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Nike to Protect Pregnant Athletes’ Pay

by Gabriella Anaya | May 21, 2019

The big-name sports apparel brand Nike has recently come forth with a new policy change for their athletes under contract following negative backlash concerning pay freezes. Who will this new policy affect? Women athletes. What will it do? Protect their pay if they become pregnant. Sounds awesome, right? Continue below to learn more about this new story.

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Nike to Protect Pregnant Athletes’ Pay

On Friday, Nike publicly announced that a new policy that the had begun last year will officially be included in the paperwork when it comes to future endorsements and partnerships with female athletes. This new addition will protect pregnant athletes working with Nike from pay freezes, which some Nike athletes Had unfortunately experienced with this brand in the past.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a Nike spokesman told them, “Moving forward, our contracts for female athletes will include written terms that reinforce our policy. We recognize we can do more and that there is an important opportunity for the sports industry to evolve to support female athletes.”

This policy was announced just after the company was under fire following a few athletes that came forward with their stories about Nike freezing their pay both while they were pregnant and after they gave birth.

Alysia Montano, a former Nike athlete that now works with Asics shared with the New York Times how Nike told her they would “pause” her contract (and pay) while she was pregnant when she told the company that she wanted to start a family. In an article titled, “Nike told me to dream crazy until I wanted a baby”, she opened up with her negative experience on this topic with the sports brand.

Female athletes historically have always faced hardships in the world of sports. Serena Williams stared in a super badass Nike ad that showed “What crazy can do” and featured a range of female athletes.

Nike’s steps they now have to allow women to have a family at any point in their careers without having their contract put on hold is something that we definitely need to see more of. This form of work equality has been adopted by many countries all over the world and also extends out to the conversation of paid maternity leave (or, the lack of it for most women in the USA)

What do you think about Nike taking this step to help protect the salaries of athletes that become pregnant? Let me know in the comments below.

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