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USSF Responds to Women’s Equal Pay Demand

I think you nailed it. The 2 sides are suing each other, each is playing PR hard. The truth is always in the middle somewhere, it's gray not black or white. But with USSF involved, my guess is the truth is a lot closer to the players' side than USSF's side.
Playing PR hard? The Federation remained silent and got killed in the media during the tournament. They released a two page document to select media outlets afterwards
 
Nothing in this thread is even remotely close to illegal. If you've ever worked closely with accountants, you know there's very wide latitude and many things don't even get to them. I was CEO and general counsel of a pretty big company with traded debt that required audited financials. We had a lot of leeway on how we reported things with top Big 4 accountants. And then there are the invisible things - like if you want to show worse results, just don't negotiate rent with the MLS team, pay them 2X what you could negotiate. You're not going to jail for paying rack rate instead of negotiating. This stuff happens all the time. You're being way, way overdramatic to try to prove your point.
Not the same stakes. We are talking non-profits and there’s politicians involved now. You weren’t under the threat of litigation and investigation every two years either
 
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Not the same stakes. We are talking non-profits and there’s politicians involved now.
LOL, you're accounting info is as good as your stats info. You're just making crap up to "win". You've misrepresented or misstated point after point after point in this thread. You're a smart guy but you're living in the Twilight Zone on this topic.
 
Nothing in this thread is even remotely close to illegal. If you've ever worked closely with accountants, you know there's very wide latitude and many things don't even get to them. I was CEO and general counsel of a pretty big company with traded debt that required audited financials. We had a lot of leeway on how we reported things with top Big 4 accountants. And then there are the invisible things - like if you want to show worse results, just don't negotiate rent with the MLS team, pay them 2X what you could negotiate. You're not going to jail for paying rack rate instead of negotiating. This stuff happens all the time. You're being way, way overdramatic to try to prove your point.

I was an auditor (CPA) for Arthur Andersen in my past life. I know full well how financials and even audited financials are "discussed" and "approved" before the same are released. The 990 we're talking about is a little different in that public perception and the media are involved. The 990 could technically comply with FASB's standards but still contain tax treatments and other disclosures which don't play well to the public. Legality is not really the standard here.
 
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I’ll agree it’s a jacked up organization if Randy Waldrum is in consideration.

You guys are forgetting USSF is a USA based 501(c)(3). Not FIFA with limited diplomatic immunity and Swiss bank accounts or Trinidad based media rights companies contracting with CONCACAF. They have affirmative tax and financial disclosure responsibilities that have to be truthful and meet minimum standards. You are accusing people of felonies. And that’s an unlikely scenario with everyone with FIFA who moved money into the USA either dead, in jail, or waiting trial.
Correct me if I'm wrong but all the 501 (c) (3) designation means it is a non-profit and not subject to earned revenue taxes as the org as a whole does not profit. Members within the org are profiting in a BIG HUGE WAY. Plus, the marketing/TV side of MLS is getting a ton of $ out of this. Garber. And essentially the President of the org is one of the TV/marketing side's hand picked lackeys to make sure the money flows to MLS. If it is the 501c3 org, then all of the youth soccer clubs under it (US Youth Soccer, US Club Soccer) should be suing as the USSF has honestly gotten away from its own stated mission.
 
I was an auditor (CPA) for Arthur Andersen in my past life. I know full well how financials and even audited financials are "discussed" and "approved" before the same are released. The 990 we're talking about is a little different in that public perception and the media are involved. The 990 could technically comply with FASB's standards but still contain tax treatments and other disclosures which don't play well to the public. Legality is not really the standard here.
That's interesting. I was GC of a pretty high profile non-profit for a while but it was several years ago. I recall their auditors being a lot gentler than the auditors in corporate settings.

I don't know how much you saw of this as an "outsider", but half the job of a corporate lawyer is working with the accountants to structure transactions and contracts to control the accounting treatment. If you're not thinking about revenue recognition or expense recognition or allocation of expenses between the parties when you're drafting a contract, you're not doing your job. That's not illegal or even unethical - you're actually helping clients be compliant. There are broad guiderails but there's a lot of freedom, especially with a cooperative party on the other side.

