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Deja Robinson

English 102

Research Essay

4/28/19

Equal Pay for Female Athletes

Every athlete all over America work hard every day and put their time and energy

into their profession because it is their job. For the people that has played a sport before knows

exactly what it's like to dedicated your time and energy into a sport and work hard to be the best

you can be so you can shine. Well, the National Women’s Soccer team worked ten times as hard

and it showed because back in 2015 they won the World Cup, however they are still being

underpaid, these women have won the World Cup three times and yet they still do not see the

type of money the male soccer team players see. The Men’s National Soccer team hasn’t won

not one World Cup title yet they are making way more money than the women players. The

World Cup is bigger than the Olympics because people are only focused on the one team that has

won. The World Cup is played every four years just like the Olympics.

Women and Men that play professional sports are doing the same exact job but somehow

the men are being paid way more than the women. There are reasons others try to say of why

men makes more or should make more which in many cases, many people will argue that women

sports are less interesting to watch or its just boring because women do not get as physical as the

men do. Or women’s sport does not bring as much revenue like the men sports does. There is a

belief that male athletes are worth more than female athletes and are better at promoting

themselves. Women athletes are often exploited by marketers and advertisers who want to
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increase their revenues and bottom line sales. Advertisers focus more on the women’s “skin” and

sex appeal rather than women’s athletes, leaving the impression that women are not as talented in

the sports as male athletes (Roenigk 1). Many spectators and advertisers do not take female

professional sports seriously and think that female athletes play more for fun. Therefore, female

athletes do not receive as much attention for their talent. Those who are more talented can be

drafted to play professionally where they receive a salary. However, marketers still focus more

on male sports. Therefore, increased revenue continues as spectators buy tickets to watch

professional male athletes. The female athletes continue to generate revenues from sex appeal

and looks over talent. This professional salary in no way compares to the pay received by

professional male athletes.

In 2015, the Women’s soccer game team brought in over twenty million dollars in

revenue! According to Washington’s post, after the women’s soccer team won the world cup

they were in the headlines for about a few months because it was a big deal that the United States

women soccer team won the world cup. That game was the being the most watched soccer match

(both men’s or women’s game) ever in the United States, with 25.4 million viewers (New York's

times).

The Sport Journal stated that each player on the women’s soccer team earned $99,000

per year provided the team wins 20 exhibition matches, the minimum number of matches they

would play. Each men’s player would earn $263,320 for the same feature and would still earn

$100,000 if the team lost all 20 games. The women receive no extra pay for playing additional

matches above 20, while the men earn anywhere between $5,000 and $17,625 for each match

beyond 20.
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However according to Cbc sports journalist, “FIFA announced it will make two new

payments for the Women's World Cup. FIFA will share $11.5 million with the 24 teams for

tournament preparations, including training camps, and $8.5 million will be split by clubs

releasing players. The prize money for the men's World Cup in Russia rose 12 per cent to $400

million. FIFA gave teams $48 million for preparation costs and also shared $209 million with

clubs that sent players to the tournament — vastly larger sums than allocated to women's

soccer”. The FIFPRO (the national soccer league twitter account) tweeted that the FIFA World

Cup prize money changed. That made the Gender pay gap increased from $343 million to $370

million. The women increased only $15million from 2015-2019 it went from $15 million to

$30million. The men however increased $42 million from 2014 to 2018 it went from $358

million to $400 million.

In general women has always made less money than men, if they are all doing the same

work and have the same job then they should be paid the same amount as the men and it

shouldn't matter the sport neither women still should be paid correctly. Unequal pay in women's

sports is not just in soccer but in most women’s sports. For example, Roger Federer a well-

known tennis player who has won multiple championships makes over $700,000 and Serena

Williams one of the greatest female tennis players of all time and one of the most watched

female athletes only makes $450,000 they’re both a well-known champion and has won many

championships the only difference between them two is the gender. Although there is a gender

wage gap in most female sports there are some solutions that could possibly fix the problem.

And one of the solutions are that the women’s soccer team already went forward with, which is

suing/ filling a lawsuit against the U.S. soccer association.

According to New York times in 2016 five players on the women’s soccer team filed a

federal complaint accusing the U.S. soccer of wage discrimination because the women earned as

little as 40 percent of what the players on the United States men’s national soccer team earned

even as they marched to the team’s third World Cup championship in 2015. The five players

claimed that they were being shortchanged on everything from bonuses to appearance fees to per

diems. The goalkeeper Hope Solo, the co-captains Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn, forward

Alex Morgan and midfielder Megan Rapinoe said “The numbers speak for themselves. We are

the best in the world, have three World Cup championships, four Olympic championships. The

men’s players get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships”.

However, according to Sunil Gulati, the U.S. Soccer president, citing figures that the federation

said showed the men’s national team produced revenue and attendance about double that of the

women’s team, and television ratings that were “a multiple” of what the women attract. Neil

Buethe, (A federation spokesman) called some of the revenue figures in the players’ complaint

“inaccurate, misleading or both.”

