​On the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day, recognized as such worldwide, BETANO analyzed who are the highest paid female athletes in the world in seven different disciplines, and there were quite a few surprises.

In the male-dominated world of sports, women are starting to make their way to the top of the global charts in terms of sports earnings, although the differences remain significant.

Iga Svyatek (tennis) – $23.9 million

The top-earning female athlete in 2023, which ended today, is Poland’s Iga Sviatek, the world leader in women’s tennis, with earnings of $23.9 million. At the age of 22, Sveontek already has two Grand Slam titles under his belt, and in 2023 he finished the season with a victory at the Tournament of Champions. The athlete from Poland has earned $9.9 million in tournament prize money from tennis alone, making her the tenth highest-paid female tennis player with just over $25 million. Advertising contracts brought in another $14 million for Swiatek in 2023.

Tennis remains the most financially attractive discipline for women in sport, with seven of the world’s eight top-earning female athletes in 2023 coming from the sport, which was once called “white” because of the players’ clothing.

Eileen Gu (freestyle skiing) – $22.1 million

An exception to the eight mentioned above is the Chinese Aileen Gu, a 20-year-old athlete about whom we know little. This is a special case of a niche sport that brought him only $100,000 in 2023, with the rest of the money coming from advertising contracts with various companies. It must be said that Eileen Gu, outside of freestyle competitions, works as a model, hence the multimillion-dollar contracts with various top brands.

Nellie Korda (golf) – $8.2 million

Golf is a sport in which the best athletes receive millions and even tens of millions of dollars per season. Among women, the leader of this discipline is the American Nellie Korda, a 25-year-old player who is the daughter of the former Czech tennis player Petr Korda (champion of the Australian Open in 1998) and the sister of an American woman. tennis player Sebastian Korda. And in her case, her earnings in 2023 were mostly earned on the golf course. These include sponsorship contracts worth $6.5 million with several well-known brands, from sports equipment, telecommunications and even airlines. Nelly Korda is only 30th in the list of money earned exclusively from the sport she plays.

Megan Rapinoe (soccer) – $8 million

At the age of 38, the American Megan Rapinoe is a real living legend of women’s world football. Rapinoe, a two-time World Cup winner with the US national team, has not had a very successful 2023 from a financial point of view. He received only $700,000 from football, the rest of the income came from advertising contracts.

Candace Parker (basketball) – $8.1 million

When we talk about North American basketball in the NBA, the salaries of the players have really dizzying numbers. We’d be tempted to think that the same thing is happening to players in the North American Professional Basketball League (WNBA), but reality contradicts us. A three-time shortstop, Parker was paid just $100,000 in salary in 2023, with the remaining $8 million coming from her current off-court contracts.

Simone Biles (rhythmic gymnastics) – $7.1 million

At 26, American gymnast Simone Biles needs no introduction. In her return to the big competition, Biles managed to impose the vault that bears her name and made international artistic gymnastics history with her sixth individual all-around world title at the World Championships. Biles earned only $100,000 from gymnastics competitions, the remaining $7 million came to her accounts from various contracts. For example, Biles starred in Snapchat, which won an image award at the NAACP Awards.

PV Sindhu (badminton) – $7.1 million

For most of us, badminton is a sport that we play for fun, with family or friends in various parks around town. However, in Asia, this sport is a real religion, and from India, the player PV Sindhu stands out. The 28-year-old, with two Olympic medals and a world singles title, finished 2023 with $7.1 million in her bankroll. As you can imagine, he only earned $100,000 from his sport, badminton. Sindhu is a veritable queen in her native India when it comes to various endorsement deals.

From this analysis of the world’s highest-paid female athletes in seven different disciplines, we can see with the naked eye that women are still paid far less than men in sports, and that without out-of-competition contracts, their earnings would be extremely modest. The only one who has a certain balance of earnings on and off the court is Iga Svyatek. Otherwise, the imbalance is fundamental between how much female athletes earn in the disciplines they represent and in additional sports.