These days, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team won the Women’s World Cup for the fourth time. But the team’s repayment stays the subject of considerable controversy.
Chants of “identical pay” erupted after the crew’s victory over the Netherlands and at some stage in its effective victory parade in New York City. In March, the women’s team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation, its parent agency, over gender discrimination. That accompanied a salary discrimination grievance in 2016 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Weeks after the team filed the lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, 35 senators referred to it for equitable pay for the team in a letter to U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro.
And numerous Democratic presidential applicants have taken up the crew’s purpose. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a presidential candidate, signed the letter and tweeted her support. “The @USWNT is #1 within the global & contributes better sales for @USSoccer than the men’s team; however, they’re nevertheless paid a fragment of what the guys earn,” Warren stated. “Women deserve the same pay for equal (or higher!) paintings in workplaces, factories, AND at the soccer discipline.”
We determined proof helping the crew’s case, and a maximum of the experts we contacted for this fact-test taken into consideration Warren’s tweet to be nicely grounded. But there are other components of the tale that make the narrative greater complex. Ultimately, the repayment formulation is too variable — and too little is known approximately the governing files — for us to place Warren’s declare on the Truth-O-Meter.
Here’s the bottom line of what we determined:
During the 3 years following the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the ladies team added slightly greater sales from games than the guys’ team did. While advertising and sponsorships are sold as a package deal, there are anecdotal signs that the ladies’ logo surges in popularity.
However, it’s more difficult to mention whether the ladies are paid less than the guys due to the dearth of transparency and the complicated variables that feed into the reimbursement. Several professionals stated the reality might be murkier than a shouted catchphrase can capture.
“While Warren is a hundred% right that USWNT is No. 1 in the global, the economics part of her tweet is greater complex than the tweet suggests and the accuracy of her depiction relies upon on dimension equipment that isn’t cited within the tweet” said Michael McCann, a University of New Hampshire regulation professor who makes a specialty of sports regulation.
What does the USWNT allege in its lawsuit?
The lawsuit, filed via 28 players on International Women’s Day, alleges that U.S. Soccer will pay the girls’ group less, gives them unequal playing situations, and does now not promote their video games as a great deal as the men’s group. The ladies’ team has gained four World Cup titles even as the guys’ group hasn’t received any; the lawsuit factors out. And if each group played and won 20 “pleasant” suits in a year, the girls would earn a maximum of $ ninety-nine 000, and the guys might earn an average of $263,320, consistent with the match. In this situation, players in the ladies’ group could earn 38% of what the guys earn.
Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer representing the women’s group, informed PolitiFact that Warren’s announcement is “totally correct.” “The women earn extra revenues than the guys, are world champions, and make substantially much less,” Kessler stated. “It is legally and morally incorrect.” A week after the girls’ team filed their lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, Cordeiro spoke back in an open letter that he tweeted out. It said the federation serves as a champion for ladies’ football. “U.S. Soccer believes that all lady athletes deserve fair and equitable pay, and we attempt to meet this core value at all times,” he stated.
Does the women’s team carry in greater sales?
In the eight FIFA World Cup tournaments hung on the girls’ facet, the U.S. Women’s team has gained 4, and either came in 2nd or 1/3 vicinity within the others. By assessment, there have been 21 FIFA World Cup tournaments; however, the U.S. Men’s team did now not qualify for about half of the tournaments and most effective positioned as excessive as 0.33 as soon as — in 1930.
