The World Cup is a time of pride, energy, and often controversy. Instead of talking about the Men’s World Cup, which the US team did not qualify for, I want to focus on the women. The next Women’s World Cup is next year in France, and the women are expected to go just as far as they did in 2015, which is all the way.
You would think with such a successful women’s US team, compensation wouldn’t be an issue. Yet despite their success year after year, having not only qualified for, but won the last FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, the pay gap is unbelievable. The U.S. women’s squad has not come in below third place in the tournament’s history. The team has also medaled in every Olympics from 1996, when the sport entered the games, to 2016 when it lost in the quarterfinals in a penalty shootout. The women’s team is currently ranked number one in the world.
Meanwhile, the men have failed to qualify for the world cup this year, have never won the tournament, and are ranked 25th. Why then, are the men paid as much as 5 million as a team for reaching quarterfinals, while the women get nothing. Why is a second-place men’s finish worth 6.5 million to a women’s 780,000, and why is one of the lowest paid male players on the World Cup roster making 246,000 dollars while his female counterpart makes 26,000? Some will say things like revenue and popularity need to be factored in. While it is true that in the past the men have brought in more viewers and more revenue, that is changing quickly.
The women’s World Cup victory in 2015, followed by a 10-city victory tour, caused a massive spike in earnings for U.S. Soccer, sending the women’s revenue far beyond that of the men’s team. The profit, at $6.6 million, was over three times that of the men, at $2 million. This trend is expected to continue. According to a budget report from the U.S. Soccer Federation, the women’s team is projected to bring in more than $17 million in revenues, including a $5 million surplus, nearly doubling the men, who are expected to run a deficit.
This pay gap was brought to the forefront in 2016, when 5 members of the US women’s team filed a complaint with the federal government for being paid less than their male counterparts. The players, Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Rebecca Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, are some of the best-known faces of US women’s soccer. As Morgan explains, the women are not prioritizing money, but equality.“We want to play in top-notch, grass-only facilities like the U.S. Men’s National Team. We want to have equitable and comfortable travel accommodations, and we simply want equal treatment.”Their complaint has still not been addressed, although the women have received a pay bump since the complaint was filed.
Whether or not you have an economics degree, such a gap in pay and performance is hard to ignore. “We are the best in the world, have three World Cup Championships, four Olympic Championships, and the USMNT get paid more to just show up, than we get paid to win major championships.” This statement from Hope Solo nicely summarizes the monetary issues, but there is a much bigger problem at hand. Until women are taken seriously as athletes, on a bigger scale, these disparities will continue to occur. Of course, such a grandiose societal issue won’t be tackled in one go, but this is a sure-footed step in the right direction. Their attorney highlighted this big-picture goal in a statement shortly after the claim was filed. “The women on the team are very much aware of their role and responsibility to bring this issue to the forefront, not just for themselves but as a model for women in general.”
