Soccer, a sport rising in popularity across America, saw major changes on Wednesday as the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams reached unprecedented “unity” agreements.
Formally, both teams’ labor unions signed new “collective bargaining agreements” with the U.S. Soccer Federation, the sport’s governing body in the U.S. and its representative at the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA). For the first time, however, both agreements are identical and linked to each other. They entail equality of pay for players on both teams and create a unique mechanism to share prize money earned from their respective events.
The Women’s Team has won its World Cup title four times, including the last two events in 2015 and 2019, along with a host of other Olympic Gold Medals and Western Hemisphere–based CONCACAF Gold Cups. Since women’s rankings were published in 2003, the team has been ranked first in the world every year. While the U.S. Men’s Team has qualified for the men’s World Cup every year since 1994 (except 2018), it has never won the tournament. It reached the quarter-final round at the 2002 tournament hosted by Japan, but controversially lost to Germany and was eliminated.
The deal comes after legal efforts by the women’s team to force the outcome. In 2016, five members of the women’s team — led by team captain Megan Rapinoe — filed a complaint against the Federation with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, seeking to be paid equally with the men’s team. In 2019, they filed a separate class-action lawsuit U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 2019 alleging “institutionalized gender discrimination.” That suit was partially settled for $24 million in February of 2022, with a promise to implement “equal pay” for both the men’s and women’s teams. The settlement is still pending approval from the Court. However, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner has already rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the Federation violated federal equality statutes.
Previously, the Federation had paid players on both teams’ different salaries, bonuses, and prize amounts for the same types of events played (e.g., qualifying rounds, friendly games, and tournament matches). Wednesday’s deals, which run through to 2028, will see a standard amount to be paid in each case to players of both sexes.
This proved to be controversial, given that women’s soccer games have much lower viewership ratings than men’s events — which makes their advertising slots, broadcasting licenses, and other sources of revenue (e.g., memorabilia) less lucrative than those of the men’s team. The market disparity has been considerable in recent years. For instance, for winning their World Cup title in 2019, the women’s team received $4 million, while the men’s team — after qualifying for the 2018 men’s World Cup in Brazil — received $8 million. Given the disparity, several men’s players had opposed the joint deal, since they would be ceding gains to women’s players.
“I can’t say that every conversation was easy with every member that was on our team, or involved with our negotiations,” Walker Zimmerman, a U.S. men’s player, told the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, former women’s player and U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlowe Cone said “our men should be celebrated and congratulated” for this decision.
The deals come at a time when interest in soccer across the United States has increased dramatically. A professional league, Major League Soccer, has gained considerable popularity since 2013, and its events are now the fourth-most attended in the U.S. after the National Football League and Major League Baseball. The U.S. Soccer Federation, as well, has signed several major commercial deals to expand the sport’s market penetration – including a broadcasting deal with HBO valued at $52 million a year, and a multiyear sponsorship deal with Nike, Inc.