As International Equal Pay Day was celebrated on Sunday, September 18th, research from Casumo has found that there is still a substantial pay disparity between male and female athletes across the world’s top five sports — with the former earning a massive £1,000% more on average than female competitors. 

The sportsbook and online casino studied the gender pay gap, considering salary/winnings and endorsement deals and discovered which governing bodies are doing the most to close gap and in which sports female stars are still trailing behind their male counterparts.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi is No.1 on the Forbes highest-paid athlete list for 2022, with the Argentine taking home a cool £110m since his move to the City of Love from Barcelona last summer. The majority of the 35-year-old’s income comes from his work on the pitch for the French side (£64m), but he also makes a killing away from the game — raking in £47m from endorsement deals with the likes of Adidas, Budweiser and Pepsi. 

United States Women’s National Team forward Alex Morgan, however, made just over £5m in the last 12 months. A leading figure in the battle for equal pay in football, Morgan makes £11.50 per minute thanks due to salary/winnings and brand deals with Coca-Cola and Nike. But that is dwarfed by Messi’s eye-watering £247 every 60 seconds. 

There is also a stark difference in management, as England women’s European Championship-winning manager Serena Weigman is believed to earn a huge £4m less a year than her male counterpart Gareth Southgate, who is yet to guide the Three Lions to glory after two attempts at major tournaments. 

There are similar issues in basketball. Los Angeles Lakers legend Lebron James had a record year off the court in the last 12 months, making £68m as he starred in Warner Bros’ hit production Space Jam: A New Legacy as well as taking on other business opportunities that resulted in him almost doubling his salary with the California-based franchise (£35m). 

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) pay cap of around £170,000 means that the top female players are only earning a slither of that of James though. Therefore, people like Candace Parker, a two-time winner of the WNBA Top Player accolade, rely heavily on endorsements — with the 36-year-old boosting her earnings by £4.7m thanks to sponsorships, including Adidas, 2K Sports and Gatorade. 

Tennis is arguably making the biggest strides to ensure its men’s and women’s game are on a level playing field. All four of the racket sport’s Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open) boast equal prize purses across the board, but there is perhaps more the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) could do to reflect equal pay on their respective tours. 

Male tennis players still largely outdo their female counterparts in terms of endorsements as well, with Roger Federer making over £77m from sponsorship deals in the last 12 months. Naomi Osaka wasn’t too far behind on £50m in brand deals, however.