I wonder how much USSF cares about public reaction to its 990?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but all the 501 (c) (3) designation means it is a non-profit and not subject to earned revenue taxes as the org as a whole does not profit. Members within the org are profiting in a BIG HUGE WAY. Plus, the marketing/TV side of MLS is getting a ton of $ out of this. Garber. And essentially the President of the org is one of the TV/marketing side's hand picked lackeys to make sure the money flows to MLS. If it is the 501c3 org, then all of the youth soccer clubs under it (US Youth Soccer, US Club Soccer) should be suing as the USSF has honestly gotten away from its own stated mission.
Yeah! Look at the St. Paul game - USSF passed on sellng probably 15k - 20k tix, that's what, $1,000,000 - $2,000,000 that USSF chose not to take? And who gets that $$ instead? Mainly MN Loons season ticket holders who can resell their tix at a huge profit. It's like USSF is giving a big rebate to Loons season ticket holders instead of taking that money for USSF to use. That's one way to support the Loons attendance, tho it might have been nice to let another 15k or 20k soccer fans see the women play instead of giving a kickback to the Loons.
 
That's interesting. I was GC of a pretty high profile non-profit for a while but it was several years ago. I recall their auditors being a lot gentler than the auditors in corporate settings.

I don't know how much you saw of this as an "outsider", but half the job of a corporate lawyer is working with the accountants to structure transactions and contracts to control the accounting treatment. If you're not thinking about revenue recognition or expense recognition or allocation of expenses between the parties when you're drafting a contract, you're not doing your job. That's not illegal or even unethical - you're actually helping clients be compliant. There are broad guiderails but there's a lot of freedom, especially with a cooperative party on the other side.

I wonder how much USSF cares about public reaction to its 990?

I got out well before the Senior Manager or Partner level and most of my experience was on the for profit side. I do know that the most intense conversations regarding audited financials are the reporting of the "gray" areas. Like you stated, there's considerable freedom on how to report things under GAAP. If USSF doesn't care about public reaction they should. The last thing they should want is bad press or to be called in front of a Congressional hearing.
 
I got out well before the Senior Manager or Partner level and most of my experience was on the for profit side. I do know that the most intense conversations regarding audited financials are the reporting of the "gray" areas. Like you stated, there's considerable freedom on how to report things under GAAP. If USSF doesn't care about public reaction they should. The last thing they should want is bad press or to be called in front of a Congressional hearing.
Hence my statement above. The Justice Department and a Democratic Congress are tuned in. Nobody is cooking anything.
 
USSF releases audited financial statements by BDO. I would be very surprised if the statements themselves were “cooked”.
 
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For all the bloviating above, no one has crunched the $ numbers for winning the WC. First, the women's NT is unionized & has a collective bargaining agreement with the USSF for salaries & bonuses. Then FIFA has sole control over payouts to team who wins. Then, as mentioned, there is a payout to team members for Victory Tour. Salary, bonuses, WC win payout & victory tour equals about $325K. $75k of that is paid before tourney for making the team & qualifying.

Then, there is personal & team marketing & licensing revenue which, as we know, can be very lucrative. Money from such as Nike, Adiddas, EA sports for the stars is unknown but should be a bunch. There are 25 & counting companies with licensing agreements where money is pooled & paid in equal shares to all team members, for everything from shoes, jerseys to bobblehead dolls. Again, how much cash for the whole team's share of these agreements is unknown but should be a nice chunk of change. So, I'm guessing a half a mill to each team member with much more to the stars. Add another $50K for qualifying for the Olympics next year(which we should do easily as world champs).

I'm not sure when the next union contract comes up for renewal but I'd make sure we had a toughA$$ negotiator boosting those salaries & bonuses. Or, failing that, leave club team & go to Europe where women's futbol is becoming way more popular & lucrative especially for the big club teams. Or, file a lawsuit to get more $. Of course, that's what they're doing now & the jist of this thread. I think it's sad that the team & their union are sueing to get more $. The honor & priviledge of playing for & representing your country apparently means little because their pay isn't equal to the men. Well hell, the quality of their futbol isn't even close to that of the men's teams-the ol' physical difference between men & women thang. Equal pay will never happen...never & it shouldn't, simply based on
the quality of play, the loyalty of fans to their teams & and the history of the game since the Brit's invented it. And bringing politics into the game-also sad. But, that's the way of the world these days, at least in the USA & I guess I'll get over it-eventually.
 
