They claim that the pay gap is due to a “gender bias” in the sport.
Although the National Team is not a party to the lawsuit, it has come out in support of the legal action saying it “supports the plaintiffs’ goal of eliminating gender-based discrimination by USSF.”
🗣 EQUAL PAY #USWNT pic.twitter.com/hQMGz6q54H
— Mina Park (@minapark) July 7, 2019
“The total prize money for the Women’s World Cup in France this July will be $30 million compared with total prize money of $440 million for the men’s teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,” according to Forbes.
It may not be a “gender bias” in the USSF . Men guarantee millions of dollars more in revenue than the women. In 2010, the Women’s World Cup brought in $73 million in revenue, while the Men’s World Cup earned a massive $4 billion in the same year, according to NBC Sports.
Men’s soccer generate huge ticket sales and advertising. For that reason, Women’s World Cup players who claim to be underpaid compared to their male counterparts, are actually being overpaid considering the relatively small amount of revenue they are able to generate.
Forbes reported that the men’s Soccer World Cup in Russia generated over $6 billion in revenue, with the participating teams sharing $400 million, less than 7 percent of revenue.
This year, the Women’s World Cup is expected to earn $131 million for the full four-year cycle 2019-22. Some $30 million will go to the participating teams.
Dwight Jaynes pointed out four years ago that there was already a big difference in the revenue available to pay the teams. After the US women beat Japan to capture the World Cup in Vancouver, the Women’s World Cup brought in almost $73 million, of which the players got 13 percent.
In contrast, male soccer players have been receiving less: During the 2010 men’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa which generated almost $4 billion, only 9 percent went to the players.
In 2018, the Men’s World Cup captured 3,6 billion total viewers worldwide, while the last Women’s World Cup in 2015 could only entice 764 million viewers.
Soccer women are currently demanding 15 times their current payout. Soon sponsors are likely to do the calculations on their investments which will no longer be profitable.
Famously in 2017, the female US soccer players were beaten by boys under the age of 15. In preparation for two friendly matches against Russia, the US women’s national team had played the FC Dallas U-15 boys academy team, losing by 5-2, according to FC Dallas’ official website.