Injustice in Sports: Why isn’t it Discussed More?

When we think about sports, our minds tend to go straight to the big players in the industry. Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Soccer dominate the headlines globally, but sports go much deeper than that. Even in these leagues racial and gender inequality run rampant, and those stories dominate the headlines because of how prevalent these leagues are in the media. However, at the end of the day, these leagues still see quite a bit of diversity while other sports, the real problem sports, fly under the radar.

Looking at a few specific cases; hockey, golf, and tennis, we can see that the sheer dominance of the white athlete in numbers alone is staggering. The NHL is 97% white. There are a few reasons for this, starting with the fact that the country of origin for most players (Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, etc.) are very white areas. Another reason, especially in the U.S., that hockey isn’t as popular is that it is an expensive sport to learn and to play. Those in more impoverished areas lean towards basketball or football because they only need a ball to play.

The numbers in golf are just as staggering with only four players of color on major tours (PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tou) thus far in 2020. Golfers have been talking out more about the current state of affairs racially than ever before, following the lead of the other major leagues. Some were surprised given that Golf is driven financially, like golfer Paul Goydos who said, “The tours are mostly white and lean right. But it’s more than that. Team sports are owner-driven financially. We’re sponsor-driven. I think there’s a reluctance to say or do anything that might upset sponsors.” This again shows how much money dominates these smaller sports that don’t see the same viewership or sponsorship as the bigger players.

Now Tennis, on the other hand, appears to be the one sport making significant strides in the equality department. While there are still ongoing battles about how women tennis players are treated, specifically with their clothes and what they are allowed to say, the pay gap between men and women is no more. The top women tennis players are the only female athletes who crack the top 100 paid athletes globally. Meanwhile, the most dominant female tennis players list consists of multiple black and Asian players. While there are still strides to be taken in tennis, particularly in terms of the men’s racial diversity; tennis does seem to have a leg up on the competition. Largely due to women who said the precedent, like Billie Jean King, in the 70s that they were just as talented. Other sports haven’t seen the same traction from their trailblazers with much slower rates of diversity growth.

There are big patterns in sports, all sports, and those start with the exclusion of individuals of ethnic and racial diversity in positions of power, and a tendency to give white players of average or limited ability a chance over others. These trends are confirmed in a study done by John C. Phillips, professor of sociology at the University of the Pacific. Until the people at the top begin to see the problem and care enough to make a difference, nothing will change for the sports world.