How and where are global soccer superstars made? The answer to this question is very different for men and women. That difference is one of many contributing factors to the revenue differences between men’s and women’s World Cups.
For the most part male soccer superstars are born at the club level which in men’s soccer starts before players turn pro where clubs develop talent at their respective academies. The best of that talent makes the senior rosters on clubs in leagues around the world. The best of those senior roster players become superstars, in most cases, before the World Cup qualifying of any given four-year World Cup cycles. What does this have to do with revenue disparities between men and women’s soccer?
Well, think about that for a second. In women’s soccer most people become familiar with the stars of women’s soccer at the Women’s World Cup. In men’s soccer, the players are superstars before the World Cup ever takes place (in most cases — as they say “the exception proves the rule.”). That gives advantages to FIFA when organizing the World Cup as they take bids from potential sponsors, choose appropriate sized venues, set ticket prices, negotiate media rights deals.
In other words, sponsors know that dozens of household name superstars will gather for the tournament. In a sense, every men’s national team are all star teams. The general public around the globe know the men’s players names. That’s more reason to tune in to the games and buy tickets to the men’s World Cup.
The result is that the men’s World Cup has more than twice the average attendance of the women’s World Cup, and nearly triple the global media viewing audience. This means greater demand means higher ticket prices, more sponsors, and more revenue from each sponsor. Because the men’s World Cup has ready-made superstars, and thus have greater name recognition, the men’s World Cup has a substantial advantage over the Women’s World Cup in generating revenues.
On the other hand, for the most part, women’s global superstars are procured from play at the national team and World Cup level (and mostly the World Cup). That means, except for the die-hard and most obsessive women’s soccer fans, there are few ready-made superstars for the WWC. In other words, most people don’t learn about the big names until the tournament is underway.
That means fewer sponsors and less money per sponsorship as sponsors have to wait until the World Cup takes place before association with the women’s game starts to pay off, whereas the association with the men’s World Cup starts paying off pretty much from the inception of the sponsorship deal.
In my first #EqualAttention diary’s comment section, I showed where, at the club level, we could already claim equal pay between men and women soccer players. The point I made there is that if you compare NWSL salaries to the salaries of men who play in leagues with similar attendance (per team totals) and TV ratings (in the US, this would be USL Championship) women are getting paid equally to men. This fact provides good reason to be optimistic that if the NWSL gains #EqualAttention with MLS, the women will also gain #EqualPay with MLS players.
The problem here is that even as NWSL has some of the best women players in the world, the USL Championship does not have any of the best men in the world and thus is rightfully a minor league. So, as of now NWSL is only getting minor league attention and revenue. The goal of my #EqualAttention campaign is to raise the profile of NWSL to a major league profile similar to MLS.
If NWSL’s profile and other women’s leagues around the goal gain major league attendance and tv ratings, the women’s club leagues will be the primary incubator of super stars much like major men’s leagues are, and that would mean the WWC will benefit from a whole pool of ready-made superstars as happens in men’s soccer for the men’s World Cup. The results would be to raise the profile of the women’s World Cup to a point where it would rival the men’s WC, increasing sponsorship, media rights, and ticket revenues.
So, the fight for equal pay must begin with #EqualAttention for women’s soccer at the club level. In the US that would mean raising the profile of NWSL from its current minor league profile to approach the profile of MLS.