For all the bloviating above, no one has crunched the $ numbers for winning the WC. First, the women's NT is unionized & has a collective bargaining agreement with the USSF for salaries & bonuses. Then FIFA has sole control over payouts to team who wins. Then, as mentioned, there is a payout to team members for Victory Tour. Salary, bonuses, WC win payout & victory tour equals about $325K. $75k of that is paid before tourney for making the team & qualifying.

Then, there is personal & team marketing & licensing revenue which, as we know, can be very lucrative. Money from such as Nike, Adiddas, EA sports for the stars is unknown but should be a bunch. There are 25 & counting companies with licensing agreements where money is pooled & paid in equal shares to all team members, for everything from shoes, jerseys to bobblehead dolls. Again, how much cash for the whole team's share of these agreements is unknown but should be a nice chunk of change. So, I'm guessing a half a mill to each team member with much more to the stars. Add another $50K for qualifying for the Olympics next year(which we should do easily as world champs).

I'm not sure when the next union contract comes up for renewal but I'd make sure we had a toughA$$ negotiator boosting those salaries & bonuses. Or, failing that, leave club team & go to Europe where women's futbol is becoming way more popular & lucrative especially for the big club teams. Or, file a lawsuit to get more $. Of course, that's what they're doing now & the jist of this thread. I think it's sad that the team & their union are sueing to get more $. The honor & priviledge of playing for & representing your country apparently means little because their pay isn't equal to the men. Well hell, the quality of their futbol isn't even close to that of the men's teams-the ol' physical difference between men & women thang. Equal pay will never happen...never & it shouldn't, simply based on
the quality of play, the loyalty of fans to their teams & and the history of the game since the Brit's invented it. And bringing politics into the game-also sad. But, that's the way of the world these days, at least in the USA & I guess I'll get over it-eventually.
Yeah, it'll be good when soccer catches up to the rest of sports, USSF can lock out players over contract disputes. It'll be great to cancel a bunch of warm up friendlies, and who doesn't want to see a rec league team of scabs representing the USA in the world cup or olympics. That'll be way better than a lawsuit.

You'd be in favor of equal pay if soccer had been invented somewhere other than England? That's one of the more interesting reasons to oppose equality. Perhaps if the women were forced to wear skirts and high heels when they played you'd be more supportive? Or just lingerie?

Personally I find men's soccer to be dull and uneventful. Women's soccer is way more fun to watch. At the end of the day, eventually, the economics will hopefully dictate what happens. All the commotion now is about trying to get past the purely bigoted and misogynistic reasons to oppose equality (e.g., don't pay them as much because of physical differences). A lot of people oppose equality based purely on that. The women are trying to tamp that down as much as possible so the outcome is based a little more on fairness and and a little less on bigotry.
 
USSF releases audited financial statements by BDO. I would be very surprised if the statements themselves were “cooked”.
https://m.box.com/shared_item/https://ussoccer.box.com/s/iugh7bvx2cavb86r8em2jtxfhsok220t
Yep. Been out about two months now and Pro Publica has them going back about a decade or so
Every single public company publicly reports extensive financials and annual reports that are publicly available and required to be posted on their websites and still fraud is very common. Saw today that Facebook - the most watched and investigated company on the planet - which just ate a $5 billion fine from the US government - submitted false information to the UK regulators. Just something to keep in mind as we naively trust sunshine as a way to get accurate information.

The more important thing is that financials can be controlled to a great deal legally. It's the same way every sports league says their teams lose money when they negotiate collective bargaining agreements. It's not illegal but they play games with their accounting. Remember when the NFL illegally misrepresented its revenue to withhold $120 million from players based on a "technical accounting issue"? Because nobody is watching the NFL they can get away with it and soccer can't???

It's hopelessly naive to think the numbers are "right" (as if such a thing existed) just because the financials are public.
https://thinkprogress.org/nfl-repor...players-is-ordered-to-return-it-1d33c3200501/
 
Yeah, it'll be good when soccer catches up to the rest of sports, USSF can lock out players over contract disputes. It'll be great to cancel a bunch of warm up friendlies, and who doesn't want to see a rec league team of scabs representing the USA in the world cup or olympics. That'll be way better than a lawsuit.

You'd be in favor of equal pay if soccer had been invented somewhere other than England? That's one of the more interesting reasons to oppose equality. Perhaps if the women were forced to wear skirts and high heels when they played you'd be more supportive? Or just lingerie?

