Trinity Grad Betsy Gerhardt Pasley ’77 on Women’s Sports Pay Gap in Express-News

Betsy Gerhardt Pasley '77, a Trinity University graduate and former Trinity student-athlete, writes in the San Antonio Express-News commentary "Women continue to make history in sports, but still lag men in pay." She highlights how Title IX helped create a pipeline of opportunities for girls and women in athletics, contributing to strong performances such as U.S. women winning more Olympic medals than men in several recent Games.

Despite these advances and growing popularity for leagues like the WNBA, Pasley argues that pay disparities remain stark. The average WNBA salary is under $150,000 is far below the NBA's average of about $11.9 million, and many players still rely on overseas leagues or sponsorships to supplement their income. Pasley concludes that while women's sports have made historic progress in visibility and participation, achieving fair pay and structural support remains a key challenge for the future.

Pasley is a retired corporate communicator from San Antonio. She was one of the first female athletes to earn a varsity letter at Trinity, the first female sportswriter at the San Antonio Light, the author of "From the Sidelines to the Headlines: The Legacy of Women's Sports at Trinity University," and a member of Trinity's 2026 Athletics Hall of Fame class. Read her full commentary here .

NOTE: San Antonio Express-News is a paywalled publication.