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Writer's pictureRachel Howard

The Matilda’s momentum shows that FIFA needs to re-run its metrics

Women’s sport is finally where it should be - at the forefront of our minds, social plans and office banter.


As this incredible FIFA Women’s World Cup unfolds on home soil, we are experiencing a collective and profound change in mindset. The perceived difference between men and women’s sport is dramatically diminishing, albeit still plagued by a gender pay gap.


Saturday night’s Australia v France game was the biggest TV event in around two decades - bigger than any AFL or NRL match.


Matilda’s merchandise is outselling Socceroos merchandise. Nike confirmed that more Matilda’s jerseys were sold ahead of the Women’s World Cup than for the men’s team during and since their tournament last year. This has even led Nike Pacific’s boss to speculate that the marketing potential for the women’s team is now greater than that of the men’s team.


And yet, FIFA’s prize money is based on the kind of old data and outdated perspective that tends to lead to a gender pay gap.


As the CEO of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency pointed out last week, FIFA placed $160 million “on the table” for the Women’s World Cup, compared to $643 million for the men. The prize pool is determined by a range of factors including sponsorships, broadcast rights, attendance and merchandise sales.


FIFA itself acknowledged that this Women’s World Cup has broken new records - from ticket sales, to broadcast figures and digital media. Ticket sales targets have been surpassed and audience numbers have already beaten the full tournament numbers achieved in France 2019. While we know Australians are watching in higher numbers, FIFA’s analysis shows that this trend is also true in New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, China, and the United States of America.


As audience numbers reach meteoric heights and continue to grow, it is time for FIFA to re-run the numbers.


Of course, this challenge is not isolated to women’s soccer - what about our world champion Diamonds? Our women netballers won the World Cup just last week and didn’t receive any prize money at all. ZIP! Despite the fact that this was their 12th World Cup and that netball is the number one participation sport for Australian girls with 37% of young Australian girls playing each weekend.


A significant milestone moment is coming for those of us who will never achieve sporting prowess but have also experienced the downsides of a pervasive gender pay gap throughout our careers.


Early next year, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency will publicly release the gender pay gaps of organisations across the country. This monumental moment of transparency - coupled with a new and growing momentum toward gender equality - will require many employers to revisit their gender equality strategies and take more meaningful action.


In the meantime, Equal Pay Day next Friday, 25 August is emblematic of the 56 extra days women have to work each financial year to achieve the same average annual earnings as men.


The success of this FIFA Women’s World Cup has changed our perspective as a nation. We need to harness this momentum for change across our workplaces - whether they be soccer fields, netball courts, building sites, city skyscrapers and everything in between.


If you’re an employer of 100+ workers and see the momentum for gender equality but don’t know how to translate that in your workplace, then let Equal Workplaces help.



Are you ready? Let Equal Workplaces help.

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