, and recreational levels in schools, colleges, and professional leagues. These social determinants potentially have a high impact on performance of women and influence the sex differences in performance.…”

Research on Gender Treatment and Discrimination of World Mainstream of World Mainstream Sports Events

“…In Carrie Perras' article "Moving Towards Equal Pay For Professional Female Athletes: What We Can Learn From Equal Pay Legislation In Iceland", she says that in European sports media, over 88% of posts are about men sports. [6] In the United States, there's only 4% on social media that is dedicated to posting women athletic content. [6] This is another mind blowing evidence that shows how women athletes are barely getting any attention from the outside world because social media has decided to "hide" them from society.…”

“…[6] In the United States, there's only 4% on social media that is dedicated to posting women athletic content. [6] This is another mind blowing evidence that shows how women athletes are barely getting any attention from the outside world because social media has decided to "hide" them from society. Media coverage means exposure, the more exposure the more fans, the more fans the more popularity, and popularity finally turns into a rise in ticket sales, sponsor ships, endorsements.…”

The Butterfly Effect? Title IX and the USWNT as Catalysts for Global Equal Pay

“…120 It is hoped that by 2022, Iceland will have eradicated the gender pay gap completely. 121 The first notable point is that under Article 4, jobs are not to be designated gender nor should there be a gender gap in positions of authority. It states: employers and trade unions shall systematically work towards equalising the position of women and men in the labour market.…”