Wage Gap in Soccer: Analytical Essay

The wage gap is the average difference in pay between the men and women who are working. It is extremely evident in the United States, but is most commonly known in cases dealing with female athletes, especially the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT). Although the United States Men’s National Team gets paid more than the women’s, the USWNT is an all around better team and deserves more pay than the men.

The USWNT has been far more successful than the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) since being founded in 1985. The USWNT has won the World Cup 3 times, the last being in the summer of 2015. The men’s national soccer team has never won the World Cup, nor even been to a World Cup final despite being around for the same amount of time. In fact, the furthest the USMNT has made it in the tournament was the quarter-final in 2002 where they were knocked out by Germany in a match that ended 0-1. “The USWNT has quickly established itself as a powerhouse in world soccer, winning 3 World Cups, 4 Olympic gold medals, a variety of CONCACAF trophies, and are currently ranked number 1 Women’s National team in the world by FIFA.” (BleacherReport David Kenyon). The USMNT on the other hand… currently rank 22nd in the world by FIFA, with small countries such as Peru and Senegal ahead of them. The USMNT has won very little silverware. That silverware comes from tournaments like the Gold Cup. In the grand scheme of things the Gold Cup is an insignificant tournament that many other countries use to help get younger players some time on the field. The USMNT should be dominating based on how many people we have in the youth soccer program for boys, but they’re not. The USWNT has been much more successful than the USMNT since the founding of the United States National Teams in 1985.

The United States Men’s National Team gets paid a significant amount more than the Women do. In a lawsuit that lasted from 2013- 2016 “women’s national-team players earned a maximum of $4,950 per friendly, non-tournament game that they won, while men’s national-team players earned an average of $13,166 for the same thing. While a 2017 agreement bumped up the women’s pay, it’s still far from equal” (Melissa Locker). The USWNT players get paid much less than the USMNT players despite putting out much better results. In the past 10 matches the USWNT has won 9, drawn 1, and lost zero. The USWNT has scored 36 goals while allowing only 3. In comparison the USMNT has won 6, lost 3, and drawn 1 in their last 10 matches while scoring 17 goals and allowing 14. The USWNT gets paid less even though they perform better than the mens side. This is unfair to the women, they are working just as hard if not harder than the men and are getting paid much less.

The USMNT gets paid much more than the USWNT despite not putting out the results the Women’s team does. Some may say this is because less people watch women’s soccer. However, the USWNT has attracted the attention of boys and girls all around the world. According to the NY Post, “between 2016-2018 the USWNT created 50.8 million dollars in revenue, while the USMNT created only 49.9 million dollars in revenue” (NY Post). The USWNT is simply getting results and therefore making money, something the USMNT doesn’t do. Men’s soccer may be a more popular sport around the world, but in the US the Women reign supreme.

The United States Women’s National Team is just one example of how the wage gap affects women’s professional sports teams. The WNBA salaries are significantly lower than the NBA’s. It is something that the people in charge need to sit down and discuss because nobody wants to get paid less for doing an equal or even better job than another person. Although the men get paid more, the USWNT deserves equal or more pay.

Works cited

1. David Kenyon. “The Best Soccer Players in the United States Women’s World History” bleacher report, www.bleacherreport.com/articles/2838398-the-best-soccer-players-in-united-states-womens-national-team-history. Accessed 16 January 2020
2. Emily Kaplin. “U.S. women’s soccer equal pay fight: What’s the latest, and what’s next?” ESPN, www.espn.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/27175927/us-women-soccer-equal-pay-fight-latest-next. Accessed 16 January 2020
3. Melissa Locker. “Here’s how much Women’s World Cup Soccer Players are Paid Compared to Men” fastcompany, www.fastcompany.com/90360375/womens-world-cup-soccer-gender-pay-gap-women-salaries-vs-men. Accessed 16 January 2020