By Antoinette Muller
Equal pay for equal work is a nice theory. But when it comes to professional sport, and more specifically soccer, it’s not even a theory.
Before the 2019 Soccer World Cup kicked off in France, the United States women’s soccer team filed a lawsuit. In an unprecedented suit, all 28 members were named as plaintiffs. The case is simple: they want to be paid the same as their male counterparts. They filed their case under the simple “equal pay for equal work” premise.
Several members of the men’s team backed their move. But the US governing body for the sport said it was surprised. Since then, a number of sponsors have stepped up to narrow the gap.
But just how big is that gap?
The lawsuit filed by the women stated that if each team played and won 20 exhibition games in a year, “female WNT players would earn a maximum of $99,000, or $4,950 per game, while similarly situated male MNT players would earn an average of $263,320, or $13,166 per game.”
Did you get that?
Women earn just 38% of what the men do.
While some athletes can earn more through sponsorship, it’s the differences in base salaries…
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Publish date : 2019-06-21 14:27:54