Right Message, Wrong Context: Equal pay in Football

A lawsuit between the world cup winning US Women’s national team (USWNT) and the US Soccer Federation (USSF) regarding equal pay is scheduled to be seen in court on the 5th of May.

The USWNT are seeking $66 Million in damages under the equal pay act. Some of the points set to be discussed in court have outraged members of the squad.

No-one more than Megan Rapinoe.

Megan Rapinoe

The USWNT beat Japan 3-1 in the final game of the SheBelieves cup on the 6th of March. The World Champions won all 3 of their games, extending their unbeaten run to 31 and adding more silverware to their collection.

But the headlines were dominated by the scenes before the game. A protest directed towards the USSF (equivalent to the FA) which saw USWNT players turn their training shirts inside out during the national anthem. This came off the back of comments made earlier that week by lawyers representing the USSF.

They stated that female players have inferior skills & physical ability to male players and that this was “Indisputable science rather than a sexist stereotype”.

Megan Rapinoe hit back at these comments in a post game interview saying that the claims made were based on “Blatant sexism & misogyny”.

The California Native is a polarizing figure. On the one hand, a cult hero driving Women’s Football forward, but she also comes across as extremely ignorant to the scale of Football globally.

Playing as a Winger for OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. Rapinoe has been the spearhead for the case the USWNT are putting to the USSF.

The Lawsuit

After these comments were made by the USSF, current president Carlos Cordiero was forced to resign as a result of pressure from the media and sponsors.

Cindy Parlow Cone was appointed as his replacement and was quick to distance herself from these comments on Twitter, saying that she objected to the language used.

Language which the main sponsor of US Soccer, Volkswagen described as “Disgusting”.

The USWNT claims a “Discriminatory rate of pay” in relation to the Men’s side.

However, on further inspection it appears that the “Rate of pay” in question was negotiated, agreed upon and signed by the male & female team’s player’s unions.

The Women's national side decided to sacrifice more potentially lucrative bonuses (a similar agreement that the men decided) for a higher guaranteed salary of $100,000.

The Men on the other hand, have no guaranteed salary and are paid a “Match fee” instead which is based on a percentage of the revenue gained by the USSF for a particular fixture.

Why the pay gap exists…

Quite simply it’s market forces.

It would be naive to think that equality in football exists but you would have to be downright ignorant to think this issue stems from sexism.

Money talks

The Men’s game generates more revenue, therefore they are paid more handsomely. It really is that simple.

The revenue earned from the 2015 Women’s World Cup was $73 Million, the Men’s competition 3 years later saw revenues of $6.1 Billion.

This shows the disparity in the commercial viability of the two branches of Football.

Alongside this, from a Football Association’s stand point. The prize money purses at the 2019 FIFA WWC compared to the 2018 FIFA MWC really hammers this point home.

With a total of $30 Million to be won in the Women’s competition and $400 Million for the Men.

Difference in scale

The average attendance during the 2017/18 season was 6,000 in the top tier of US Women’s football. Just 700 more fans attend these games than do Notts County games. A side who play in the Vanarama National League, the 5th tier of English Football.

As well as this, The Women’s FA cup was founded in 1970. The Men’s FA cup was founded in 1871, only 105 years after the USA signed the declaration of independence!

Men’s football is deeply ingrained in British society and in many countries across the world. In such a way that it's incomprehensible if you live in a country where this is not the case.

It wasn’t until 1971 that a 50 year F.A ban on women playing on Football League club’s grounds was lifted.

The Right Direction

The world of professional football existed long before Megan Rapinoe and will be around after.

There is a catalogue of reasons this particular pay gap exists. All of which come down to natural behaviour of the free market.

In my opinion this is not a lawsuit the USWNT expects to win.

But instead use this as a platform to get coverage in the media and spread a positive message of gender equality.

I would hope this is the case, if not then you would worry about how out of touch with the game of Football the USWNT really are.

However the playing field is levelling.

The “Matildas”(Australia’s national side) signed a landmark agreement in November of 2017. It meant that their players will receive a base salary equal to their male counterparts and they will also earn the same 40% share of any prize money the team wins.

The Lionesses received huge amounts of praise during the 2019 World Cup for their performances on and off the pitch. Their stance on this issue differs greatly to the views of Megan Rapinoe and alike.

England captain Steph Houghton said: “(Women) shouldn’t be on the same pay scale until they start selling out stadiums”.

Chelsea & Lioness’ forward Bethany England added “Look at the revenue the men bring in and you can’t really compare it (to the Women’s game)”.

The equality that female footballers should be more concerned about is not financial.

If less focus is put on salary inequalities and the emphasis shifts towards better facilities for female sides at all levels. Then it’s likely that the improved standard of the women’s game will attract greater interest commercially. Leading to earnings at the top level increasing.

What is your stance on the gender pay gap in football? Is there a case for sexism?