Tayla Harris takes a strong mark during the game. Credit:Michael Dodge The Southern Stars are dominating the Ashes, in strong contrast to the male cricketers, while the Opals just qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. There are no professional women's AFL teams, but the women's exhibition game between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs last week drew more viewers than Adelaide's clobbering of the Bombers. Fairfax Media revealed last week that the AFL has big plans for the development of women's footy, with up to six women's teams in the pipeline and a women's all-stars game as soon as next year. Why is this a big deal?

The success of Australia's women's teams could have far-ranging implications for women's participation in sports and the potential for women to play professionally. Media attention could lead to higher ticket sales, more corporate sponsorships and more pay for athletes. Australian Sports Commission Chair John Wylie says the success of female athletes on a national stage helps change long-standing perceptions about women's sports – particularly that people are less interested in watching women play. "People are watching major sporting events like the Netball Cup final on Sunday," he said. "They're seeing high quality sport. We think the community's appreciation of women's sport is increasing." How are female athletes paid compared to their male counterparts?

It depends on the sport. In professional tennis, for example, all four major Grand Slam tournaments award equal prizemoney to both men and women. Same goes for professional surfers and marathon runners. But male athletes often make more in endorsement deals, which can be worth tens of millions of dollars. In other sports, women earn far less than men. Earlier this year, it was widely noted that the US women's soccer team took home $2 million for winning the Women's World Cup, while the German men's team won $35 million for the top prize in 2014. Last year, Buzzfeed named 52 NBA players who make more money each than all WNBA players combined. There is also a wide pay gap in Australian sports, where most elite female athletes work day jobs or study. In May, Cricket Australia instituted a pay rise for female cricketers. Top domestic players can make up to $17,000 a year, though the very best can earn up to $85,000 a year with retainers and tour payments. The country's best male cricketers, however, earn a minimum $260,000 and can make up to $2 million a year.

Why are women paid so little? According to University of Melbourne researcher Tony Ward, it is a combination of television ratings and interest from advertisers. Men's sports have historically drawn more viewers than women's sports, which is why broadcasters and sponsors are more interested in them. It has been reported that women's sports only account for eight per cent of the $780 million Australian businesses spend on sports sponsorships each year. Is there money to be made in women's sport?

Mr Wylie said last week's Netball Cup drew record television ratings but the real story was on social media, with 1.1 million tweets mentioning the game. "What that shows is that there is a very high level of community engagement through social media in top-level women's sport," he says. Social media might be uncovering interest that has been ignored by traditional broadcast networks. Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer says the Australian sporting landscape is "incredibly crowded". "Women's sports needs to be creative and proactive in the way that it markets and promotes itself," she says. "There's no substitute for a competitive, exciting and entertaining product."

Ms Palmer said the semi-professional ANZ Championship was introduced in 2008 to entice potential broadcasters and commercial partners. In 2012 its TV deal with Channel Ten lapsed, but in February of this year the sport came to an arrangement to provide free content to the network to boost exposure. (By contrast, Channel Seven and Foxtel have just forked out more than $2 billion for AFL rights.) It could also have to do with the type of sport women are playing. The AFL's women's exhibition game rated well against the Netball Cup in footy-mad Melbourne. Both men and women could be more interested in footy than netball – no matter which gender is on the field. Dr Michael Burke, of Victoria University, says businesses are missing out on a big market. "It would be better for a private business to be the first sponsor of the women's national league team than being the 55th sponsor of the Collingwood football club," he said. What is being done to develop women's sport?

Sport minister Sussan Ley told Fairfax this week that the nation's sports organisations needed to work harder to increase the number of women in off-field leadership positions. "We are lucky to have so many outstanding women involved in sport, but there is still room for many more to pursue leadership roles," she said. In April, Ms Ley announced a $400,000 grant program to develop female leadership in sports. Mr Wylie said the Australian Sporting Commission has been working with corporations interested in promoting gender diversity – and not just in their boardrooms. "We'd like to see corporate Australia step up," he says. "It increases their company's relevance to half the country's population."