Top 10 Sports with Equal Pay or closing the Gender Pay Gap in 2025
A persistent issue that is yet to be addressed by many prominent sports like Basketball, Football at the International level as they have started with equal remunerations in college and national level.
According to a BBC report, “a total of 83% of sports now reward men and women equally” while until as recently as 2017, Serena Williams was the only female athlete who earned equal to the male counterpart in the sport. From Billie Jean King’s voicing out for the unfair treatment of female athletes in the 70s, the timeline scarcely spiked or made much difference when it comes to a drastic change as only a handful of sports are now addressing the issue.
Sports with equal pay or less pay gap
| Sport | Equal-Pay Level or Tournament | Prize Money & Examples (2025) |
| Tennis | All Grand Slam tournamentsItalian OpenHall of Fame Open (ATP/WTA) | Wimbledon: £3M each for men’s & women’s singles winnersUS Open: $3.6M eachItalian Open: ~€8M per tour |
| Squash | PSA World Championships | $565,000 each for men’s & women’s events (total $1.13M purse) |
| Surfing | All World Surf League Championship Tour (CT) events | Vivo Rio Pro: $100,000 per winnerSurf Abu Dhabi Pro: $80,000 per winner |
| Padel | World Padel Tour | Equal prize money across major events (specific 2025 purses not fully disclosed) |
| Volleyball | FIVB World Championships & key events | Equal team prize money since 2004; exact 2025 team prize figures not published |
| Football (Soccer) | National teams: USA, Brazil, Australia, Norway, NZ | USA Men’s & Women’s NTs: $450K equal split for World Cup bonuses (via revenue pool, per CBA) |
| Cricket | National teams: India, NZ, Australia, SA, England | BCCI: ₹15 lakh ($18K) per Test match for both gendersCA/ECB: Equal match fees; overall earnings still vary |
| Basketball (College) | NCAA Women’s March Madness (from 2025) | Equal revenue distribution starts 2025; initial NCAA fund: $15M for women’s tournament |
| Basketball (WNBL) | Australian Women’s National Basketball League | 2025–26 avg salary: ~$76,000 AUDUp from ~$43,000 AUD in 2023 |
| Athletics (Track) | Diamond League, World Championships, Olympics | Equal prize money per event: e.g. $10,000–$30,000 per discipline winner |
