Can someone please help me with the following question dealing with professional golf.
In tennis, men play the best of five sets and women play the best of three sets, but the winner of the men's tennis singles at the U.S.Open is paid the same as the winner of the women's singles. In contrast, in golf, men and women play the same number of holes and rounds, but the winners oof men's golf tounraments are paid much more than the winners of women's golf tournaments. Are these compensation arrangements efficient? Are they fair? Explain.

Hello tsmith86,

In the UK Wimbledon Tennis Championship there is still a discrepancy in the prize money for men and woman. In 2005 Roger Federer the Mens Singles winner received £630,000 ($1,105.00), whereas Venus Williams the Women's Champion received £600.000 ($1,052.00). There has been a lot of debate about this over the years but I believe the gap between men and women's prize money is narrowing.

There has also been debate about women playing 5 set matches to bring them in line with men. However I cannot personally see this happening, not because women do not have the stamina (I am sure they do), but because it will require the championships to be extended to accommodate the extra time needed.

With regard to golf. I believe that the problem of higher prize money for men over women is totally unfair. As you say they play under the same conditions and over the same courses. Therefore I feel they should receive the same prize money.

I believe Tiger Woods is all for woman getting equal prize money

The USGA say that the reason women get paid less is because the men make money during their tournaments whereas women lose money. If true, why do all other US governing bodies for their respective sports pay equal prize money irrespective of the profit or loss made by the participants, men or women.

Poseidon

Fairness would be nice in a perfect world but you have to realize that first and foremost it's a business. Men's golf simply has the much larger viewership and commands higher advertising revenues and attracts the big sponsors. Women's sports where the viewership is high also have the same benefit: tennis, figure skating, volleyball, etc.

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Originally Posted by tsmith86

Can someone please help me with the following question dealing with professional golf.
In tennis, men play the best of five sets and women play the best of three sets, but the winner of the men's tennis singles at the U.S.Open is paid the same as the winner of the women's singles. In contrast, in golf, men and women play the same number of holes and rounds, but the winners oof men's golf tounraments are paid much more than the winners of women's golf tournaments. Are these compensation arrangements efficient? Are they fair? Explain.

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Not fair, but the answer is simple. More people watch men's golf on t.v. than women. What's good news for the LPGA is that they have surpassed viewership in the Champions Tour.

Its not as much a gender issue as you think. Men golfers have a much greater following than women golfers. PGA tournaments bring in crazy amounts of revenue. LPGA tournaments don't have a huge following. You can only have a large prize purse if there is money to back it up. Unfortunately LPGA does not come close to the PGA in terms of overall revenue. For example, there are male professional tours (mini-tours) that have a purse. The purse is significantly less than any of the bigger tours because there isn't money coming in from outlets outside of the player themselves. LPGA doesn't have the revenue outlets or the fan base that the PGA does. Women's majors are still considered to be a big deal but the prize money will never be equivalent to PGA prize money