Why are there no women on the list for India’s best-paid athletes?

Despite the strides that women are making in the world of sports, the way to top dollar is a slow grind

Sometime in May this year, Sportico released figures for their ‘world’s highest-paid athletes’ list. The list indicated that the top 100 athletes play ten different sports and collectively earned an estimated $4.5 billion in salary, prize money and endorsements over the time span of a year. The highest paid in the list is, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James who, at 37, is steaming ahead with earnings amounting to a whopping $90 million from endorsements alone, bringings his final tally to $126.9 million. James is followed by footballers Lionel Messi ($122 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($115 million) and Neymar ($103 million) and boxer Canelo Álvarez ($89 million). The sole Indian on the list, cricketer Virat Kohli, is firmly lodged at the 61st position on the list. He was also the highest-ranked cricketer with a combined total earnings of $33.9 million between June 2021 and May 2022.

Where are the women, you might wonder? Tennis champ Naomi Osaka is the world’s highest-paid female athlete at $53.2 million and at the 20th position overall. Osaka managed to bank an estimated $52 million from more than 20 brand endorsements despite her break from tennis courts and injuries, which brought her on-court earnings to $1.2 million.

The Indian scenario

In 2021, Indian badminton champion PV Sindhu was ranked at number seven on the Forbes list featuring the highest-paid female athletes, with a total earnings of $7.2 million. While her on-the-field earnings got her $0.2 million, it was $7 million that made up her off-the-field endorsements and other earnings. At that time, Sindhu was quoted as saying, “I’m happy about that. Featuring me is a feel-good thing. Placing me with the top female athletes is definitely a good sign for me, it will give me a lot of confidence.” Significantly, Sindhu, who also made the list in 2018, is the only badminton player among the top-earning sportswomen of the world.

According to industry sources in the advertising world, Sindhu earns about ₹50-60 lakh per day, and boxer Mary Kom earns ₹15-20 lakh per day from an endorsement deal, while badminton player Saina Nehwal is estimated to earn about ₹25 lakh per day. Kom is said to command a rate of ₹40-50 lakh per brand endorsement, while Sindhu’s brand endorsement fee ranges between ₹1.2-1.5 crore.

These come across as very encouraging figures, until we look at the difference in how much Indian male athletes earn. Kohli, our highest-paid Indian sportsperson, is believed to earn approximately ₹3 crore per day while Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s day rate is pegged at ₹2-2.5 crore. “It’s clear that the gap can only be bridged with more attention paid to the needs of women athletes,” says a sports talent scout who wished to stay anonymous when The Established spoke to her.

Sports broadcaster Siddharth Pandey says the problem lies with perspective. “Look at cricketer Smriti Mandhana, for instance. There is no reason why she shouldn't command top dollar for her work both on and off the field,” he notes.

A different approach

Manisha Malhotra, head of sports excellence and scouting at JSW Sports, is forthright when asked about the gender disparity. “There is no doubt that athletes like PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Neeraj Chopra are getting a lot of media coverage–but that has not translated into any depth. There’s been no exponential growth in the progress of women in sports [in India]. That actually is the difference,” she shares. She also points out that change needs to set in much before brands or even corporates step in with the much needed resuscitation for women athletes.

A former professional tennis player and Asian Games silver medallist, Malhotra has closely worked with athletes over the course of the past decade. She drives a programme that provides a wide range of support to over 30 Indian athletes in various Olympic disciplines. “A team sport will always be more viewer-friendly–[as a player and team] you always represent an entity bigger than an individual–and that is a worldwide phenomenon,” she says when asked about the attention paid to team sports like cricket, or even football, vis-à-vis tennis or badminton.

Malhotra strongly advocates a fresh way of thinking, one that wants to train women athletes for the next Olympics cycle. “We need more nuance in the way we approach training and programmes for women athletes,” she asserts.

The importance of sports

The number one reason girls drop out of sports and competitive sports is owing to the lack of access. The lack of athletic programmes and physical education in schools severely limit opportunities for girls to play sports in both high school and college. Access to dedicated coaches and urban centres is a must, so is training equipment and good facilities. Safety and transportation is another issue that needs to be addressed to ensure that women are treated with nuance. The high costs attached to sports training is that disadvantaged youth have to either pay or seek money while footing the expenses. It’s an additional burden and strain that women athletes can do without.

“It’s really a chicken-and-egg situation. The Indian women’s cricket team doesn’t even make ten per cent of what the men’s team does. But then the question arises, who is watching them?” shares Malhotra, while asserting that women's sports need vigorous promotion too. “It needs to be packaged in an entertaining manner, just like cricket and football have been.”

Mind the gap

Several industry insiders The Established spoke to for this story are optimistic about the choices in sports for women and even men for that matter. “We need to look at other team sports that can be an entertaining alternative to cricket. There is no doubt that cricket has been packaged effectively as the Indian sport,” says the talent scout while asserting a way out for women in other sports. Malhotra tends to agree; she feels that hockey is on the precipice of great change in the country. “Pockets in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, northeast India and Jharkhand are all seeing a surge in interest in hockey. And that just might be the alternative we need to bridge the pay gap.”

According to Pandey, PV Sindhu is a shining example of top-dollar payment, but there’s a long way to go. “I truly believe that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics [held in 2021 owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic] were a complete game-changer for Indian women in sports,” he says, while reeling off the names and their achievements. At a glance, it’s a lot:

- PV Sindhu’s double win made her the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals and only the second Indian athlete to do so after wrestler Sushil Kumar.

- The men’s Indian hockey team clinched the bronze medal, their first Olympic medal in 41 years.

- Four Olympics debutants—wrestlers Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, boxer Lovlina Borgohain and track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra—won medals while weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu and the Indian hockey team completed the list.

- The Paralympic contingent from India won 19 medals.

- Para shooter Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win Paralympics gold and also the first Indian woman to win two medals when she won the bronze.

- Mirabai Chanu became only the second Indian weightlifter—after Karnam Malleswari—to win an Olympic silver in the women’s 49kg category.

- Bhavani Devi became the first Indian fencer to qualify and win a bout at the Olympics.

- The women’s Indian hockey team finished fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, its best at the Games, and even beat three-times Olympic champions Australia in the quarter-finals.

- Manika Batra became the first Indian woman to make the Round of 32 in the table tennis singles event at an Olympics, upsetting a higher-ranked Margaryta Pesotska from Ukraine along the way.

Both Pandey and Malhotra are convinced that change will be inevitable, but not immediately. “If India was powered by women in Tokyo, there is no doubt that change is coming,” asserts Pandey.

Also Read: Paralympian Avani Lekhara doesn't want to look back

Also Read: Dutee Chand, star athlete, is secure in her work and relationship

Also Read: Everything you're wearing is dictated by a sporting giant