Women's soccer players file Complaint Against U.S. Soccer, Seek Equal Pay

[Notter]

But every player has his own contract, and there are even large diffrences between what a star player gets, and what other players in his team get.
so should they take it to court too?

i call this feminist bullshit.

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

Actually, I've been asking for a raise while my company is losing money and laying off 2/3 of our workers. And my boss put it in the budget.

You wouldn't happen to be a CEO would you?

[Jotaux]

Then currently there should be no problem. When actual numbers show that projection to be true they then have a valid argument to make more money. That's like going to your boss and demanding a raise because the company forecasts increasing profits for the year. You get your raise after the money is made - not before.

No if they have guaranteed revenue from an event in the future, which is what would cause this variance its the same as claiming its happening now. Of course once their contracts are done they are free to ask for more when negotiating.

[SodiumChloride]

This does not really apply to top sports, they are no expendable.

Are they?

How many wannabe professionals are in the wing waiting to take their spot? Even if it reduces the team's effectiveness on the field, will it lead to reduction of revenue?

[ranzino]

Move to another country, apply for citizenship, play ball. It happens. Plus they can always refuse to play. But they probably won't cause it's a lovely marketing scheme for their private careers.

Umm, you cannot play for another nation once you played in a serious national game. even IF you hold multiple citizenships, you cannot.

btw: would you shy away from being world champion and olympia gold ? you get the money also for being that ofc.

[Reeve]

You wouldn't happen to be a CEO would you?

Haha, not yet.

[JohnBrown1917]

Honestly, I think sports are stupid and the players far too overpaid. Especially since most leagues employ 0 loyalty and therefore having a "home team" is literally in name only. That being said, this is our national team. They've gotten big. They aren't going anywhere. They're growing and projecting big but are not seeing an uptick in pay like their male counterparts.

It isn't about whether or not men can beat women in this instance. It's about what they're drawing in comparatively.

Like I said, ask for more or only play on club level.
If they really want the best, they'll get the money they want. Assuming its reasonable.

- - - Updated - - -

Are they?

How many wannabe professionals are in the wing waiting to take their spot? Even if it reduces the team's effectiveness on the field, will it lead to reduction of revenue?

Yes, it will. The further a team makes it, they more money they will earn.

[klogaroth]

It's made a little more complicated by the amount of money floating around in men's football in other nations.

If a male born in the US moves away early enough to apply for citizenship elsewhere, having never played for the US team, then they can join that other nation's national squad. If the US men's team doesn't compete with other nations' teams this is a real possibility, and there are a number of examples of players doing this.

It's especially easy if you have a foreign parent.

There are plenty of players playing for nations other than that of their birth, although not always for financial reasons. Sometimes for reasons relating to the success of the team, and sometimes for reasons relating to actually being able to get into the team. Germany managed to get Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose because Poland hung around too long to call them up to represent the Polish national team.

Similarly, Diego Costa rejected the Brazilian national team for a chance to play for Spain. A move about which CBF (the Brazilian football federation) judicial director, Carlos Eugênio Lopes, said "It's obvious that the reason he made that choice was financial."

The big motivator would be if you can earn more money and more glory elsewhere.

The reason the US women's team management thought they could get away with this is because internationally there is less money in women's football. They thought that on the basis of "where else you gonna go eh?" they could push it through. It's good to see that this attitude hasn't been accepted by the team.


I do hope that the women's team does get pay equal to the men's team, since they are generating a lot of money. Really the US men's side is overpaid for the money that they earn based on competition from abroad. The women's side are underpaid, due to lack of competition from abroad.

[JohnBrown1917]

It should also be noted that most of the money players get is from clubs, not international matches. So having to stop playing international matches because you don't like the money should be no big deal.
Ofcourse, plenty want to play out of pride, but that's something else.

[Arganis]

Pay in sports should be based on how much revenue you're actually generating: the end.

[ophion1990]

Women's soccer players in the US make less pay even though women's soccer makes a lot more money than men's soccer.

