Drawing attention to the gender pay gap, tennis legend Martina Navratilova told the BBC that John McEnroe was paid at least “ten times more” than she was for commentator duties at Wimbledon.
Navratilova told McEnroe that she is “angry” after learning the news and feels bad for the women who work for BBC on a more regular basis: “It’s extremely unfair and it makes me angry for the other women that I think go through this.”
In a list of the BBC’s highest-paid workers published last year, it was revealed that McEnroe earned between 150,000-199,999 pounds ($210,000-280,000) for working at Wimbledon.
Navratilova said she gets paid 15,000 pounds ($21,000).
Navratilova, a nine-time singles champion at the All England Club, said she was told by the BBC that she earns a “comparable amount, so … we were not told the truth.”
The BBC said “the two commentators are on different types of contracts and that Martina Navratilova appears less than John McEnroe.”
The AP expanded on that statement: “The corporation said that while Navratilova is paid per appearance, has a fixed volume of work and has no contractual commitment, McEnroe is on call for the entire 13 days of the tournament, has a larger breadth of work — including radio and publicity — and has a contract that means he cannot work for another British broadcaster without the BBC’s permission.”
