You want the unvarnished truth? I'd way rather watch girl surfers than boy surfers. I don't know bumpkis about surfing and I'd way rather look at females than males.

I raced motocross long ago and far away. There were always divisions and the money was split up by division. If I qualified, I could race against the big dogs for a shot at the big prize, or I could race in my normal division with a chance at making a little money. Bastards discriminated against me because I wasn't as good a rider as the big boys. No fair.

Prizes based on entries. Easy to figure. I agree that in either sex events (say huge open tennis) that the prizes should be the same because the spectators are.

They could just run two divisions, either sex. Division A pays 2x what Division B pays. I'm guessing there would be a wailing and gnashing of teeth for that idea, too.