Why U.S. Women Soccer Players Should Earn Equal Pay
Women often face the problems of being put second to last with men. The U.S Women’s National Soccer Team has won more awards and games than the men’s soccer team, yet face the discrimination of unequal pay. This is a violation of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, where men and women are to be paid the same amount of money in a profession. According to the article “U.S Women’s Soccer and the Pursuit for Pay Equity, “the author Honey Campel. States that in the ear 2015, women that worked on a full-time basis were only paid 80% of what men on a full-time basis were paid. Additionally, to the 80% paid to the female, a pay gap was calculated for each state. New York State had the smallest gap with females working full time being paid 89% of what men earned. On the other had Wyoming had the largest gap with females being paid 64% of what men earned(Archer and Prange 2019)? Notably, this paper aims to explore the history of the gap in equal pay and the arguments on why women in soccer should earn equal pay.
Women were considered to be more governed by their emotions. They were expected to show more compassion and care. Their virtues were expected to be chastity and modesty. Men were thought to be more intelligent, courageous, and determined. Additionally, Men were considered to be more aggressive while women to be passive (Kossen). Also, in marriage, men were expected to rule over their wives and be “the leader of the household”. Men were usually the primary wage earners or “breadwinners” in a household, while women remained to be responsible for doing house chores, cooking, and tending the children. In politics, there is no place for a woman.
Also, women could not vote nor run for office, they lacked basic rights, the same rights men possessed. Opportunities such as joining the military, women were also denied. Around the 19th century, there was a significant change among gender roles( Coyne Patrick). Women were still expected to stay at home and were still excluded from certain activities, such as playing sports. Although, some women started to work as teachers, authors, and helped with charity work. When it comes to employment, women earn less than men- and that is still a problem for the present day.
Women working the same employment as men, but earning less is discrimination in the workforce that women still have to deal with to this day. According to Forbes article, “Making Sense of the Gender Pay Gap in Five Graphs”, author Miriam Grobman states, “The gender pay gap is an economic issue that has become a political issue.” Society often makes comments such as, “Women are paid less because they work less and leave the workforce once they have children” (Grobman). But this is not an excuse why women should be paid less than men.
Women have always been denied the right to equal pay in the sports industry. According to football history, the national sports association has always prohibited women from playing for up to 50 years. According to Alfred Archer and Prange, between 1920 to 1970s, the national football association in Europe was always known for oppressing and excluding women through the use of demeaning strategies (Kossen Sammy). This marginalized and devalued them. Therefore, starting from the 1970s onwards, the national football association allowed women to play but did not encourage them. They only paid little attention to developing women’s games. This form of discrimination continued since, the national association did not invest time, energy, and time in providing women with good facilities for the game. However, in the contemporary world, the national association gives women more support but with cultural strategies that impose men’s cultures on women. Therefore, it evident that the culture of women in football has progressed from oppression (1920-1970) to toleration (1970-2010) to stimulation (2010 to onwards).
Professional male and female athletes have a major wage gap. The gender pay gap happens in almost every industry, including sports. In particular sports, there is a major difference in pay between men and women ranging from tennis, where the salaries are comparable, to basketball and soccer players, where the pay is significantly different. Professional male athletes earn more due to better endorsement deals and better sponsorships that they receive. Research studies show that sponsorships are attracted more to male athletes because they are more marketable. Therefore, male athletes are paid more than females because they are more marketable.
Tennis players are the only female athletes to rank as one of the top earners over the past decade. Serena Williams, a tennis player, tied with Miguel Cabrera, a professional baseball player, with a total earning of 29.2 million dollars (Lesser). Among the ten highest-paid female athletes in 2018, nine of them were tennis players. In basketball, the top WNBA salary was $117,500 compared to 37.4 million dollars in the NBA (Abrams). Finally, in soccer, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (WNT) only earn $4,950 to $99,000 per game, while male soccer players (MNT) earned an average of $13,166 to $263,320 per game (Abrams). Female soccer players often face discrimination when it comes to their performance in the game, the coaching and medical expenses, travel, and most importantly, their salaries.
The women’s 2019 World Cup prize money was about $30 million, and the winner took home $4 million. For the men’s 2018 World Cup, the prize money was $400 million and the winners took home $38 million (Coyne Patrick). The United States Soccer Federation Inc., (USSF) is the employer for the men and women American professional players, however, the USSF unfairly allowed members of the women’s team to earn less pay than the men’s team in multiple ways. In 2015, when the women’s team won their third World Cup title, they only earned a $2 million bonus and in 2019 a $4 million bonus. If the men’s team would have won the World Cup title in 2018, they would have earned a $38 million bonus.
Additionally, between March 2014 to 2016, female players earned $15,000 for trying out and making the women’s soccer team, but male players earned about four times as much, making $60,000 for trying out and making the team. In 2014, during the Men’s World Cup tournament, the USSF gave the men’s team a $5.3 million bonus for performing, but in 2015, the women’s team won the World Cup title, yet only received less than $1.8 million for a performance bonus (Spiggle). WNT soccer players are not only more successful than MNT soccer players, but they are required to play more often but receive less pay. From 2015-2018, the WNT played 19 more games than the MNT in the same period (Lake).
