#BetweenTheSheets: A Slide Towards Equality
Plus updated #PowerRankings
During Championship Sunday at the Canada Cup in Leduc this past weekend, Curling Canada Chief Executive Officer Katherine Henderson made the equality announcement curling athletes and fans have been waiting for years to hear. The Scotties and Brier, the Canadian national championship events, would finally have equal pay. "Equal pay for equal work" as Henderson has been quoted as saying.
Starting with the 2020 championships, the total purse at both events will be an equal $300,000. The champions from both events will earn $105,000 each, which includes cresting and prize money. Runner-ups will receive $65,000 while bronze medal winners receive $45,000. The remaining $85,000 will be allocated among the remaining competing teams depending on final placement.
For comparison sake, at the 2019 championships Team Koe earned $105,000 for their Brier win while Team Carey earned $59,000 for the Scotties title. A nice, and needed, hefty jump for our female athletes.
When we look at total purse amounts from last year, the Brier awarded $293,000 while the Scotties handed out $165,000. The new purse almost doubles for the Scotties by comparison and we even see a slight increase at the Brier.
The clarity on where the extra funding will come from has not been released based on media statements I have read so whether Curling Canada has strengthened existing sponsorship deals or is just carving a larger piece of the pie out of their own operating dollars, the end result is still savory and sweet.
The announcement was certainly a nice slide out of the hack but in the bigger picture of the sport, have we even crossed the hog line for equality?
