$50M vs. $4M: The massive payout gap between the Men’s and Women’s World Cup winners
Despite the gap in prize money shrinking, a massive discrepancy between the men’s and women’s game still exists.
FIFA pays more prize money in the men’s World Cup and justifies the outlay as they claim that the men’s tournament currently generates much more revenue than the women’s tournament. FIFA’s position is that prize money is linked to the commercial value of each competition.
Why the gap exists
The men’s World Cup earns far more money
The men’s World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events on the planet and generates billions through broadcasting rights, sponsorships, ticket sales, and hospitality. FIFA argues that the larger prize pool reflects the larger revenues generated by the tournament.
The men’s tournament has a much longer commercial history
The men’s World Cup began in 1930, while the Women’s World Cup did not start until 1991. FIFA officials have pointed to this 61-year gap in development, investment, audience growth, and commercialisation.
Broadcasting and sponsorship values remain different
Although women’s football has grown rapidly, broadcasters and sponsors still generally pay more for rights associated with the men’s World Cup. Higher commercial income means FIFA has historically allocated a much larger prize fund to the men’s competition.
Is the gap shrinking?
Yes as FIFA significantly increased the Women’s World Cup prize money for 2023 compared with previous tournaments. FIFA has also invested heavily in the women’s game and has publicly stated a goal of continuing to close the gap over time.
At the same time, some national football associations—such as those of the United States, Norway, Republic of Ireland and Australia have introduced arrangements that provide equal or near-equal bonuses to men’s and women’s national-team players regardless of FIFA’s prize-money differences.
The debate
Supporters of equal prize money argue that:
- National-team players perform the same job.
- Equal pay can accelerate growth of women’s football.
- Prize money should reflect fairness, not just current revenues.
Opponents of immediate equalisation argue that:
- Prize funds should broadly track the revenues each tournament generates.
- FIFA would effectively be subsidising one tournament from the revenues of another.
So the gap is primarily economic rather than sporting: the men’s World Cup currently produces much higher revenue, and FIFA bases prize money largely on that commercial reality. Whether that should continue is the subject of an ongoing debate.
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