Forbes' newly-released 2024 rankings of the World's Highest-Paid Athletes and America's Self-Made Richest Women reveal a stark contrast in the economic landscape for women across different industries. The Self-Made women's list, dominated by groundbreaking entrepreneurs, entertainers, and corporate leaders, celebrates a record $154 billion combined wealth, highlighting women’s growing influence and financial power in business. Yet, the highest-paid athletes list paints a strikingly different picture, with no single woman making the 50-person cut of top yearly earners. Soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the top spot with an astonishing $260 million in earnings, but the monumental paydays for women in sports remain elusive, begging the question of whether the progress made in the boardroom will translate to the playing field.
The absence of women on this year's top-earning athletes list is glaring. Polish tennis sensation Iga Świątek, the highest-paid female athlete in 2023, earned $23.9 million, a mere fraction of the $45.2 million needed to secure a spot among 2024's top 50 athletes. Moreover, the entry threshold for the list has nearly doubled over the past decade, further widening the gender gap. Since 2012, only four women have graced the list: Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Li Na, and Naomi Osaka. With Williams' retirement last year, the top 50 is emblematic of a lack of financial parity, primarily driven by significant differences in league revenue, media rights deals, and sponsorship opportunities between men's and women's sports.
In contrast, Forbes' Self-Made women's ranking reflects remarkable growth and achievement in business. The listees' combined wealth has surged by an impressive 25% since last year. Nearly three-quarters are entrepreneurs, while 22 hold chief executive titles. The minimum net worth to qualify rose 35% to $300 million, with a record 31 billionaires, up from 24, underscoring their growing financial power. Although the collective fortunes of this year's top 100 women have yet to rival the wealth of just one of the three richest individuals on Forbes' World's Billionaires List, the momentum is undeniably building.
Earnings and wealth are lagging indicators, but women's strides in business are beginning to manifest on the playing field. The 2023 Forbes list of the World's Highest-Paid Female Athletes saw the median earnings for the top 20 rise by 16% to $8.5 million, with eight athletes surpassing $10 million for the second consecutive year, double the number from 2021.
Surging interest from fans, broadcasters, and commercial partners will accelerate this early momentum. Deloitte projects women's professional sports revenues will reach $1.28 billion this year, a 300% increase from 2020. Lucrative media deals have propelled the annual value for the NWSL and NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament to over $60 million each, directly impacting player earnings. The LPGA Tour's prize money has increased by 76% since 2021, while the NWSL's salary cap has grown by 40% to $2.75 million.
In the realm of endorsem*nts, brands are awakening to the untapped potential of partnering with women athletes, with lucrative deals secured by rising stars like Caitlin Clark, A'ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and Breanna Stewart. Clark's thrilling NCAA Tournament run propelled TV ratings to record heights, and her WNBA debut brought about the Connecticut Sun's first home opener sellout since 2003. Clark's impressive $28 million endorsem*nt deal over eight years with Nike still fell short of the cutoff for the Highest-Paid Athletes list, but her marketability offers a glimpse into a future where more women athletes could vie for top earnings.
Trailblazing new models are also upending the status quo, exemplified by the groundbreaking women's professional 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled, co-founded by the WNBA’s Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. By offering salaries that eclipse the WNBA average by more than twofold and introducing revenue-sharing opportunities, Unrivaled is transforming the on-court dynamic and the financial landscape for female athletes.
Just as the extraordinary leaders on the America’s Self-Made Richest Women list have ascended to the highest industry echelons in once seemingly unheard-of ways, the day will come when the world's top earning athletes ranking will feature women fiercely competing for the top spots. The stark zero next to the number of women on Forbes' 2024 Highest-Paid Athletes list is a far cry from a reflection of their immense talent and marketability. The road to equality may be long, but the momentum is undeniable, and the destination is within reach.
The author is an investor in the Unrivaled basketball league.
