U.S. Soccer Has Finally Agreed to Pay the Men’s and Women’s Teams Equally
May 18, 2022
Photo: Alex Grimm
“These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world.”
—U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone
The gist:
Under the new agreement, the two teams will be paid equally—finally, after a very public battle after filing a gender discrimination lawsuit in 2019. But that’s not all. Nope, the women of US Soccer will not be settling for anything less than: Sharing a “50/50 split of broadcast, partner, and sponsorship revenues” (upping their visibility!), plus, “equal quality of venues and field playing surfaces,” and “the deal also covers child care, parental leave, short-term disability, mental health impairment, and travel” benefits. And did we mention, $22M in back pay? Yaas, LADIES, yaas!
The new collective bargaining agreements “will run through 2028 and will include the ‘equalization" of World Cup prize’ money.” With the agreement, “USSF becomes the first federation in the world to equalize FIFA World Cup prize money.”
And it couldn’t have happened with the men’s team, whose CBA was also being negotiated, and came to the table, so to speak, with and for the women’s team, reported by TIME.
There was a potential chance of making less money, no doubt about it. But we also believe so much in the women’s team, we believe in equal pay. And ultimately, that was a big driving force for us, to do something no other team had done before.”
—Walker Zimmerman, a member of the men’s U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association leadership group
“This advancement doesn’t happen without the men championing this,” reiterated President Cone. “I don’t want that to be understated. Because they were true champions of this, and worked through this because it’s not easy to give up the money that they’re giving up.”
How it came about:
In 2016, “five players first filed a wage discrimination claim with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Their fight had fits and starts. In March 2020, for example, a U.S. Soccer court filing seemed to demean female players, saying that ‘indisputable science’ proved that the female players were inferior to men.” That caused the ouster of then U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro. Then, in April 2020, “a judge ruled against the women in the equal pay suit,” but with Cone, “a two-time Olympic gold medalist and member of the 1999 World Cup winning U.S. women’s soccer team,” was in charge.
“Cone, a woman with deep ties to the U.S. team,” with the women’s CBA expiring at the end of 2021, and knowing the “men’s side was still seeking a new agreement…these circumstances gave all parties incentive to sit down together last fall.”
“For me, the turning point was when we actually got everyone in the same room together,” says Cone. “That was the first time that I really thought we could do this, because that in itself was historic.”
—U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow
Photos: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images