Mods, no really sure where to post as it affects so much. Feel free to move. The bill, penned by Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, would prohibit the use of federal funds that would otherwise be provided to support host cities, local and state organizations, US Soccer, CONCACAF, and FIFA when the US cohosts the men's World Cup in 2026 I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
Manchin is the most conservative/corporate democrat there is. This is a political ploy so he doesn't have to give the public anything. Not going to cost his donors one iota. Empty identity politics is what he's selling.
Won’t pass and no one cares. He’s just boning up on his Democratic bona fides so he can survive any primary challenge. That said, good on him. A serious issue that deserves to be elevated in the national discourse.
yes that makes sense - cut off your nose to spite your face .... all in the name of getting progressive votes in West Virginia ("Wild and Wonderful") ....
If the women truly are generating more revenue for USSF (although without more investigation I'm skeptical) as the article suggests, they deserve equal pay from USSF. That said, clearly a politcal ploy. And Rapinoe's recent assertion that FIFA should pay out the same for women's as men's WC is ridiculous.
Saw someone tweet this: The female players get 13 percent of the revenue the women’s World Cup generates. Men’s players get 9 percent of the revenue their World Cup generates. The reason the men make more is that they generate well over four times as much. If anything, the women are overpaid. This isn’t a gender issue. This is an $$$ issue in terms of men’s team is more valuable (tv deals, etc)
I agree. The article says they've made more revenue for USSF lately, though. I'm doubtful. Rapinoe also said the womens WC prize money from FIFA should the same as the mens. That's crazy - for sure FIFA makes way way more on the men's WC.
Are there any good valuations of the women's non-cash compensation? Things like medical, pregnancy, relocation and guaranteed contracts have significant value, but seem to be constantly ignored in the media coverage and comments by the women's players in favor of raw dollar amounts, which seems a bit dishonest and misleading.
the US government isn;t subsidizing the national soccer teams - far from it. Anyone who doens't understand that these teams generate revenue from the same sources that private businesses do - in a very competitive lansdscape - is either willfully ignorant or worse. I honestly think 95+% of the people clamoring for "equal pay" have less than an elementary understanding of : how these teams are funded, where they get their money, how much money is involved in mens and womens soccer, basic economic principles, basic math skils, etc. women's soccer generates A LOT LESS MONEY than men's soccer does!!!!!!!!!!!! do people realize this? the government is not paying either the mens or womens teams their salaries....so why the hell - other than an urge for equality - would there be a legal mandate to pay both teams the same money??????? i'm dumbfounded by how ignorant people are on this.
Medical and relocation benefits are at least quantifiable. Guaranteed contracts are still quantifiable, provided that you actually make the comparisons -- the thing about the media coverage is that it's comparing a USMNT player who appears in every game (who doesn't exist and hasn't existed since the mid-1990s) with a USWNT player who appears in every game. They're not comparing the USWNT reserve who still gets a full salary to the fringe USMNT player who gets paid for two or three games. The thing that is totally not quantifiable is the restriction on how many non-contracted players can be called up and for how long. That tends to make it much harder to displace an entrenched USWNT player before she retires. I would consider that to be the single largest benefit that established USWNT players have, but it's hard to say exactly how much it's worth.
sports is entertainment. It's not some social experiment in equality. Far. far from it. Sad stuff they politicize based on success. Don't like your comfy 6 digit salary because of soccer? Feel free to jump into corporate America.
They don't make more revenue either. The men's team averaged 24,000 in home World Cup qualifiers last cycle. The women's team has only topped 24k twice in the last 3 years as World Cup and Olympic champions. They make more on total revenue by virtue of playing a ton of games, double to 3 times the number of games as the men's teams including all those things like the She Believes Cup. The men are constrained by FIFA dates and they also cherry picked a year in which the USMNT played very few games. There is almost nothing on the FIFA calendar between the World Cup and the Gold Cup.
Despite all of the logical arguments stated here, has anyone seen any reports of anyone actually getting US Soccer's most updated reaction to this issue? Are they going to cave to media pressure, which is putting out it's political agenda regardless of the revenue realities? The media is also ignoring the fact that the women are working under a 4-year labor deal that they signed 2 years ago. The Athletic web site was the only media I found reporting that MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL are closely watching the US women's lawsuit, as it could potentially involve unprecedented action of tearing up an existing agreed-to collective bargaining agreement.