Personally I find men's soccer to be dull and uneventful. Women's soccer is way more fun to watch. At the end of the day, eventually, the economics will hopefully dictate what happens. All the commotion now is about trying to get past the purely bigoted and misogynistic reasons to oppose equality (e.g., don't pay them as much because of physical differences). A lot of people oppose equality based purely on that. The women are trying to tamp that down as much as possible so the outcome is based a little more on fairness and and a little less on bigotry.
I'm with you on almost all except your opinion of the men's game being dull and uneventful. If you watch the right teams/games, it's not. Every bit a part of the beautiful game as the women's game. Maybe US fans have a hard time buying into the men's side because of the lack of success at the national level.
 
Every single public company publicly reports extensive financials and annual reports that are publicly available and required to be posted on their websites and still fraud is very common. Saw today that Facebook - the most watched and investigated company on the planet - which just ate a $5 billion fine from the US government - submitted false information to the UK regulators. Just something to keep in mind as we naively trust sunshine as a way to get accurate information.

The more important thing is that financials can be controlled to a great deal legally. It's the same way every sports league says their teams lose money when they negotiate collective bargaining agreements. It's not illegal but they play games with their accounting. Remember when the NFL illegally misrepresented its revenue to withhold $120 million from players based on a "technical accounting issue"? Because nobody is watching the NFL they can get away with it and soccer can't???

It's hopelessly naive to think the numbers are "right" (as if such a thing existed) just because the financials are public.
https://thinkprogress.org/nfl-repor...players-is-ordered-to-return-it-1d33c3200501/
Both the USMNT and MLS Players Association collective bargaining agreements are up this fall. Should be interesting now that everyone that doesn’t repudiate a spending cap and immediately endorses paying salaries based on gross earning and not net earnings is a misogynist and homophobic bigot. The MLS strike fund is already up over a $1 million if you believe twitter.
 
I'm with you on almost all except your opinion of the men's game being dull and uneventful. If you watch the right teams/games, it's not. Every bit a part of the beautiful game as the women's game. Maybe US fans have a hard time buying into the men's side because of the lack of success at the national level.
As far people not liking the sport or finding it boring, in a lot of cases they never played the game or even have seen a game live at pitch level so they fail to appreciate the true speed strength and athleticism in the game.

As far the comment about the men’s game being dull - don’t feed the troll.
 
Both the USMNT and MLS Players Association collective bargaining agreements are up this fall. Should be interesting now that everyone that doesn’t repudiate a spending cap and immediately endorses paying salaries based on gross earning and not net earnings is a misogynist and homophobic bigot. The MLS strike fund is already up over a $1 million if you believe twitter.
I've heard it's higher than the $1M...that the MLSPA could go multiple seasons w/o an agreement and make sure players are still getting paid. I am trying to remember the article source that I read that but it was yesterday or the day before.
 
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As far people not liking the sport or finding it boring, in a lot of cases they never played the game or even have seen a game live at pitch level so they fail to appreciate the true speed strength and athleticism in the game.

As far the comment about the men’s game being dull - don’t feed the troll.
And I'll admit I never followed the game until my son got involved. My soccer fandom showed up like a leap year every 4 years and coincided with the World Cup. It last a month and then I was done until the next cycle.

I think a lot of people might find the men's game dull, if you intensely follow the national teams and that is the primary source of your soccer experience and entertainment...similar to my previous fandom. People base their entertainment value and rate quality of play on the results.

The per game pay for men's and women's national teams soccer should be the same. If them men get $25k for a game, so should the women. Then add a bonus of 10% of the gate for a game gets split equally between the 23 dressed out for the game.
 
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It would be extremely helpful if the NWSL can grow into a viable league, which I believe eventually it can. The Portland Thorns have laid out a blueprint for how it can be done, averaging more than 19k per game and fully sustainable without the federation subsidies. It's just going to take more enterprising owners like Merritt Paulson.
 
It would be extremely helpful if the NWSL can grow into a viable league, which I believe eventually it can. The Portland Thorns have laid out a blueprint for how it can be done, averaging more than 19k per game and fully sustainable without the federation subsidies. It's just going to take more enterprising owners like Merritt Paulson.
Portland is an anomaly in terms of soccer fan bases in the US.

BTW, Fortuna Tulsa had decent numbers for their level. They also had GA tickets throughout Driller stadium when they played there. The Roughnecks need to take a page out of their book and make every ticket a GA ticket. I think they'd sell a few more and you'd fill in seating places behind the nets some more.
 
