In a historic win for women’s rights, US Soccer and both the women’s and men’s national teams have proclaimed a collective bargaining agreement to close the gender pay gap and ensure that each player, regardless of gender, will be paid equally.
This collective bargaining agreement is the final step in a years-long journey toward securing the new policy of equal pay.
“I am feeling extreme pride,” said Becky Sauerbrunn, US Women’s National Team defender, on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “To be able to say finally, equal pay for equal work feels very, very good.”
Following the new terms, World Cup Prize money will be pooled and shared equally among the men’s and women’s team players. This means that the men’s World Cup win in 2018, which earned $38 million, will be pooled with the earnings of $4 million that the women’s team earned for their win in 2019. This equal split will be a first in the soccer federation world.
“There’s equalization of World Cup prize money, identical financial terms, including identical game payments, identical revenue sharing for both teams, so identical in every aspect on that front,” explains US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone.
Going forward, the men’s and women’s teams will also equally divide any money US Soccer makes commercially and at events.
