Professional male athletes consistently out-earn their female counterparts.
In a historic first, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) on Wednesday announced it had reached a pay equity agreement with the men’s and women’s soccer teams, making it the first American national governing body to promise to pay its male and female athletes equally.
The USSF in a statement said it had reached two new collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with the national unions of both the men’s and women’s teams. Each team will now receive “identical compensation” for all competitions – including the FIFA World Cup – and are guaranteed the same commercial revenue-sharing mechanism, according to the agreements, which run through 2028.
“This is a truly historic moment. These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said Wednesday in a statement.
The agreements also have the potential to bring about massive changes in other women’s sports across the nation – most of which have massive gender wage gaps.