A historic step forward after years of negotiations. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement “historical” with the associations of players of its selections, which formalizes equal remuneration between the women’s team and the men’s team.
“The two collective agreements, which will run until 2028, make it possible to achieve equal wages through identical economic terms”, details the federation in a press release, a few months after the announcement of a first preliminary agreement with a group of players. “These economic terms include identical compensation for all competitions, including the World Cup, and the introduction of the same commercial revenue sharing mechanism for both teams. Thanks to these agreements, the players of the American national team will remain among the highest paid in the world.the statement said.
The announcement comes a few months after that of a first preliminary agreement of the federation with a group of players, including the star Megan Rapinoe, who had started legal proceedings against the authority in 2019. The federation (US Soccer) had then already committed to paying the women’s national team at the same level as the men’s team.
With the collective agreement now ratified, the agreement must now be approved by a court to end the lawsuits.
Sharing of World Cup winnings
The biggest sticking point was the question of income received from participation in the World Cups. Until now, the American football federation granted its bonuses according to the payments of Fifa, which calculates them itself according to the progress of a team in the tournament. Where the women’s team reigns almost unchallenged on the international scene (four World Cup titles, and as many gold medals at the Olympic Games), the noticeable differences in earnings in the FIFA grid mean that they have affected much less than their male counterparts.
Example: the bonus of more than 32 million euros granted to French footballers during their global success in 2018, while only 3.4 million euros were paid to the Americans during their 2019 world title. Worse, in In 2014, American players – eliminated in the round of 16 – received 4.5 million euros while their female counterparts only received 1.45 million for winning their competition.
On this point, the unions have therefore agreed to share the payments from Fifa from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as well as those generated for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Ditto for the next editions 2026 and 2027. Each player will thus receive bonuses based on his appearance in the field. A world first.
“All seated at the same table”
The question of these bonuses was an important part of the lawsuit brought by the American women’s team in 2019, and notably brought by Megan Rapinoe, accusing the federation of “stubbornly refuse” to pay its players fairly.
For the former international Cindy Parlow Cone, reconverted president of the American football federation in 2020, everything accelerated when the different groups finally gathered around the same table. “There were times when I thought everything was going to fall apart. It used to be that trying to negotiate a collective agreement with the women and then turn around and negotiate the terms of the collective agreement with the men and vice versa was really difficult. I think the real turning point was when we finally found ourselves all in the same room, sitting at the same table, working together and collaborating to achieve this goal. I think that’s where the turning point really happened.”
The terms of these collective agreements also introduce – and for the first time – a commercial revenue sharing mechanism (broadcasters, partners and sponsors), with bonuses for sold-out matches. For smaller tournaments, especially those organized by the American federation, players will also receive identical match bonuses. For friendlies, footballers will receive appearance bonuses and performance bonuses, the amount of which will vary according to the result of the match and the rank of the opponent.
“Just value”
“I feel a lot of pride for the girls who are going to see it all come to fruition and be recognized for their true worth rather than having to fight for it. My dad always told me that you weren’t supposed to be rewarded for something you were supposed to do. Paying men and women fairly is what we’re supposed to doenthuses the American striker Margaret Purce with the New York Times. So I’m not giving high marks, but I’m grateful for this accomplishment and for all the people who came together to make it happen.”
Now Nashville SC defender and National Team Players Association (USNSTPA) board member Walker Zimmerman hopes the deal “will awaken others to the need for this kind of change, and inspire Fifa and others around the world to move in this direction. […] They said that equal pay between men and women was not possible, but that did not stop us from moving forward and achieving it”.
Update: 4:44 p.m. with more background on this deal and the international situation.