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I disagree and I think the success of MLS in other cities is proof. Portland is just a leading indicator fueled by investment in the team.
 
I disagree and I think the success of MLS in other cities is proof. Portland is just a leading indicator fueled by investment in the team.

I hope you're correct but I have my doubts. I'm afraid once the PR from the World Cup fades most of the teams in that league will struggle. I have a hard time believing they will be able to draw large crowds to watch the level of soccer they play. Much like the WNBA. Hope I'm wrong.
 
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I hope you're correct but I have my doubts. I'm afraid once the PR from the World Cup fades most of the teams in that league will struggle. I have a hard time believing they will be able to draw large crowds to watch the level of soccer they play. Much like the WNBA. Hope I'm wrong.
I’m an NWSL season ticket holder. People are complaining in my area because the women’s single game tickets are more expensive than the men. ($42.50 versus $32.00) That’s supposedly the reason folks are staying home. Ignoring that the women play fewer games and attract far fewer fans but they still have to pay the same bills for renting the stadium, cops, etc. Or that attendance is struggling in all sports.
 
The biggest difference between the WNBA and NWSL is that women's basketball hasn't shown the ability to draw big numbers like the USWNT even when it's a national team playing for an international championship. It's not guaranteed success, but the potential upside has been shown to exist

As for the cost, that's where investment has to happen, especially at this stage. The Thorns have been successful in part because they share all of the same infrastructure as the Timbers, which has lowered their operational costs significantly. There's no way it gets off the ground at a ticket price above $40.
 
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The total attendence for the mens WC was 3million, the women WC was 1million. Base on revenues the men make more. But the US women are better than the US men and deserve more.
 
But the US women are better than the US men and deserve more.
Funny how most people who believe this (it’s false btw) also think we need to convince 14 year old Hispanic boys to play for us and not Mexico. Rubbish talk like this certainly isn’t helping those trying to do the convincing, if in fact USSF is trying to convince any of them.

As for the women being better than the men, the women play against amateur and semi pro sides usually at home. They play at most three or four competitive matches every four years when they are being paid full time to train in the best facility available. And they lose those more often than we remember. The Qfinal Olympic bounce being the most remembered.

I don’t really want to get into whether they truly lost to that U16 boy’s academy team a few years ago. But it’s undeniable fact that the women are significantly slower with less strength on the ball. I’d bet there isn’t a woman in world football that ranks in the Top 500 in the metrics they use to track player performance just like Serena Williams ranks in the mid 200s in tennis.

What little film you can find of the women in practice against men’s sides (most of it has been scrubbed by USSoccer) it’s like they are standing still on the wings. Before a certain national team player took a broadcasting job, and who knows maybe he still tells this story, but he was on a podcast talking about a charity 5 v 5 like ten years ago where each side donated so much per goal. It was like 10-0 before they finally said the women would max out the donation if they scored once. They still didn’t score. So they had to do skills competition on the fly. The women did better but it still wasn’t close. He ended the interview saying that the best women in the world on one team with time to train would lose at least 5-0 to any MLS team you chose. Perhaps as much as 15-0. When he played on a MLS reserve squad, back when MLS could afford reserve teams, the players eventually refused to play against the women anymore even though USSF was paying MLS for the games. He said it was too dangerous for the men to risk injury to themselves because the women, while they could protect themselves, simply could not mark them effectively which created a situation where they weren’t improving from the game and a few times a game where women defenders were arriving late and causing injuries to the men.

Everyone who plays knows this. It’s not even a question. If it wasnt true, you’d have Mia or Abby Wambach playing for Spurs or wherever and making millions. It’s the people that can’t deal with the idea of naturally occurring physiological differences disrupting their political views/social aspirations that have trouble with it. As well as people so insecure, they will only watch a game with a result and the USA as the winner. You can watch the women’s game for the strength and beauty of that game. It’s just as beautiful as the men’s game. But never think for a second any woman’s game player could compete at a world class men’s level.
 
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Yes. Notice how the article says it’s a great achievement for youth academy teams and not that the women lacked the speed to hang with underdeveloped men.

I don’t really think that’s a fair comparison because it was a tune up match where the women were just looking for a run about for fitness and avoid injury. God forbid a grown woman go in hard and Steve Zakawani some 16 year old phenom’s leg that Dallas had a million soaked in. So yeah. Throw that out. That example just starts arguments, not end them with evidence, like 40 times.
 