The system is not set up where men and women will have access to the same amount of money. It is through “prize pools”, where it is taken from the total revenue from respective leagues. The U.S. women’s soccer team may have a greater record than the men’s team, but they play in a league that has a smaller pool size of money to offer. More money is produced in the men’s league. There is more money in the men’s league worldwide, which means the men’s players and teams will receive a larger pay compared to women’s (Kelly). As a result, several lawsuits have been filed to protect women against unequal pay in the soccer field.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the USSF for violating the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Pay Act prohibits the unfair treatment of workers because of their gender, requiring men and women should be receiving equal pay.
Title VII prohibits multiples types of discrimination such as discriminating against an employee because of their race, religion, color, or gender. On March 8, 38 players filed a complaint in the US District Court in Los Angeles, stating that the US Soccer is practicing discrimination in pay against women, denies them equal training, playing, and travel conditions among women compared to the men’s soccer team. Unfortunately, when they filed a complaint, the judge dismissed the case. Judge R. Gary Klaussner of the Federal Court in Los Angeles disagreed and rejected the women’s claims. The judge stated that the women’s team earned more on an average per game than the men’s team during the years in the lawsuit, but this is because men and women negotiated different deals. Female players agreed to allow the women to be compensated through large salary guarantees and an additional opportunity for performance-based bonuses. The men’s team had an agreement where they do not earn a salary, but only bonuses. Meaning men will only earn money when they play. Throughout the years, the women’s soccer team demanded to be put on the men’s deal but were refused. If they were to do so, the US women soccer players would earn three times as much (Elsesser).
However, U.S. Soccer believes that women do not deserve equal pay rights because they have less skill. An argument arises whether men are stronger than women, there are biological differences. Teams value strength and speed because throughout the years of watching men play sports. Men are faster, bigger, and stronger (Campbell Honey 2017). What if a woman gets pregnant and has to take maternity leave? She should not be getting paid millions of dollars, the same amount as men earn in the league, just to sit at home and take care of a baby. Although, women should be getting paid the same amount as men do or more in the league, considering they have won more World Cups and championships. Women not earning the same amount of pay as men are also violating rights that we have created back then to promote equality for one another. It is not fair. Why would the men’s team earn more money, for not bringing home a prize? It does not make sense.
According to the article by Dobos, several arguments have been made by experts about the pay gap. For instance, Barcelona Fc club manager Jose Maria when asked about the pay gap in his gap, he said that the best players in the world should also be best economically (Archer and Prange, 2019). This means that the pay gap will always exist because each player’s value differs in a club. This explains the issue of the women’s pay gap. Women are paid less compared to men because men athletes are more marketable. This message about football association expresses damage to the female athletes. It expresses a lack of professionalism respectability, which is viewed as a form of oppression.
Overall, the gender pay gap exists within all industries, but there are several ways we can do to help close the gender pay gap. Companies can support new mothers from the transition period of post-pregnancy. Extending maternity leave up to 6 months and allowing mothers to return work from home several days a week or reducing hourly schedules can help a mother during those stressful times. Helping mothers recover and turn their lives back to normal instead of penalizing them for missing work, will also help close the gender pay gap. If employees were to work together and keep in touch with the woman who left for maternity leave, and kept her updated, this will help close the gender pay gap. In sports, if women were to be promoted more often, given better opportunities- the same as men, then the gender pay gap will close. It is important to promote equality within both genders because 1.) There is a law passed based on equality. 2.) It is the moral and right thing to do.
The issue of the pay gap is still a problem in contemporary society. The football associations should invest their time and money in young women football association to make up for the many decades of underinvestment. This may be a fulfilling duty reparation, which requires the football, association to fulfill the duties of both women and men football clubs. To tackle the issue, the football association needs to fund an increase in the pay of women footballers by reducing the pay of male footballers. This would express the equal worth of both women and men footballers, without costing the association any more money.
In my argument, the female athletes have been discriminated for long and it is high time that the national sports associations start putting a value on females. They should invest in them to become better assets of the football industry. The cultural norm that favors men should be eliminated; both women and men should be treated with equal value.
Works Cited
Archer, Alfred, and Martine Prange. “‘Equal play, equal pay’: moral grounds for equal pay in football.” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 46.3 (2019): 416-436.
Campbell, Honey. “Superior Play, Unequal Pay: US Women’s Soccer and the Pursuit for Pay Equity.” USFL Rev. 51 (2017): 545.
Coyne, Patrick C. “A Huge Win for Equal Pay: Women’s National Teams Grab Their Biggest Victories Yet in Recent Contract Disputes.” Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports LJ 25 (2018): 315.
Elsesser, Kim. “Judge Dismisses U.S. Women’s Soccer Equal Pay Case – Here’s Why.”
Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 May 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/05/04/judge-dismisses-us-womens-soccer-equal-pay-case—heres-why/#58869198728d.
Grobman, Miriam. “Making Sense Of The Gender Pay Gap In Five Graphs.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Apr. 2019,
Kossen, Sammy. “Soccer: A Society’s Reflection of Gender Equality.”
Spiggle, Tom. “What The U.S. Women’s Soccer Controversy Says About Equal Pay.”
Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 19 July 2019,
www.forbes.com/sites/tomspiggle/2019/07/19/what-the-u-s-womens-soccer-controversy-s
ays-about-equal-pay/#680ed4686b50.