On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed an equal pay bill that will guarantee equal compensation for women competing in international sporting events, regardless of the fact that women’s sports get significantly less viewership and sponsorship than their male counterparts.
For a long time, the US women’s soccer team has been fighting to be paid as much as the men, and now the equal pay bill is headed to Joe Biden’s desk for his final signature.
“I… want to thank heroes like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, who brought that case against U.S. Soccer,” said Cantwell. “U.S. women’s soccer led the charge after winning the World Cup and making it clear to everyone that women athletes deserve equal pay.”
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It is important to note, however, that the 2019 Women’s World Cup had less than one-tenth of the interest as the 2018 Men’s World Cup. The average audience for the men was 191 million, while the women had an average audience of only 17.27 million, according to a report from 2020.
The obvious viewership discrepancies between men’s and women’s sports, not only in soccer but in most other sports, leave many people wondering where the additional money will come from if the women are unable to secure the major sponsors and advertisers that support the men’s teams.
R*I – TxPAT
