In a federal complaint, the United States Women's National Team is accusing U.S. Soccer of "institutionalized gender discrimination," a violation of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The women's national team earns 38% less as compared to men's players. (Planet Futbol, SI.com, July 10, 2019).
Heading into the recent World Cup, the top prize in all of soccer, the women sued the United States Soccer Federation, their bosses, claiming “purposeful gender discrimination.” Talk about ramping up the pressure right before they performed on the largest stage in their sport. And we all know how it turned out.
Spoiler alert: They won!
So, why should we care? Because not only is there a pay gap based on gender in soccer, and in sports in general, the gap exists in all professions across the country. According to the Pew Research Center, women over the age of 16 made 82 cents for every dollar made by a man in 2017. Meaning, for a woman to earn the same as her male counterpart, she has to work 47 more days a year than a man does. If you are a woman, or have a wife, daughter or sister, or know a woman, you should care.
U.S. Soccer is making this point on the largest stage but it is a point everyone should care about. And just as in the case of the USWNT, the argument that the men are “better” at what they do so they should get compensated more does not work anymore. The best result the men have achieved in the World Cup occurred during their first appearance, in 1930, when they came in third.
The women? They are the best in the world and have been for decades. Since the FIFA Women’s World Cup began in 1991, the U.S. women’s team has won four of eight titles. They have been ranked No. 1 by FIFA for 10 of the last 11 years. So ... no, the men are not better. Just as male Uber drivers are not inherently better than female Uber drivers but they still make 7% more per hour (Fortune Magazine, February 6, 2018).
The argument most frequently used to defend the pay gap is that men,
particularly in sport, deserve more because they bring in more revenue. But soccer, like professional tennis, is a brand, and you can't really separate the men’s game from the women’s game. Does Serena Williams bring as much value to tennis as, say Roger Federer? Arguably.
Quick, name a man on the U.S. National Team. Likely, you can't.
And when sports like tennis did institute equal pay for women, events like Wimbledon hardly suffered. The rising tide surely does carry all ships. And after the recent World Cup, Nike and Fanatics reported that jerseys for the U.S. women’s team sold far more than any U.S. soccer jersey, including the men’s team. (Sporting News, July 3, 2019).
Seeing women play, and win, garners more interest and more profit. The investment in women’s sports is paying off. And equal pay is the ultimate investment.
