Posted on 03/31/2016 6:11:01 AM PDT by C19fan
Five key members of the United States womens national soccer team, the reigning Womens World Cup and Olympic champion, have filed a federal complaint charging U.S. Soccer with wage discrimination.
In the filing, the five players contend that the womens team is the driving economic force for U.S. Soccer, the governing body for the sport in America, even as its players are paid far less than their counterparts on the mens national team, their lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Who draws the larger crowds - men’s or women’s soccer teams?
One media report said the girls team made money and the guys actually lost money.
I have thoughly enjoyed women’s soccer and they play well.
They should get a Salary at least equal to the Men’s soccer.
Integrate soccer now Equal play for equal play. If everyone on team performs equally consistent then fine. However if there is an obvious difference, screw political correctness and.
This one is a slam dunk for the judge.
If people think race relations have been bruised under Barack Obama, just wait for gender issues under Princess Hillary Clinton. It will be in every aspect of society.
And it is time for 18 year old females to register for Selective Service if Clinton becomes president. You know, equality. In order to get those college loans and perhaps be alerted that they may have to fight for the Commander in Chief as she prepares the troops for battle.
I would love to see the merchandise and ticket sales for men and women up side to side. Who sells more? That’s typically what determines an athlete’s worth. Until then I can’t really make a comment either way.
In this country I think the women draw as well as the men not sure of TV rights ect.
Anyone who draws the larger audience, live or on TV, deserves more money. Pro athletes are just entertainers and should be paid as such.
On an emotional level I believe the women’s players should be paid the same as the men’s players. On a logical level if the Women’s team bring in a majority of the revenue, have better ratings, better represent the US in international competitions then they should be paid more. On a business level if the men have other avenues for their skills , professional teams etc, that require salary completion and the women do not then the hard core side of me says you pay based on completion for talent.
Politically both need to be paid the same if they are competing representing the country.
I would guess that this is going to hurt women’s’ soccer. The US team is good, but they’re a bunch of lesbians to begin with, and now they’re proving to be crybabies as well.
The men do.
FIFA PAYING WOMENS WORLD CUP VICTORS LESS THAN MALE LOSERS NOT SEXISM, JUST BASIC MATH
Challenge the men’s national team and bet your paychecks against theirs. Show the world you are equal in ability and then you can rightfully make the case for equal pay.
Or, if the women can demonstrate that they are generating equal or greater ticket sales and revenue, regardless of their ability on the field, they’d have a rightful grievance (a stronger one).
If they are neither better field than men nor better revenue generators than men, they have no case (assuming we still live in a sane world).
Along with laws that mandate equal pay, they also need laws that require an equal number of fans in the stands and viewers watching on TV.
Should the terms negotiated by one union be declared illegal because another union who happens to represent men demanded and got more?
Seems like the simplistic answer is for both players unions to join forces and merge.
Now for the nasty dose of reality... The captain of the USMNT is Clint Dempsey, who pulls down a record $6.9 million a year (roughly $345,000 per start.) The captain of the USWNT is Christie Rampone and appears to rake down a whopping $32,000 per season (roughly $1,600 per start.)
Her salary from USWNT is 2.25 times her entire salary from her professional soccer team (which plays in New Jersey at Rutgers University.) Clint Dempsey's USMNT salary is less than half of one start for Seattle's Sounders. (And incidentally, his salary is higher than the entire payroll of more than half the teams in MLS...)
I think there is a clear case of discrimination; the men's labor union is not demanding anywhere near enough money if they are being paid such paltry sums compared to their normal ‘salary’ with their MLS teams. And it further appears that the women's team should give back some of their salary, as they are currently collecting more than what any women's MLS soccer team offers their star players.
The women league draws larger crowds than the men, but that is the wrong question. What is the greater revenue, and what is the competition for top talent. The men’s game is a dog fight for top talent since it is a world wide enterprise that packs the crowds into stadiums even at the lower levels. The women’s version is dominated by the U.S. with the other teams hanging on. If there was real wage competition for women players, our women would be playing in Germany, Italy and the UK.
There argument is a liberal one, we deserve it, its not fair.
I think you meant to say that the other way around; an overestimation of attendance at women's professional soccer places it at just over 5,000 per game (an astounding feat considering only four of the 9 teams even have the capacity in their fields to handle those crowds.) MLS on the other hand draws an average of 21,000 per game.
At the world level, even dropping ticket prices down to $5 per seat, the opening round games for the Women's championship could barely draw 5,000, whereas the men's opening rounds were pulling down an average of 53,000.
Don’t have a men’s team and a women’s team but just have a single USA soccer team. Men can tryout, women can tryout, and who makes the team is based on their ability to play soccer.
But I’m sure that’s a little too much liberty for liberals to handle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.