Equal Play, Equal Pay (The Wage Gap)

Now, we know this is just diving right in as opposed to dipping our toes in the water, but we have some serious things to talk about. With the Olympics rapidly approaching, we thought now would be a good time to acknowledge the pay gap that has plagued the women of the U.S. National Soccer Team. So, we did some lengthy research and have compiled a list regarding the controversy around the "Equal Pay, Equal Play" movement. One would think, with a Facebook and Twitter page that proclaims "One nation. One team.", the U.S. Soccer Federation would be more accommodating to the team that consistently wins games and international championships. Yet here we are, discussing a flawed system that should have been rectified years ago.

So, here is a breakdown of the wage gap in relation to the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team:

• In the 2014 Men's World Cup, the USMNT was awarded more than $9 million for simply advancing to the Round of 16. In the 2015 Women's World Cup, the USWNT was awarded a mere $2 million for WINNING their third World Cup.
• Now we know there may be some naysayers who claim that "more people watch men's soccer" or "men's soccer is more fun to watch", and in this case FIFA might agree with those people. FIFA stated that men were paid higher because "the men's game brings in most of the revenue" and, therefore, they should get paid more. However, there are some problems with those statements that will be later addressed throughout this blog and this post.
• According to Fox Sports, the 2015 Women's World Cup was the most viewed soccer game in all of U.S. history. Across all languages and all networks that televised the competition, the 2015 Women's World Cup was seen by 26.7 million viewers, the previous record was held by the 2014 Men's World Cup final which was seen by 26.5 million viewers.
• It seems to us that women are bringing in more viewers and, possibly, more revenue to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
• Now let's move to the 2017 fiscal year, where a budget report from the U.S. Soccer Federation has projected the women's team "to bring in more than $17 million in revenues, including a $5 million surplus for fiscal year 2017". This budget report also states that the men's soccer team are expected to spend more money than the federation has set aside for them.
• Now, here is where we fail to see why this wage gap is still happening, especially in a such a progressive era like the one we are living in.

Though this is a very brief and condensed breakdown of the wage gap, we think this hits all the core points and gives enough evidence and reason as to why this gap needs to close. In another post (coming soon), we will discuss the unfair playing conditions that the female players on the National Team are forced to deal with.

On equal pay, U.S. Soccer has a chance to right FIFA's wrongs
U.S. Soccer Federation says USWNT earns only 2.2 percent less than men
Women's World Cup Final seen by record 26.7 million in U.S.
Data: How does the U.S. women's soccer team pay compare to the men?