“Equal Play, Equal Pay.” A now common saying that has been the central argument during protests across the country for the Women’s soccer team to receive the same pay as men. 

After the six year lawsuit for equal pay, the United States Women’s Soccer Team received a multi-million dollar payment from the soccer federation to equalize their pay amongst their male counterparts. 

This lawsuit is the first time a women’s sports team sued for gender discrimination, and were successful with their lawsuit. 

Starting in 2016, players: Megan Rapino, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo presented a complaint about the wage discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 

Three years later, the national women’s soccer team filed a lawsuit against the US Soccer at California federal court for committing the same discrimination. 

While the 28 women soccer players on the national women’s soccer team were only getting paid if they won against a team that was on FIFA’s top 10 ranking, the US Soccer paid men a minimum of $5000 per game.

In May of 2020, a federal judge dismissed the claims of getting paid less for the same work and the differences in the structure of the men’s and women’s contracts. Other aspects of the suit related to the working conditions were settled later that year. 

Throughout the years, women’s soccer has performed significantly better than men’s. In 2015, women’s soccer made $20 million in revenue that season. 

In all the years of male and female sports, men have been paid significantly more, whether or not they actually performed better than the female team did.

This sexist norm that is seen in sports allows women to be faced with constant discrimination, which creates a pattern where women cannot achieve the same status and financial compensation as men, even though women work equally as hard. 

Despite Women’s soccer finally receiving equal pay, it sets a precedent for all other womens sports still being paid significantly less than mens sports, that they must be the best in order to have a chance at receiving the same pay as men.