In the US alone? Sure, I could get that. Internationally? Uh, not even close. In most countries that aren't the US, almost noone cares about female soccer, so while the women could expect equal/greater play in the potato leagues that are national only. They'll never draw in the same amount of money as the big male teams do, who do play in big international cups.

That said, isn't Soccer pretty small in the US? Might wanna swap sports if money is a concern.

Oh? And how many World Cups have the U.S. men's team won since 1997? What's that? NONE?

Now let's count how many the women have won. Oh? You said three? And two other finals appearances?

You're absolutely right. The U.S. men's team is clearly sooooooooooooo much better than the women's. Better at losing!

I give up on you morons for today. I'll look tomorrow at more of your stupid, obviously completely uneducated dribble.

So you're gonna complain about people not reading things and you're first argument is a world cup? Again, very little people give 2 shits about female soccer. No viewership=no money.

[Macaquerie]

When it comes down to it, the women's team definitely does a much better job representing our country than the men's team does. They are successful by the only metric that matters, the fact that they would certainly lose any hypothetical matchup against a competent men's squad doesn't really mean anything because they don't actually play each other, and they get people excited about the sport and are generally good role models for young girls, with a few exceptions of course. The men's team does what exactly? Get all fired up when they beat Honduras and remind us every four years why soccer is never going to catch on in the US.

[SodiumChloride]

Yes, it will. The further a team makes it, they more money they will earn.

Then just threatening to walk will get them a pay raise.

No need to pull the gender card really.

[Deleted]

what people seem to be skipping... come on, its the second line people!

I also need to see some actual proof since I find that hard to belief, hell...I've never heard of any adult soccer teams in my life.

[Reeve]

When it comes down to it, the women's team definitely does a much better job representing our country than the men's team does. They are successful by the only metric that matters, the fact that they would certainly lose any hypothetical matchup against a competent men's squad doesn't really mean anything because they don't actually play each other, and they get people excited about the sport and are generally good role models for young girls, with a few exceptions of course. The men's team does what exactly? Get all fired up when they beat Honduras and remind us every four years why soccer is never going to catch on in the US.

The US Men's team was HUGE in the last 2 World Cups. I mean don't you remember the Secretary of Defense, Tim Howard, making 15 saves in one game last world cup? It was a really big deal.

[therayeffect]

But every player has his own contract, and there are even large diffrences between what a star player gets, and what other players in his team get.
so should they take it to court too?

i call this feminist bullshit.

I'm against radical Feminist bullshit too but I believe the question is whether they make the amount they *should* based on how much income the team is bringing in. If they make less than the men on average, and yet pull in something like 50%+ more as a team, then there is definitely a legit question about pay. It depends heavily on the numbers but they might have something here if the Women's team indeed does pull in more money than the Men's.

I think it's pretty obvious the majority of the overall interest is in the Women's team. The Women's team is better overall. If it's also more profitable, then they should be getting paid for more. I don't think it's so much sexism as it's just greedy business. I don't like greedy business.

Reeve does have a point though that the last 2 World Cups were good for the men. It honestly depends on the numbers. I need to see stats. I don't think the women would go to court without good numbers on their side.

[klogaroth]

I don't think it's so much sexism as it's just greedy business. I don't like greedy business.

It's greedy business based on women's football worldwide making less money, so the folks in charge of pay thought they could get away with it. Someone noticed though, and hopefully they'll have to pay players what they deserve.

[ranzino]

(Also, do the 2017 projections look terrible from every angle, or is it just me?)

~9 million vs. ~17 million, yup Hope Solo and the girls should give USSF the middle finger; manager could try to get the money without them...failing utterly.

[Everwake]

In America, the women's players really should be paid more than the men. They are more successful and have (or had) a higher viewership than the men. Sports salaries come down to advertising dollars and event/ticket sales.

[Ozyorkbourne]

While i'm prot equal pay, for something such as sport I do think that pay/salary and prizes should be proportional to revenue generation of the sport itself (i.e womens football paid differently to mens because one attracts significantly more than the other).