Iona Stephen says she thinks the women’s game can achieve financial parity with the men’s game within a decade.
The pro-turned-Sky Sports Golf commentator told Golf Monthly’s Mark Townsend: “I do believe that in the next five years, if I’m being bold, or 10 if I’m being realistic, we will see that The Open and the Women’s Open will provide an equal prize fund for men and women.”
While prize purses are increasing in the women’s game – not least the $7.3m on offer in this year’s AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, compared to $5.8m the year before – the available money still lags significantly behind the men’s game, but Stephen said that could all change if the game is presented in a way that is compelling to TV viewers, and cited women’s tennis as the benchmark.
She said: “The women’s side of the game has enormously engaging narratives and characters. You can watch documentaries on Netflix about tennis – Naomi Osaka and the Williams sisters. We should be able to learn more about the likes of the Korda sisters. There is a responsibility with every woman involved in golf, both from the broadcast and from the playing side, that this is the product that we have to sell to viewers. Ultimately it is about demand. You have to have people wanting to turn the TV on to watch women’s golf.
“I have often thought about the opportunity that sits there right now for a smart media group or someone to step in and just own that space. On Netflix there is the Formula 1: Drive to Survive and I think there is so much more to be told about the female players. If you look at the rivalry between Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda and how the [2021] Player of the Year came down to the final round of the final tournament, again echoing the Formula 1 season, it was incredible.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
One idea Stephen doesn’t see merit in is women and men competing on each other’s tours. However, she admits that the women’s game could learn some lessons from the men’s tours on how to market itself. She said: “I don’t think a woman…
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