Does the USWNT deserve more?

Does the USWNT deserve more?

With the US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) recently winning their fourth World Cup the topic of equal pay has been a popular talking point lately. It’s been well documented that the Men’s National Team (USMNT) gets paid a substantially larger wage than the women’s team. Many people will be quick to point out that many women’s professional sports just aren’t as popular as men’s professional sports. After all, it is all about ticket sales, merchandise sales, and sponsorships that earn sports teams their money. So the Men’s National Team must be more popular and successful than the Women’s team, right? Well, not exactly.

As far as success on the pitch goes the Women’s National Team has won Four World Cups since 1991 with this year’s win being a back to back championship. The US Men’s Team has never won a World Cup. The closest they came was in 1930 when they finished in 3rd place. In the last World Cup which took place last year, the men’s team didn’t even make the tournament after being knocked out by Trinidad and Tobago in a qualifying round.

So, is it all the merch that the Men’s Team sells that makes them all that extra money? Not really. The USWNT jersey is the best selling jersey of all time according to Nike.

How about TV ratings? The Women’s Team has their male counterparts beat there too. This past Sunday’s win against The Netherlands was the highest rated soccer broadcast ever in the US.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9vvWD21qoM%5D

Then what about the professional soccer leagues in the US? Surely the men’s league must sell more tickets than the men’s. According to the Washington Post, the ticket sales between the two leagues are almost dead even.

So is it any surprise that the USWNT are suing the US Soccer Federation over unequal pay?

If there was true equity in the world the USWNT would be making not just the same as the men’s team but much more.