40 and 88. That's where the only two women on Forbes list of the highest-paid athletes rank. With both revenue and viewership, men's sports dominate their female counterparts. However, the two women on the list, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, both compete in tennis, where even though they excel, they don't gain the notoriety they deserve because it's not one of the four major sports in the United States.
"Young women seem to have to do a lot more to "prove" themselves..." - Francesca Weems
This extends further than athletes though, with no female broadcasters ranking among their highest earning male coworkers last year. So why does this disparity exist? Do men not respect women's opinions on sports? Are company's hiring former athletes instead of women who've never played the game? Women have continuously struggled to break through male-dominated fields, and sports broadcasting is another example of this. Unfortunately, it goes further than equal pay, with female broadcasters among all four major sports in the United States making up a drastically smaller proportion of sports broadcasters compared to their male counterparts. In a field that's primarily focused on men's sports, it's time for women to make their mark in the sports broadcasting industry.