The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has pledged to do more to tackle equal pay in their organisation after an investigation found a considerable gap between the pay given to male and female employees.
According to The Daily Mail, male employees are rewarded more handsomely for their roles. The findings show a 31 percent gap in the average pay and a 55 percent gap in the bonuses given to male and female workers. It is understood that this disparity is partly due to Great Britain’s triumph in the 2016 Davis Cup when they defeated Belgium in the final.
“We are not satisfied with this and we are acutely aware that we still have work to do in closing this gap.” Said LTA Chairman David Gregson.
“Our lack of diversity and gender imbalance, particularly at senior levels, is something we want to address.”
Despite the disparity, some areas within British tennis shows there is no such issue with gender pay. The report highlights that 293 employees have their pay split evenly between sexes. Furthermore, men and women in like-for-like job roles are also paid the same.
The revelation from the LTA comes into line with new legislation introduced by the government. Organisations with over 250 employees are now required to publish reports detailing their gender pay gap, if there is one. They are the first sporting organisation to do so.
Equal pay has been a dominant topic in the history of tennis. In 1973 the US Open became the first major to pay both sexes the same. It wasn’t until 2007 when this was the case in all four grand slam tournaments. Last year Novak Djokovic came under fire for suggesting that prize money should be ‘fairly distributed’ to what attract more attention to the sport. In 2015 the ATP Tour attracted almost three times more viewers than the WTA Tour (973 million compared to 395 million). Djokovic later clarified his comments as he reiterated his support for equal pay.
According to Forbes magazine, only three of the ten highest paid tennis players in 2017 were women and none of them were in the top five. Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams made the shortlist, which takes into account earnings from prize money and endorsements.
