Pay equity in sports: Canadian Open women face more than 20% lower prize money as broader gaps persist
Canadian Open organizers pledge parity by 2027, but pay equity in sports remains uneven across tennis, hockey and basketball amid revenue gaps and phased timelines.
Strong opening
As the Canadian Open (Omnium Banque Nationale) gets underway in Toronto this weekend, female players will compete for prize money more than 20% lower than the men’s event staged in Montreal. The disparity has renewed debate over pay equity in sports, even as the tournament’s organizers and title sponsor say they plan to reach full prize-money parity in 2027. The announcement follows a multi-year plan first outlined in 2023 and reflects a phased approach officials describe as necessary to protect other development funding.
Organizers defend phased parity plan
Bank of Nova Scotia? (Note: the tournament’s title sponsor and Tennis Canada have said the financial transition must be gradual to avoid undercutting grassroots programs.) Lucie Blanchet, a strategic adviser to the event’s sponsor, said an immediate equalization of purses would shift resources away from player development and long-term investment. Tournament officials point to the different financial model of a Masters 1000–style event compared with a Grand Slam, and say finding additional sponsorship dollars is part of the road map to parity.
How large the gaps are now
The most recent public comparisons show the women’s prize pool at the Toronto event trailing the men’s Montreal purse by more than one-fifth. Organizers noted that when the plan was first made public in 2023, women’s prize money had been roughly a third of the men’s; the current target aims to close that gap incrementally. The sponsors’ advertising campaign in Toronto, including subway and radio spots, promotes the goal of equal pay by 2027 as a concrete milestone.
Wide pay gaps across popular sports
The pay divide is not limited to tennis. In professional hockey and basketball, the gap between top male and female earners remains stark. Estimates cited in the tournament coverage show elite male NHL players earning multimillion-dollar salaries — for example, figures used in the reporting compared an NHL star’s annual income in the low tens of millions of US dollars to the roughly US$110,200 reported for a leading player in the professional women’s hockey league. In basketball, growing WNBA compensation and endorsement deals have narrowed some differences, yet top NBA salaries still dwarf average WNBA earnings.
Revenue streams drive compensation disparities
Broadcast deals and domestic media rights underpin much of the divergence in pay. Long-term television contracts, such as a multi-billion-dollar arrangement for national NHL rights in Canada, create predictable revenue pools that feed player salaries and league operations. By contrast, women’s leagues have historically secured smaller or shorter-term broadcast agreements, limiting revenue sharing and salary growth. League and team executives point to audience size, sponsorship interest and merchandise sales as the levers needed to support higher pay for women’s competitions.
League reforms and recent gains
There are notable exceptions and recent advances. The WNBA’s new media rights and collective bargaining outcomes have substantially increased maximum player contracts and added welfare measures such as paid maternity leave. Those changes show how larger media deals can rapidly alter compensation structures. Tennis Grand Slams have achieved prize-money parity for decades at some majors, and the WTA and ATP have set staged targets for equalization at combined tournaments by 2027 and for stand-alone events by 2033, signaling a long-term industry shift toward pay equity in sports.
Voices calling for both speed and caution
Researchers and former coaches interviewed by journalists expressed mixed views on pace. Some academics and coaches argue the market for women’s sport has grown enough to justify faster equalization and greater broadcaster commitment. Others, including former national team coaches and equality advocates, warn that abrupt increases in salary commitments without matching revenue could risk the financial sustainability of fledgling leagues. They point to past failures in professional women’s sports leagues as cautionary examples and call for a balanced path that protects teams and programming while expanding compensation.
A number of advocates also highlight tangible signs of demand: record attendance for select women’s basketball games, surging merchandise sales for marquee players, and global TV audiences for major tournaments. Those trends, they say, strengthen the business case for accelerated investment from sponsors and broadcasters.
Looking ahead, the race to deliver pay equity in sports will depend on a mix of sponsorship growth, media contracts and strategic reinvestment by organizers. The Canadian Open’s 2027 parity pledge establishes a firm deadline, but reaching it will require sustained commercial commitments and careful fiscal planning to ensure the change is enduring.
The coming year will test whether sport stakeholders can translate audience momentum and market interest into the revenue streams needed to close long-standing pay gaps while preserving the financial health of leagues and development programs.
