After a six-year gender discrimination battle with their own federation, members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team have won. They reached a settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation on Tuesday that will not only pay past players some of what they are owed, but guarantees equal pay going forward.
“It's really what we set out to do, equalize on all fronts, and we've been able to achieve that,” Alex Morgan, one of the players who dominated the game even as she fought the legal battle, said on the Today show. “It's a really proud moment for all of us.”
U.S. Soccer will pay a $24 million settlement, $22 million of which goes to the players in the suit. That’s far less than the $67 million they had calculated they were owed if they got back pay bringing them equal with the men’s national team, but far more than U.S. Soccer had been willing to offer previously.
For years, the women’s team has outperformed the men’s team while being paid less, at one point getting less of a bonus for winning the World Cup than the men got for being eliminated in the round of 16. In 2020, a federal judge even used the women’s success against them, throwing out their lawsuit because they had earned more than the men—even though their greater earnings were because they had played more games and won more, while being paid less per game.
Another critical factor was a moral one. The players had been insulted and mistreated and gaslit for years, and current U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone, herself a former player, was willing to do one key thing.
“Cindy apologized to us, and it’s the first time anyone has done that,” said Megan Rapinoe, a player who has been as great as she has been courageous. “There is still healing needed, but we will be able to move forward together because of it.”
Another financial sticking point was the unequal money coming from FIFA to U.S. Soccer for the men’s and women’s World Cups, but the settlement includes a plan to “equalize” that money. The details of that equalization will be determined in a collective bargaining agreement still under negotiation. But Rapinoe indicated that FIFA itself shouldn’t be resting easy about its pay discrimination.
“We're not wondering if the women's game can make money,” she said. “We're not wondering whether women's soccer would be successful if you put us on TV, or if people are going to come to the World Cup. We're not wondering if there's star power or questioning the quality on the field. It's all there.”
And to be clear, “FIFA should feel like they're next. With the players and the federation in a place where we'll be working together, I think we're pretty formidable.”