As reported by The Wall Street Journal (subscription) and numerous other media outlets, the U.S. Soccer Federation has announced a landmark labor agreement that will guarantee equal pay to players on both its men’s and women’s national teams, including the same game bonuses and World Cup prize money as well as providing equal appearance fees and shares of commercial revenue.
The agreements are an attempt to resolve a long-running dispute between two star teams with wildly divergent pay structures — and performance records. The US women have won the last two World Cup titles but claim they were paid less than the U.S. men who have a markedly lower performance rating, and who even failed to qualify at all for the 2018 tournament.
The Journal notes that the historic new deals are an attempt to eliminate those differences by creating “identical economic terms” for the both the men and women.
The deals were a critical element of a resolution for the $24 million equal pay suit brought by the women’s team against the U.S. Soccer federation.
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