Women's professional sports are a relatively new phenomenon, having largely emerged within the latter part of the 20th century. Unlike amateur female athletes, professional female athletes are able to acquire an income which allows them to earn a living without requiring another source of income. In international terms, most top female athletes are not paid and work full-time or part-time jobs in addition to their training, practice, and competition schedules. Professional organizations for women in sport are most common in developed countries where there are investors available to buy teams and businesses which can afford to sponsor them in exchange for publicity and the opportunity to promote a variety of their products. Very few governments support professional sports, male or female. Today there are a number of professional women's sport leagues in the United States and Canada.
History
Early opposition
From the 1800s, in Western Europe and some other countries, women's physiology was described as delicate or weaker compared to men, with medical rationales against women's participation in sports centering around the erroneous belief that it could harm their fertility. According to one German writer of the time period, "Violent movements of the body can cause a shift in the position and a loosening of the uterus as well as prolapse and bleeding, with resulting sterility, thus defeating a woman's true purpose in life, i.e., the bringing forth of strong children." The theory of frailty holds that women are naturally weak and frail in comparison to men, and that any physical strength they have stems from the need to protect their children.
Other opponents of women's sports argued that participation in sports made women and girls unattractive. The American novelist and sports writer Paul Gallico wrote in his book Farewell to Sport that "unattractive girls are comparatively good sports. Pretty girls are not. The ugly ducklings have taken to sport as an escape and to compensate for whatever it is they lack, sex appeal, charm, ready-made beauty.". Pierre de Coubertin, a founder of the International Olympic Committee, said of watching a female Olympic participant of the winter sport bob-sleighing,
The involvement of women within the Olympic Games started in the 1900 Games, with 1928 Games being a major breakthrough where three hundred women competed. Since then, female participation has gradually grown, with the number of female participants in 1988 Seoul Games having female participants make up one-fourth of the athletes.
Early pioneers
Despite social pressure and, in some cases, bans on participation, examples exist of women competing as professionals in some capacity dating back almost as long as men have.
As early as 1722, women boxers, including Elizabeth Wilkinson, participated in prize fights. Starting in 1917, the players of Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. were paid 10 shillings per game, drawing tens of thousands of fans to some matches. Professional wrestling has recognized a women's world champion since 1937, when Mildred Burke won the original World Women's title.National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling, p. 290, Tim Hornbaker, ECW Press, 2007,
Contemporary era Beginning in the late 1960s, a few women gained enough recognition for their athletic talent and social acceptance as role models to earn a living playing sports. Most of these were in the United States. Among them was Joan Weston, a roller derby star who was once the highest-paid female in sports, but she was the exception rather than the rule.
Things began to change in 1973 when Billie Jean King won "the Battle of the Sexes" and cracked the glass ceiling on pay for female athletes. Other players, like Martina Navratilova, broke through that ceiling as well, decreasing the gap between women and men athletes' pay on a regular basis rather than occasionally.
Even now, in the 21st century, most professional women's athletes around the world receive very little notoriety or pay compared to men. Life acknowledged the importance of King's achievement in 1990 by naming her one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century."
United States
Australia
Historical Context
Throughout the late 1800s and into the early 20th century, women's participation in sports was highly restricted. During this period, women were generally only permitted to swim and were required to wear oversized bathing suits to ensure modesty. It was not until the 1920s and 1930s that women began wearing more fitted bathing suits, allowing for greater freedom in sport. In the early 1900s, women's sports began to diversify with the emergence of more organized teams. Initially, most women's sports clubs were focused on lawn bowls and golf. By the 1930s, athletic clubs for track and field began to appear, marking the start of more gender-specific sports teams.
Developments in Professional Women's Sports in Australia
Launched in 2017, the AFLW has quickly become a major force in Australian women's sports. With all teams operated by existing AFL men's clubs, it has provided a high-profile platform for female Australian Rules Football players and has seen rapid expansion and increasing popularity. Impact: The league has been instrumental in promoting Australian Rules Football among women and has significantly raised the sport's profile through media coverage and fan engagement.
