U.S. Soccer has announced a landmark collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its women’s and men’s national teams, achieving the long sought-after goal of equal pay.
The two deals, which run through 2028, will pay the men and women identical amounts for performance-related goals such as game appearance fees and game bonuses, and will also see the two teams equally share a portion of its broadcast, partner and sponsorship revenue
The crux of the deal, however – and the reason it can rightly be considered equal pay – is that the men and women’s teams have agreed to split World Cup prize money from FIFA.
FIFA does not pay men and women equal World Cup prize money. For example, the USWNT got $4 million for winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup, while France got $38 million for winning the men’s World Cup a year earlier.
In a first-of-its-kind deal, the USWNT and USMNT have agreed to place 90 percent of the prize money from the 2022 and 2023 World Cup and split it evenly among both teams’ players.
“They said equal pay for men and women was not possible, but that did not stop us and we went ahead and achieved it,” said USMNT defender Walker Zimmerman, a member of the men’s national team leadership group. “We hope this will awaken others to the need for this type of change, and will inspire FIFA and others around the world to move in the same direction.”
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