By Solar Lee '26
Introduction
Equal pay is a phrase often heard in everyday life, and the meaning is quite simple. It is an act that regulates that an employer must give the same salary to the workers who do the same work, regardless of their gender. Unfortunately, this concept is often lost in football, as almost all women’s football players do not receive equal pay.
The Causes of Gender Pay Discrimination in Sports
Traditionally, sports participation has often been biased towards women, as the activity has been viewed as an "unprofessional" position for them. Furthermore, while women’s participation in sports has risen over time, many sports still have inherent gender prejudices. There are several reasons for this existing pay gap; however, the most prominent justification is that female athletes do not generate enough revenue because of the lack of representation of women in sports.
The production of income is commonly cited as a justification for the wage disparity in sports. The reason is that profits generated by men are much higher than by women. When calculating the financial benefits of sports, several elements are considered, including endorsement deals, sports merchandising, and ticket sales. However, this depends on viewership and fanbases, which are impacted by the sport’s androcentric nature. As previously mentioned, women’s entry into sports also came considerably later than men's. Due to that, women’s sport has gained less fame and ‘entertainment value.’ Men’s sport, contrastingly, has always been the center of attention, allowing it to grow and flourish.
Lack of representation in media and the governing body has also become a cause of the persistent pay inequality in the sports business. Although women in sports and representation have increased throughout the years, with an increase of female IOC membership standing at 37.5% in 2021 compared to 21% at the start of 2020 (Olympics.com, 2021), this has only been a recent improvement and has not fully developed yet. Even with the increase of women in the governance structure, there is still a noticeable lack, which then mirrors in sports financial decision-making.
Consequences of Gender Pay Discrimination in Women’s Football
Due to a lack of pay, many women football players must balance their daily sports schedule while having another job or studying. Professional football player for the USWNT and Racing Louisville FC, Jessica McDonald quoted: “I was living paychecks by paychecks and had friends working as waitresses earning more than me even though I am a three-time world champion and professional athlete.” (Jessica McDonald, LFG, 2021)
Unequal coverage due to pay discrimination also reveals itself as a problem. Women’s football is rarely shown on television; this is compared to men's matches which no matter how obscure, are shown all over the world. But even when airtime is available, the coverage is usually lower in technical quality and production value. (Purdue, 2021). For example, the National Women's Soccer League, a league in the United States, is covered on Paramount+, a streaming service with only 40 million subscribers (The Verge, 2022), compared to Fox Sports, with 83.3 million subscribers, home to the Men League Soccer, also a league in the USA.
National Perspectives
The USA women's football team placed first on FIFA’s women's ranking, but the USA men's team placed fifteenth (FIFA, 2022). Yet, the women's team still faces gender pay discrimination despite their rising popularity.
Since the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup held in 1991, the sport has gained in popularity, especially in the United States, with them being the winners. But players were still fighting legal battles even with their unrivaled success on the international stage. On March 8th, 2019, 28 of the world's most famous women football players filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against their employers, the United States Soccer Federation. The USWNT, who at the time had won 3 world cups, 4 championships, and 4 Olympic gold medals, have been discriminated against by their employer who pays more money to the men's team than the women's team, although the women's team are the world champions, and the men are not. Even by showing up and playing a game, the men would earn more money. Getting a higher bonus than the women for each game they win, men: $17,625, women: 8,500. And for qualifying for the world cup, men: $2,500,000, and women: $750,000 (LFG, 2021).
But recently, the USSF pledged to stop gender pay discrimination for its men’s and women’s national teams. Leading the stage to overcome gender pay discrimination (New York Times, 2022).
Even though the USWNT now benefits from equal pay, players in the NWSL, a league based in the US and connected to US Soccer, still suffer from a lack of funding. Kristen Hamilton, who has won three NWSL championships, one of the best women’s football players in the world, has delivered orders for DoorDash during the offseason. The most money an NWSL player can earn during a season, which could last as long as 9 months, is $52,500.
Global Perspectives
Women’s football is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, especially in Europe. With over 30 million women playing football worldwide (FIFA, 2021), the sport’s fanbase has also risen. With the ever-rising game, countries around the world have responded accordingly. With Norway being the first national FA to have devised an equal pay deal in 2017, announcing that their women’s national team will be paid the same as their men’s, it led to a rise in historic milestones for women football players. In 2019, according to the FFA, the Australian women’s football team struck a deal that pushed the top male and female players to be on the same pay scale (BBC, 2019). England’s FA also declared in 2020 that their men's and women’s national teams would be paid equally. Alas, with the deals being made in some countries, others worldwide are still facing injustice, such as the Nigerian women’s football team, who staged sit-ins during the Women’s World Cup over alleged unpaid bonuses (BBC, 2020). The Danish women’s team was also involved in a pay dispute, leading to a strike and the cancellation of a world cup qualifier (The Guardian, 2017).
But even with the pay gap slowly getting closer in national teams, players still receive way less pay and viewership than their male counterparts in clubs. And with a lack of coverage, gender pay discrimination toward women football players will persist.
Senior Editor: Elena Jiang '23
Comments