Highlights:
- By gender. There are only three women in the top 100, all tennis players, the top one ranking at #22 (Sharapova). Unsurprising, but still outrageous.
- By nationality. Americans make up about half the list, with 6 in top 10.
- By race. Only 30% in top 100 are white, but including 7 in the top 10.
- By sport: baseball 27, basketball 21, soccer 15, football 14, motors 8, tennis 6, golf 5. The most equality is in tennis (3 men and 3 women; 3 whites and 3 nonwhites; 6 different nations). Track is the least represented sport among those that are represented; many others are not represented at all.
A brief note about the gender gap, which is by far the most notable.
It's not surprising that the women's sports that are more technically proficient, entertaining, and commercially hyped are those that have been around for the longest and enjoyed virtually equal opportunities from the get-go. Good examples are tennis, athletics, swimming, and volleyball.
Detractors who claim that women's soccer or basketball are "boring" are mostly correct. The quality of play is very meager and there has been little or no chance to develop strategies, techniques, and training regimens better adapted to female bodies as in the other sports. Women's tennis plays a lot different than men's tennis, but not at all worse. Women's soccer, instead, is worse without being different.
But again, that's only a matter of time, funds, and dedication. For example, women's swimming and track and field were once treated as the Paralympics are today, as second-class sports that barely rate a sidebar, often not even associated with the men's events; yet today they're integrated in all international competitions (even if it is still true that the well-known "stars" are mostly male). Fast-forward 50 years and I have no doubt that the women's Premier League or World Cup will amass large revenues and TV time -- if they continue to be pushed despite their temporary technical, tactical, and financial inferiority.
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