When U.S. soccer legend Alex Morgan seized the opportunity to address the “changes” made by FIFA regarding Women’s World Cup prize money ahead of the tournament, she very generously used the phrase “narrowing the gap“ that has existed between money paid to participating countries in the women’s tournament in recent years and the amount paid on the men’s side.
There never has been a gap, though, in the prize money awarded at the two World Cups.
The difference has been a canyon, a big one, maybe even a grand canyon.
Until now. Now, it’s more like a gap.
“I think it just shows how far the game has come,” Morgan told reporters. “Obviously, we still have a ways to go.”
MORE: Full breakdown of prize money at the 2023 Women’s World Cup
When the Women’s World Cup was contested in France in 2019, the total attendance for 52 games was 1.31 million. FIFA reported the worldwide television and streaming audience for the tournament to be 1.12 billion.
Neither figure reached what was achieved for the men’s World Cup staged in Russia the previous year, when 3.031 million attended its 64 games and the home viewing totaled, according to FIFA, 3.6 billion.
That’s not an insignificant disparity, although nearly one-fourth of the difference can be explained…
