Good morning! Namibia is expected to elect its first female president, far-right politician Marine Le Pen will support a no-confidence vote in the French government, and female athletes’ salaries come with the cost of being a pro athlete. Have a terrific Tuesday.
- The cost of winning. Female athletes' salaries are a hot topic—look no further than the WNBA, where debate raged this year about superstar Caitlin Clark's $76,000 rookie salary—less than her $84,000 autograph card sold for at auction.
Some argue that those salaries, while meager in comparison to male athletes' earnings, aren't so bad in context—after all, the WNBA season is four months, not year round, and players have other financial opportunities too. But less talked about is the expense that goes into being an elite athlete and maintaining a spot in a competitive league.
A new report from Parity, a platform that connects female athletes with brands, examines the realities of female athletes' earnings. More than half of women athletes surveyed said their costs are higher than their earnings in their sport.
In a survey of 500 pro athletes who competed in 2023, 58% reported making $25,000 or less that year; half made no money from endorsements. At the same time, 41% said they paid at least $10,000 to play their sport, with costs including travel, training, coaching, and equipment. Eight percent of respondents spent more than $50,000 to compete. Tennis, figure skating, and race car driving were the most expensive sports.
Seventy-four percent of athletes surveyed said they had a job outside their sport, and 63% said they worked while their sport was in season. In qualitative responses, athletes spoke about how challenging that can be: "My training schedule makes it very difficult to keep a job that can cover personal expenses," one athlete said. Sixty-four percent of female athletes surveyed said they've considered leaving their sport because of finances.
Endorsements are frequently proposed as a solution while salaries remain low; in Clark's case, her $76,000 on-court earnings are dwarfed by multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals. This is a longstanding conundrum: As retired WNBA star Sue Bird told me at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in October, she "pretty much lost money playing in the WNBA" compared to what she could earn off the court. But for the vast majority of athletes, sponsorship money isn't reliable enough; 57% said endorsement earnings are not predictable.
In the WNBA, a new collective bargaining agreement is soon to be negotiated and players expect salaries to rise soon. But all women's sports can't say the same—from sports with individual competitors to emerging leagues like hockey's PWHL or volleyball's LOVB. While sponsor and fan interest surges, costs still pile up for top athletes—and endorsements are only part of the solution.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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