The women still to this day are fighting for equal pay. All 28 players of the U.S. women's

national soccer team have filed a federal gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States

Soccer Federation (USSF). The suit was filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil

Rights Act, on International Women's Day. It alleges gender-based discrimination (cbs news). In

the suit, the players allege they have been subject to ongoing gender discrimination. The women

site that they are paid unequally to their male counterparts, despite having the same job

responsibilities, and they are seeking equal pay. They are also seeking damages, including back

pay. This is not the first time the team has sought equality. The discrimination, the athletes said,

affects not only their paychecks but also where they play and how often, how they train, the
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medical treatment and coaching they receive, and even how they travel to matches. (New York

times). The players’ continuing battle with U.S. Soccer, with not only their employer, but also

the federation that governs the sport in America, has them the face of a broader fight for equality

in women’s sports.

I believe another way to fix the gender wage gap in sports is to get more famous male

athletes to speak out on it. For instance, if LeBron James was to speak out on it, it would be a big

deal because he is a basketball player not a soccer player. He also is a great influencer, so that

would bring in so much buzz and attention to this. It could possibly make things go in a different

route for the better. If some of the men players on the Soccer team speak out on it also. It could

potentially benefit them too, because they would gain many more people on their side because

they’re promoting positivity for Women. And women are still to this day fighting for equality in

America. Also if the male athletes encourage women to develop negotiation skills and to pass

additional wage equality legislation. Research shows 57 percent of men negotiate their salaries

compared to 7 percent of women. When women do negotiate salaries, they tend to ask for less

money. For example, a study conducted in 2010 found that women ask for an average of $7,000

less than men when negotiating (Vagianos).

Women should try to get a few laws passed that will allow women to get paid just as much as

men. In order to enforce this law, I believe female athletes from all sports should boycott playing

in games until they get paid the money they deserve. If we get these laws passed by Congress for

increased salaries in women's sports I believe U.S soccer owners would have to pay for the

increased salaries or lose their jobs and get sued and lose everything. Another solution would be

for female athletes to get more sponsorships and endorsements. Some companies who might
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support female athletes with sponsorships are Nike, Under Armour, Procter and Gamble, and

Sport England (Nielsen Sports). All these sponsors have different reasons for sponsoring

women’s sports. Without sponsor money many athletes would be forced to work full-time jobs

and would not have an adequate amount of time to train. This would leave the athletes at a

disadvantage facing opponents who have the resources to devote their lives to their sport.

For the Women’s World Cup game, they should try to increase their revenue.

Most experts say that the gender pay gap will not go away for another 85 years that is a

long time. If women do, the same job as men then they should be paid the same amount as men.

No matter the sport women athletes should be paid just as much as male athletes. Even though

there is a gender wage gap in most female sports there are some solutions that could possibly fix

the problem(Vagianos). I thought the United States was all about equality. It just shows that they

are allowing men to remain above the women. There are laws that states that an employer aren’t

allow to pay a man more than a woman if they are doing the same job. In February of 1963,

Esther Peterson submitted a draft bill of an Equal Pay Act to Congress on behalf of the Kennedy

administration. The Equal Pay Act is an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits

employers from paying unequal wages, based on gender. Men and women employed in the same

establishment, doing substantially equal work must be paid the same wages. The following year,

the Civil Rights Act of 1964 further strengthened laws for gender equality by making it illegal to

discriminate not only on the basis of race, religion, and national origin, but also on the basis of

sex. (National Parks Service).

In conclusion if a man was to have a profession he truly loves and he found out that a

woman has the same job as him but is making 10,000 dollars more than him and if he tried to

take it to court only for them to give him the run around for years and still want him to do his job
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he would be highly upset about that. Well that’s exactly how these women feel. They are playing

and competing in the World Cup game in June while still fighting for equal pay.

Works cited

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thesportjournal.org/article/a-history-of-women-in-sport-prior-to-title-ix/.
Carroll, Rory. “U.S. Women's Soccer Team Says Lawsuit about More than
Money.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 2 Apr. 2019, www.reuters.com/article/us-
equal-pay-soccer-idUSKCN1RE08U.
Dure, Beau. “The USA Women's National Team Are Demanding Equal Pay. Is It
Realistic?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2016,
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www.theguardian.com/football/2016/nov/21/uswnt-60-minutes-equal-pay-us-
soccer-dispute.
Elsesser, Kim. “Two Solutions for The Gender Pay Gap That Can Be Implemented
Today.” Forbes. N.p., 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.
“Equal Pay Act of 1963 (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service,
U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/articles/equal-pay-act.htm.
“History of the United States Men's National Soccer Team.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_men%27s_national_soccer_t
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Jessop, Alicia. “The U.S. Women's Soccer Team Is Better than the Men's. That'll
Help Its Case.”
Littlefield, Bill. “No Matter the Sport, Women Athletes Are Always Paid Less.”
WBUR. N.p., 16 Apr. 2016. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
O'Kane, Caitlin. “Women's National Soccer Team Players Sue U.S. Soccer for
Equal Pay.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 12 Mar. 2019,
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Pov. “Timeline: A Brief History of Women's Team Sports in America | True-
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The Washington Post, WP Company, 12 Mar. 2019,
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than-men-thatll-help-its-case/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.559ad2e4dedd.
Thomas, Louisa. “Equal Pay for Equal Play: The Case for the Women's Soccer
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womens-sports.
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Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.
Walters, John. “A Lawsuit from the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Reveals Deeper
Issues with Gender Equity in Sports.” Newsweek. N.p., 01 Apr. 2016. Web. 08
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