Racial and gender inequality regimes in sport: occupational segregation and wage gaps in the U.S. spectator sports industry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research question While previous studies of sport industry diversity highlight racial and gender inequalities amongst top management, coaches, and athletes, we lack an understanding of diversity across the broader workforce, particularly amongst lower status and part-time workers. This study examines occupational segregation and wage gaps in the U.S. spectator sports industry, drawing from racialized and gendered organization theories to understand how the industry (re)produces inequality. Research methods Using American Community Survey data, hypothesis tests compared percentages of workers by race, ethnicity, and sex for occupations to percentages of the U.S. population. Regression analyses further examined occupational segregation and earnings differentials by race, ethnicity, and sex, with comparisons to the broader workforce. Results and Findings Results show women and racial minorities are overrepresented in less powerful, lower-earning, and part-time jobs. Large earnings differentials by sex, race, and ethnicity are found across occupations within the sports workforce. Compared to non-sport industries, occupational segregation is greater, and earnings gaps are generally similar or smaller in the sport industry. Implications This research expands understanding of sport industry diversity by highlighting the overrepresentation of women and racial minorities in lower status positions in an industry where white men dominate positions of power. In doing so, it highlights the industry’s operation as an inequality regime, (re)producing inequality through structures and practices.