Launched in 2018, the NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's top-level semi-professional women's rugby league competition. Women's rugby league had been played in various local and state-based competitions since 1921. By 2022, NRLW games attracted an average of 200,000 viewers per game, and the Women's State of Origin series saw record viewership, with over 700,000 tuning in for Game I of the 2023 series.
Established in 1981, the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is one of the longest-standing professional women's basketball leagues globally. It has been crucial in nurturing talent and promoting women's basketball in Australia. The Australian women's basketball team, the Opals, won the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women, showcasing the league's role in developing world-class talent.
Originally known as the ANZ Championship, which began in 2008 with teams from both Australia and New Zealand, it was the world's premier netball league until 2016. Following the withdrawal of the Australian teams, the Suncorp Super Netball was established as Australia's top netball league. The Suncorp Super Netball has become a leading competition in netball, celebrated for its high standard of play and substantial media presence.
Australian women's tennis has produced several prominent players, including notable players such as Margaret Court, who holds a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, and Evonne Goolagong Cawley, a two-time Wimbledon champion. More recently, players such as Ashleigh Barty, a former world No. 1 and 2019 French Open champion, and Sam Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open winner, have represented Australia in international competition. The Australian Open, a major Grand Slam event held annually in Melbourne, showcases top local talent. Australian women compete on the global WTA Tour, with support from Tennis Australia through youth development and high-performance programs.
The Australian Institute of Sport has played a pivotal role in supporting women's golf through various programs designed to develop and promote female golfers. Women's golf in Australia has a strong tradition and continues to thrive, driven by prominent players such as Karrie Webb and Hannah Green. The country features a robust professional scene with key tournaments like the Women's Australian Open and a significant presence on the LPGA Tour.
Founded in 2008, the A-League Women has become Australia's premier professional soccer league for women. It has grown in prominence and competitiveness, contributing to the development of female soccer players and boosting the sport's visibility. Record Attendance: The 2023–24 season of the A-League Women recorded the highest attendance for any women's sport in Australian history, with a total attendance of 284,551. In September 2015, the Australia women's national soccer team (nicknamed the Matildas) announced that it had canceled a sold-out tour of the United States due to a dispute with Football Federation Australia (FFA; known since November 2020 as Football Australia) over their pay. Their salary was below minimum wage levels in Australia. The Matildas requested health care, maternity leave, and improved travel arrangements, as well as an increased salary. The players also said that their low salaries forced them to remain living at home, since they could not afford rent, and their strict training schedule meant they were unable to get another job.
In September 2017, a new pay deal was announced for players in Australia's national soccer league, the W-League. The deal included an increase in wages, an increase in the salary cap, improved medical standards, and a formal maternity policy. Some commentators have attributed the success of the new W-League deal to the Matildas' boycott in 2015. In November 2019, the FFA announced a new contract with the union Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) in which the Matildas and the men's national team (the Caltex Socceroos) will receive equal shares of total player revenue and equal resources. In addition, the guaranteed minimum salary for a player on the Matildas will increase as a result of this deal. In December 2020, Football Australia announced that it had unbundled the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) from the rest of the governing body, giving APL control of operational, commercial, and marketing for the top level of women's, men's, and youth soccer in the country. APL soon rebranded the W-League as A-League Women.
In 2017, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association made significant strides by providing equal pay to male and female cricketers, underscoring the growing recognition and support for women in the sport. Impact and Development. The final match between Indian national women's cricket team and Australia set a record attendance (86,174) for a Women's sports match in Australia and second highest globally.
Great Britain
Association Football
Women's football has experienced significant growth in recent years. The FA Women's Super League (WSL), established in 2010, represents the top tier of women's football in England and has emerged as a leading competition in the sport. Prominent teams in the league include Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City, each of which has played a substantial role in the league's development and popularity. The league has been professional, since the 2018–19 season. The major women's clubs competing are affiliates of male club counterparts, usually bearing the same names with the acronyms LFC or WFC. Since the success of the England women's national football team winning the UEFA Women's Championship in 2022, the league has enjoyed enormous popular success in England, with many matches shown on public television channels, and played in the male clubs' stadia. In 2024, Arsenal W.F.C. sold out the 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium in North London for two successive matches, and is playing all home games there in the 2024-25 season.
Others