Everyone benefits when U.S. women’s soccer players earn more
In the 2016 fiscal year, the U.S. women’s national soccer team earned $23.5 million in revenues for games it played in America. That was triple the revenue the U.S. Soccer Federation predicted in its budget for the year, and it was more than the men’s national soccer team earned from games in the same time period.
For the 2017 fiscal year, which begins Friday, the Federation projects the women’s team will bring in about $17.5 million in game revenues, turning a $5 million profit in the process. It projects the men’s team will earn about $9 million in game revenues and net a $1 million loss.
If you didn’t know much about soccer, or gender dynamics, or really anything outside of standard green-eyeshade accounting and entry-level economics, you still might form an obvious conclusion from those numbers: that the players on the U.S. women’s soccer team are highly productive investments. You’d want to give them more money, to encourage them to play more soccer, to generate more revenues and higher returns.
And if you want people to do more of something — again, this is entry-level economics — you typically pay them more.
That is not the conclusion of the U.S. Soccer Federation. According to a federal wage discrimination complaint filed Thursday by five stars of the women’s 2015 World Cup championship team, women earn far less than men for representing America on the international pitch. The complaint says the Federation pays women nearly four times less than it pays male players, according to ESPN.
The New York Times reports that “a men’s player, for example, receives $5,000 for a loss in a friendly match but as much as $17,625 for a win against a top opponent. A women’s player receives $1,350 for a similar match, but only if the United States wins; women’s players receive no bonuses for losses or ties.”
The complainants cast this as a matter of fairness, which, to be clear, it is. “The pay disparity between men and women is just too large,” World Cup hero Carli Lloyd told NBC, “and we want to continue to fight.”
Read more at washingtonpost.com.
FILE – In this July 5, 2015, file photo, the United States Women’s National Team celebrates with the trophy after they beat Japan 5-2 in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Five players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were paid nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced Thursday in a statement from the law firm representing the players. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE – In this Feb. 21, 2016, file photo, United StatesÂ’ Carli Lloyd (10) and Canada’s Desiree Scott (11) go up for a header during the first half of the CONCACAF Olympic women’s soccer qualifying championship final in Houston. Five players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were payed nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced in a press release on Thursday, March 31, 2016. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
FILE – From left are file photos showing World Cup-winning national team women’s soccer players Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo. All five have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They maintain in the EEOC filing they were payed nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced in a press release on Thursday, March 31, 2016. (AP Photo/File)
FILE – In this July 5, 2015 file photo, United States teammates, left to right, Morgan Brian (14), Tobin Heath (17), Alex Morgan (13), Lauren Holiday (12), Carli Lloyd (10) and Ali Krieger (11) celebrate after Lloyd’s second goal against Japan during the first half of the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A federal judge in Chicago is set to make a high-stakes ruling to determine whether the world-champion U.S. women’s soccer team has the right to strike before this year’s Olympics. At the first status hearing in the case Thursday, March 3, 2016, a judge set May 25 for in-court arguments between the soccer federation and the players’ union on the issue. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File) MANDATORY CREDIT
FILE – In this June 16, 2015, file photo, United States’ Alex Morgan celebrates teammate Abby Wambach’s goal as Nigeria’s Onome Ebi looks on during the first half of a FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Five players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were payed nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced in a press release on Thursday, March 31, 2016. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File) MANDATORY CREDIT
FILE – In this Oct. 24, 2014, file photo, United States midfielder Megan Rapinoe (15) against Mexico in the second half during a CONCACAF semifinal soccer match in Chester, Pa. Five players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were payed nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced in a press release on Thursday, March 31, 2016. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz, File)
United States’ Carli Lloyd (10) and Alex Morgan (13) wait for play to continue during a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament soccer match against Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
FILE – In this July 1, 2014, file photo, United States’ head coach Juergen Klinsmann reacts during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Belgium and the USA at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil. Five players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were paid nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced Thursday in a statement from the law firm representing the players. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)