On Friday, March 8th, 2019 the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. 28 members of the team, including Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd, took part in the lawsuit. It was filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Not only does the discrimination affect pay, it also affects things such as medical treatment and where they play. Women on the team say they play and win more games, but they are still paid less than the men. The women’s team is also 3 time World Cup Champions, while the men’s team has won no World Cups. When the women’s team won the World Cup in 2015, they got $2 million. When the men’s team lost in round sixteen of the 2014 Men’s World Cup, they got $8 million. Also, the women’s team earns a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game. The men’s team earns $263,320 or $13,166 per game. That’s a pay difference of $164,320 or $8,216. A similar complaint was filed by 5 of the players in 2016. The complaint claimed that the women’s team generated about $20 million more dollars in revenue than the men did in 2015. With all this being said, the team was still paid a quarter of what the men get. As of 2017, the Women’s World Cup final game between the U.S. and Japan was the most watched soccer event in the U.S. It generated about 26.7 million combined viewers. The team will defend the World Cup title they won in Canada in the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The tournament starts June 7th and will take place in France. The team is going for their fourth World Cup title.
- Emily Hixson