Tell me again how long women would last in MLS. The strength and power on the field in a men’s game is several significant levels above the women. This is true in the NBAs as well. It results in different strategies and tactics that make the games different within the same sport. There’s little cross over.

 
The total attendence for the mens WC was 3million, the women WC was 1million. Base on revenues the men make more. But the US women are better than the US men and deserve more.
Not to defend him, but he might have meant better competitively with the rest of the world's women's teams than the men are with the world's men's teams. The answer to that is an obvious and incontrovertible yes.
 
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Not to defend him, but he might have meant better competitively with the rest of the world's women's teams than the men are with the world's men's teams. The answer to that is a definitive and incontrovertible yes.
Certainly possible. But others are saying the women are better in a straight up Pepsi Challenge which is laughable. Either way, it doesn’t prove the equal pay argument. At best it proves they should receive equal percentages of the money received by US Soccer from the tournament they competed in minus expenses. We already know the women make more than that. That why this has been, and should continue to be, about equal recognition and awards and equitable pay and playing/training conditions.
 
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I can’t imagine anyone who follows soccer (or sports in general) would make the argument that the women are comparable to the men as far as skill, speed, strength and size. I would think the top U18 boys teams would have the advantage over the women’s pro teams as far as speed, quickness and strength. Nothing against the ladies it’s just the difference between the sexes. Same as is every sport where speed, strength and explosiveness plays a part.
 
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I can’t imagine anyone who follows soccer (or sports in general) would make the argument that the women are comparable to the men as far as skill, speed, strength and size. I would think the top U18 boys teams would have the advantage over the women’s pro teams as far as speed, quickness and strength. Nothing against the ladies it’s just the difference between the sexes. Same as is every sport where speed, strength and explosiveness plays a part.
Several former women’s players have made the comment. Donovan said they would win while laughing on the red carpet at a charity benefit for girls development camps. And that gets trotted out too.
 
I can even give a little perspective on the differences in youth soccer between boys and girls. My daughters 2010 team has never lost to an Oklahoma based team in 7v7. We also play a lot of 2010 boys academy teams. The top boys teams from the upper level clubs beat us rather handily. They just have more skill, power and speed on the whole at the top level. Even at 9 years old and before puberty. Now we can absolutely play with the #2 and #3 teams but there is a considerable drop off. I can’t comment on anywhere but Oklahoma and any age group except 2010 but I assume we’re the norm.

I love my kid and I’m obviously not anti female soccer. It just is what it is.
 
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I can even give a little perspective on the differences in youth soccer between boys and girls. My daughters 2010 team has never lost to an Oklahoma based team in 7v7. We also play a lot of 2010 boys academy teams. The top boys teams from the upper level clubs beat us rather handily. They just have more skill, power and speed on the whole at the top level. Even at 9 years old and before puberty. Now we can absolutely play with the #2 and #3 teams but there is a considerable drop off. I can’t comment on anywhere but Oklahoma and any age group except 2010 but I assume we’re the norm.
So if you’ve been better at something since the day you started, why should you make less so that someone with different chromosomes and less ability makes the same as you? How is that equality? Shouldn’t the best players make the most money?
 
So if you’ve been better at something since the day you started, why should you make less so that someone with different chromosomes and less ability makes the same as you? How is that equality? Shouldn’t the best players make the most money?

Men’s and women’s sports are separate. I don’t think pay should necessarily be about whose best between men and women when they’re playing in different leagues against different competition. Women’s tennis is very popular and there’s not a huge difference in prize money even though the top woman in the world probably couldn’t beat any man ranked in the top 250. If the women players were earning the kind of money they men are in their professional leagues there is no way US Soccer could get away with paying them what they do. They simply wouldn’t play.
 
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Men’s and women’s sports are separate. I don’t think pay should necessarily be about whose best between men and women when they’re playing in different leagues against different competition. Women’s tennis is very popular and there’s not a huge difference in prize money even though the top woman in the world probably couldn’t beat any man ranked in the top 250. If the women players were earning the kind of money they men are in their professional leagues there is no way US Soccer could get away with paying them what they do. They simply wouldn’t play.
Unless the USWNT are making more in pooled endorsements from feminine brands and M&M’s than all the men combined. See generally, 1995 collective bargaining agreement. They’d play. Otherwise no chance to make $100,000 a day for two months doing the talkshows
 
They are completely different sports, not comparable. It's like arguing about equal pay in the NBA versus NFL.
 
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