06 Nov Cricket Australia aspiring towards FFA style pay equality

Cricket Australia (CA) CEO Kevin Roberts says they are pushing towards gender pay equality.

The FFA announced yesterday a landmark equal pay deal between the Socceroos and Matildas, something Cricket Australia has been at the forefront of for many years.

Roberts says it is something CA also wants to achieve.

“I think we need to be aspiring to that in the long-term future,” he told SEN’s Whateley.

“Congratulations to the FFA and David Gallop and everyone there on what they’ve done in achieving pay parity for the national soccer teams.

“What I found interesting is you’ll see the top 20 women earning about $100,000 per year. In cricket, that number is pretty close to $200,000 per year.

“In absolute dollars, we’re almost double the level of soccer. That’s not to take anything away from them, because the rising tide floats all boats and I think all sports should be aspiring towards parity in the long-term."

Roberts said he doesn't know if they will reach equality in his time in the role.

“It’s a little hard to put a specific timeframe on (when it will happen), particularly when you’ve got long-term agreements in place so the opportunity to make changes in this space is not every day," he said.

“It does take a little time for the day to day intentions to come to life in a model. We’re absolutely committed to that path towards gender equality.”

Roberts admitted the revenue raising gap between the men’s and women’s team is still large, but added that the situation is not black and white.

“It is very significant at this point in time if you attribute the broadcast dollar and the commercial sponsorships to each of the teams, but if you take a different view of it and you look at the proportion of women that attend the cricket and watch the cricket on TV on their devices, then that proportion is far higher,” he said.

“It’s something that’s a little more complex than just broadcast and commercial revenue, it’s also the share of eyeballs by gender and we’ve got to make sure we’re putting all of that into the mix when we consider the long-term model.

“In the short-term, we’re really proud to be closing the gap for the women in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia whereby any prize money earned by the women’s team will be equal to that of teams playing on the men’s side of the tournament next year.

“I think it is a fantastic aspiration for us to have and we are committed towards the path to gender equality.”