Pichincha Bank Spotlights the Fight for Gender Pay Equity in Sport with Empowering Campaign

In Ecuador, a professional male footballer earns almost eight times more than a professional female player. This wage disparity is not an isolated case but rather a reflection of inequality in Latin American football. In Brazil, for instance, while the women’s national team that won the 2022 Copa América received a prize of approximately 1.5 million dollars, the men’s team earned 11 million dollars when they won the same tournament in 2019. In Mexico, the Liga MX Femenil has made progress toward professionalisation, but the average salary of a female player is still significantly lower than that of their male counterparts.

To close the wage gap and make women’s football a more profitable sport, it is not enough for brands to increase sponsorships. It is essential for fans to engage with the game, attend matches, and consume content across various platforms.

Demonstrating its commitment to both sports and women, Pichincha Bank sponsors major names in Ecuadorian sports such as Samia Alava (Skating), Myriam Nuñez (Cycling), Anahí Ortíz (Chess), Anahí Suarez (Race Walking), Ana Vivar (Cycling), Irene Valarezo (Frame Running), and Glenda Morejón (Race Walking) — in addition to sponsoring the women's teams of Barcelona Sporting Club (BSC), Liga Deportiva Universitaria (LDU), and Universidad Católica. The bank decided to put the issue of wage inequality on the public agenda, and there was no better way to represent it than by visually illustrating the wage gap on the field.

At the Noche Blanca (an event organised by University Sports League of Quito, Ecuador, to present their squad at the beginning of each season — a traditional and highly anticipated night by LDU fans that generates one of the largest football audiences in Ecuador), during halftime of the BSC vs LDU match, Delta MullenLowe put 85 women on the field to play against 11 men, symbolising the wage gap between them and making the inequality impossible to ignore.

Coordinating such an unconventional match required working with the professional league, teams, and players to gather 85 female athletes ready to play.

“The format had to be attractive, fast-paced, symbolic, yet competitive and entertaining for the public. With this action, we placed the spotlight on one of the most-watched sports events of the season,” said Marco Tapia, chief creative officer of Delta.

The initiative was significant and effective, and shortly afterward, a groundbreaking milestone occurred in women's football: for the first time, tickets were officially sold for a women’s league final.

This marked a fundamental shift in how the sport is valued, moving away from free admission and toward recognising the commercial potential of the women's game.

Pichincha Bank is constantly promoting gender equality, it is essential to support women and their businesses. This project, with its great impact, is a way of demonstrating that the Bank is always on the side of women, and of sports.