On Thursday afternoon, the Senate passed a resolution calling on the U.S. Soccer Federation to pay the women’s team equally and “immediately eliminate gender pay inequity and treat all athletes with the same respect and dignity.” Its passage came just months after the Senate blocked a previous and nearly identical resolution in October.
Thursday’s version points to the U.S. Women’s National Team’s victory in three World Cups, as well as their four Olympic gold medals and seven gold cups in the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football. It also notes the fact that the team is currently ranked first in the world and that the final Women’s World Cup match last year drew 750 million viewers worldwide and more than 25 million in the U.S., “the largest audience of any soccer game shown in the United States on English language television.”
And yet the women’s team was paid a good deal less than the men’s when they took home the World Cup championship in 2015. They received just $2 million from FIFA, the international body running the tournament, compared to $8 million awarded to the men’s team, which lost in the first round. Every men’s team was given $1.5 million just for participating. They’re also paid less outside of championships, earning as little as 40 percent of what players on the U.S. Men’s National Team earn and often given less in bonuses, appearance fees, and per diems.
The pay gaps that the female players face are often chalked up to bringing in lower revenue amounts. But that’s not actually the case: The women’s national team generates comparable and sometimes greater revenue than the men’s team. Women’s soccer also has a long history of getting fewer opportunities and less investment and promotion, creating even bigger hurdles in their quest for fans and viewership.
“[T]he members of the United States Women’s National Team, despite the international success of the members, are consistently paid less than similarly situated members of the United States Men’s National Team for doing the same job, regardless of the performance of the teams,” the resolution states.
“Think about the young girls watching, who see these players at the top of their game valued less than men,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said while advocating for the passage of the resolution. “This isn’t just about the money. It’s about the message it sends to women and girls across our country and the world.”
It’s a message that the American women’s soccer team is taking on. In March, five of the team’s members filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint alleging wage discrimination against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The team has indicated that if an agreement over equitable pay can’t be reached by July, they could boycott the Olympic games in Brazil. They are also locked in a legal battle over their union contract and whether they have the right to strike, but have hinted at a potential strike if the issue isn’t resolved.
The senators also noted Thursday that the gender wage gap goes far beyond soccer and exists throughout the economy, in every industry and virtually every job. “The pay gap between the men and women’s national soccer teams is emblematic of what is happening all across our country,” Murray said.
But the Senate has failed many times to pass legislation aimed at closing the gender wage gap for all women. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly stood together to block the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would ban the practice of salary secrecy and narrow the guidelines for what counts as a justified pay differential.