According to a recent Seton Hall Sports Poll sponsored by the Sharkey Institute and the Stillman School of Business, 91 percent of women think women should receive equal pay for playing soccer, while only 74 percent of men agree. Also, 79% believe equal pay should apply to professional sports while only 59% agree. While this is definitely a step in the right direction, it still needs to be a reality.
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock, along with other female sports stars, called for equal pay at the U.S. women's World Cup. Although they are not the only women involved in sport, there are many men who are also underpaid. The Best Team Award for the 2018 Women's World Cup was awarded to the US Women's National Team. Bullock presented Bullock with the award. Alex Morgan is the team's representative and she won the Best Female Athlete Award.
The United States Women's National Soccer Team took center stage at the 2019 ESPY Awards, where Bullock presented the Best Team Award to the team led by Megan Rapinoe, the Golden Boot Award winner of the FIFA Women's World Cup. Sandra Bullock, in monochrome black, accompanied Megan Rapinoe, wearing a double-breasted jacket and flapper-styled tassels.
Alex Morgan
There's a long way to go before the United States women's national team earns the same as its male counterparts. There are steps to be taken in order to attain equal pay for women soccer players in the United States and other nations. Cherita Ellens CEO of Women Employed, states that women earn approximately 80 cents per dollar for every dollar earned by men. Ellens says this is still a significant gap but is optimistic that women's teams will eventually attain equal pay for equal work. She hopes that players will support this effort to make it possible.
Equal pay can be subjective. For example, if the men's team won the World Cup in 2015, the women's team should have won that as well. But that doesn’t mean the women’s team shouldn’t be rewarded just as much as men’s. Women's players have been competing for more points than the men's. They have had more work to keep up. The World Cups' prize money has been the same. Not all players are called up to every camp. Injuries, coaching decisions, as well as the number of games played by each team all impact who plays when.
U.S. Soccer
Equal pay for men and women in soccer has reached a historic agreement between the USSF and soccer unions. The agreement stipulates that each team will be paid equally and share the World Cup money. It also provides that men as well as women will receive equal payments at non World Cup tournaments. Women and men will earn the same amount of money at home and abroad, as long as they play the same number of games.
In September, Cone, a former women's national team member, said he would not sign a contract with any team that did not offer equal prize money. Cone agreed to a deal on Tuesday. The women’s union supported it. The men's union has lawyers watching the negotiations, and the women's players association congratulated the players on winning their battle against gender discrimination. The leaders of women's soccer's players' unions stated they would continue to hold U.S. Soccer for its decision.
United States Women’s National Team
The prize money is where there is the greatest pay gap in soccer. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, men's teams will compete for almost $440m while women will compete for $30 million. A recent lawsuit filed by five top women's soccer players has called for equal pay in the sport. According to these players, their wages are four-times less than their male counterparts. Equal pay for women soccer players is long overdue. Why is this still a problem?
There are many causes for the disparity in women's and men's salaries. In order to survive, women have traditionally had to compete for wages with men. Despite this, the pay gap has been large. The USSF has never been transparent with its employees about their salaries. This is especially true for women on its staff. This explains the recent PR blitz. A USSF spokesperson told Reuters that the organisation has a "strong dedication" to equal pay.