By: Jake Leonard and Tyler Colditz

Summary with support 

Despite winning the 2019 World Cup, the US Women’s National Team had a more significant and strenuous challenge ahead. The team earned and fought to achieve equal pay to their male counterparts. Even though the WNT was much more successful than the men, they still earned a fraction of what the men did. When brought to court, it was ruled that under the Equal Pay Act, there was no proven wage discrimination. Under their current bargaining agreement, the women were paid based on salaries and received bonuses on game appearance and wins. Within this same agreement, the men were given more opportunities to receive money which is why they were paid more. Since the women signed this agreement, changes could not be made until the 4-year cycle is over and a new agreement is reached. The fight for equal pay continues. 

This chart displays how, under the current bargaining agreement, the men still earn substantially more over the span of 20 games whether the teams win or lose all of them. If the men lose all 20 games they still receive $100,000 while if the women win all 20 of their games they only earn $99,000. This clear pay disparity further shows the problem and large gap in equal pay. 

Policy Recommendations

A policy recommendation that could counter this would be to cap the total amount a player on the men’s team could make, and give the excess money that goes over the cap to the women’s team. Another recommendation is to create a policy that gives the men’s and women’s teams the same base salary per game and the same potential bonuses per game based on wins and losses.

Consequences

A consequence without intervention would be women continuing to make significantly less than their male counterparts, despite performing better, having more success than men, and having the same job as men. Another consequence that could come without intervention is that some women would be turned away from attempting to play professional soccer for the US national team, or professional women’s sports in general, knowing this inequality of pay between the two gendered teams. 

Research Questions

Research questions based on the patterns we saw: 

  1. Has the WNT’s fight for equality sparked a movement for all women sports/athletes? If so, has it been successful?
  2. Once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, is it able to implement an opt-out option if the current situation shifts from equality?     

How issues impact us on a personal level

While neither of us plays soccer, we believe the women’s team should be paid equally to the men’s because of their continued success in their sport. We understand just how difficult it is not only for women in professional sports, but women all over the country. This unjust fight for equality has opened our eyes to the current situation and we will do whatever we can to achieve it. 

What we learned and how our view of the world has shifted

We learned that the US Women’s National Team is making significantly less than the men’s team, despite performing better. We learned about the women’s fight for equal pay, and the current bargaining agreement on which they are being paid. This has shifted our view of the world because the women’s team is being treated in such a negative manner regarding this situation. Even with the Equal Pay Act existing, there was no proven discrimination, but looking at the numbers it is clear there is.

Sources 

Adams, V. (2021). The End” Goal” to the US Women’s Soccer Team Equal Pay Lawsuit: Proposing a Resolution for Gender Equality by Examining the Equal Pay Laws for Male and Female Sports. U. Miami Bus. L. Rev., 29, 22. 

Campbell, H. (2017). Superior play, unequal pay: US women’s soccer and the pursuit for pay equity. USFL Rev., 51, 545.

Das, Andrew. (2016). Pay Disparity in U.S. Soccer? It’s Complicated. The New York Times.Kimbell, J., Macy, A., Hammer, E. E., & Philpot, D. (2018). Yellow card: US Women’s Soccer seeks pay equity. The CASE Journal.

Kimbell, J., Macy, A., Hammer, E. E., & Philpot, D. (2018). Yellow card: US Women’s Soccer seeks pay equity. The CASE Journal.