Venus Williams at Wimbledon: Show women the money

Wimbledon also argues that it is only following established trends in the entertainment industry to let "box office appeal" dictate prize money. It says men's tennis is still the biggest draw, and cites corporate hospitality rates for men's events in its defense.

The argument is not finding favor in political circles, however. Before the championship started, British culture secretary Tessa Jowell wrote to the Wimbledon authorities saying she was "deeply concerned" at the disparity.

"The media attention and levels of global sponsorship are now on a par with the men's game," she said, warning that the anomaly was "tarnishing the image of the Championship."

Don Foster, a British member of Parliament who has made the case for equal pay for several years, says that the commercial argument does not stack up. "If you look at figures for TV viewership, it attracts as much if not more attention than men," he says.

The 2005 French Open drew a global audience of 4.35 million viewers for the men, and over 4.1 million for the women, according to CBS SportsLine.

That's not often the case with women's sports. And yet, as Mr. Foster notes, this may be just a vicious circle. Women earn less than men because their sporting endeavor is less well supported, and hence generates lower television ratings and commercial revenue. They therefore have a lower media profile – which makes television companies even less likely to screen their action.

"It's a chicken and egg argument," says Foster. "When many years ago the BBC started to film [men's] snooker, it was not something people thought had wide public interest. But the numbers of viewers rapidly rose." And so did the prize money. The professional female game meanwhile, which is not televised, is so bereft of money that leading players have quit to seek a living playing pool in America.

Emma Rich, an expert in gender issues in sport at Loughborough University in England, says that in order to drum up sponsorship interest in their sporting prowess women are increasingly forced to market products that stress their femininity and physical appearance rather than their performance.

"Because they earn less in prize money, they end up having to turn towards wider sponsorship, and often have to emphasize their femininity rather than their sporting talent," she says.

She cites women's volleyball as a good example. "They have a requirement to wear crop tops and short shorts. Those requirements are not about performance but just about selling the sport. It's objectifying women's bodies."

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