USWNT sues USSF 2019 version

I'm not advocating sh*t. I think both NTs are paid too much. There is zero reason why NT players from either team should be making as much as they do per year off their NT duties. The MNT players certainly have the benefit that they are paid quite a bit for their club play, but USSF could be giving NWSL block payments and caveat that it has to be spent on US citizens/residents.

 

Actually, it sounds like you're advocating that the USSF should pay both the men and the women (at least, directly) less for their NT duties.

 

Naw. I think they should be paid less, I'm not advocating for it to happen.

 

That is a very fine line of differentiation. However I understand what you are saying and I mostly agree. I believe almost all sports figures are over paid but it is something that is ingrained in the sports culture and the culture of capitalism as well.

The excessively high compensation is justified by the statement the the players bring in more money so they should be paid more but that means that things like ticket prices must be increased and contracts for TV rights must be increased and therefore the athletes should be paid more and so ticket prices must be increased and so on and so on.

I would be in favor of somehow capping salaries somehow and even reducing every sports related expense and salaries and ticket prices and so on right across the board. Unfortunately that is not possible unless first the bottom falls out of the sports market world wide and I do not thing that is likely to happen even with the current crises remaining ongoing for an extended period of time.

Maybe we could get some relief if FIFA bonuses were paid into a pool that was primarily used to reduce the WAY overpriced ticket prices for national team matches. This would not really help much on the women's side as they sell out or at least nearly sell out most matches but the men could be greatly helped as currently the only way they draw large crowds is if they are playing another country that has a large ethnic presence in the area of the match making it more of a home game for the opponent than for the US. The interest in the men's game currently just does not justify the huge ticket prices that currently exist for MNT matches.

I know anything like that would be nearly impossible but I can wish for something better than what we currently have.

But nearly none of that pertains to this thread directly and I really want the women to win their suit. But even that is mitigated by my hope that Cindy Cone is given a fair chance to fix things ruined by the previous administration and that will take time, quite a lot of time.

 

Is that an anecdotal perception or based on something real? How do you come to this conclusion?

 

Based on the relatively small crowds at USMNT games and number of people complaining about it.

 

To be perfectly honest, in general, and for several years, the ticket prices have been hard to stomach for a lot of people.

 

There is little else that needs to be said except that the product the USMNT has been putting on the field is very much sub par and the empty seats reflect that lack of quality. There is actually plenty of talent in the men's pool there is just the stupidity and ineptitude at the top that drags it down.

 

Another SI article:
https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/03/1...&utm_campaign=sinow&xid=socialflow_twitter_si
Not to long of a read - - - New U.S. attorneys (Latham&Watkins), possibility of May 5th trial delayed due to Corona.
In an attempt to attack from behind enemy lines, I'm submitting my resume to Latham & Watkins. After all, I do have a Masters Degree from the University of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

 

Thanks for posting this valuable article. Let's hope that, as is suggested here, what's happened in the last week may increase the likelihood of a settlement.

I'm very impressed with your legal qualifications, but you should aim higher. Any chance that we can get Neal Kavanaugh to resign his seat on the U.S. Supreme Court and that you can replace him?

 

Neal Kavanaugh?

 

Sorry. Of course it's Brett Kavanaugh. Thanks for pointing out my blunder. I was obviously conflating Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. I'd be delighted to see jackdoggy replace both of them.

 

I figured. jackdoggy would take too much sick time to be a justice. It would strangely coincide with a certain team's games.

 

She can't be in two places at once, tho... someone's gotta drink all the beer while someone else tells Clarence Thomas to stay away from the cans

 

Could this perhaps be the work of @jackdoggy ?

 

USSF puts their Chief Legal Officer on indefinite administrative leave.

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, but sources tell me Chief Legal Officer Lydia Wahlke has been placed on administrative leave. #USSF #USWNT

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) March 24, 2020

 

I have every expectation that this will settle with the new leadership structure in place, but one thing I do think is worth noting in these crazy quarantine times: the USWNT continues to collect their salary while they stay at home, while the USMNT gets nothing since there are no games being played.

 

The second most ignored part of this now 5 year long #equalpay campaign is that each union collectively bargained for a package that best fit the needs of their membership.

 

Are you talking about NWSL salaries? Because that argument is pretty easily diffused by the fact that is separate work, from national team appearances.

I have previously thought that the CBA argument was one of the better ones for US soccer.

But then I read the article from one of the media sports lawyers, either McCann or Bank, that stated that a CBA is not a defense to the Equal Pay Act part of the lawsuit.

I don't vouch for their interpretation of the law, but they are pretty credible, and I sure don't feel like researching it myself for free...

 

Another thing I find interesting with the argument of pool the FIFA prize money and distribute equally, how much money would the USWNT have given up this past cycle. The USMNT would have gotten half of their winnings!

 

I didn't say it was, but it also points out a fair amount of the disingenuous social media and public relations campaigning going on.

And it also carefully ignored the most ignored salient point - the fact that the requirements for membership in the two player unions couldn't be as far apart as possible. The men's union is basically: you play, you're in. The women's is extremely hard to get in. To the point that I've heard posited that the real pressure to get Sermanni fired was that he was one or two sets of friendlies from doubling the size of the USWNTPA. Doubling the size of the USWNTPA would have completely changed the set of priorities that the membership would be willing/interested in voting for.

 

Come on, man, you can't be that obtuse. They are collecting their national team salary while all games have been canceled. Men's games are canceled too, and they don't get a dime. Mark Cuban recently said (and I paraphrase) that those who risk more should be paid more, which I thought was interesting as it relates to these conversations.

I would argue that they should collect their NWSL salaries as long as their NWSL teammates collect theirs. If at any point, ownership in the NWSL stops paying or enforces a pay cut (as we are seeing across leagues and sports around the world) the USWNT should take an equal pay cut (if not greater) as their teammates.