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Posted on 07/09/2026 3:36:49 AM PDT by DFG
The USMNT (United States Men's National Team) was knocked out of the 2026 World Cup after their round-of-16 loss to Belgium this past Monday, but that didn’t stop them from earning a cool $16 million in FIFA prize money.
20 percent of that will go to U.S. Soccer, and the rest to the players.
And while that might have served as a silver lining after fizzling out of the tournament, the men's team will have to accept the fact that the 80 percent ($12.8 million) will actually be split with the USWNT (United States Women's National Team).
Under the U.S. Soccer Federation’s 2022 equal pay collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the men’s payout will be pooled with whatever the women earn in the 2027 tournament and split between the two teams after the federation takes its cut.
The whole setup stems from the big equal-pay push led by the U.S. women’s team. Back in 2019, several women’s players sued U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination. That eventually led to a 2022 settlement and brand-new collective bargaining agreements for both the men’s and women’s teams.
On the pitch, the USWNT has won four World Cups, while the men haven’t made it past the round of 16 since 2002. But performance doesn't equal revenue or payout.
The pay gap was obvious in the last cycle. The USMNT pocketed $13 million for reaching the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, while the USWNT earned just $1.87 million for reaching the same stage at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Spain, the 2023 Cup winners, earned just $4.29 million in FIFA prize money as champions.
The men’s national team generally generates significantly more revenue for U.S. Soccer than the women’s team, which is the core reason the pay debate has been so contentious.
The USWNT could make the World Cup final or even win it all and still bring in less ticket, broadcast, or merchandise revenue than a men's team that only makes it to the Round of 16.
Thanks to the CBA, the men’s larger paydays from higher revenue are helping to boost the women’s compensation. As my RedState colleague Nick Arama wrote following the women's devastating loss to Sweden in 2023, "FIFA pays out more for the men’s performance," which "means splitting equally means the men lose money, even though they’re the ones who are making more of it."
Yet everyone in the woke sports world felt this made things "equal."
As Inigo Montoya might say: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
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Paid for doing literally nothing, this is socialism.
Tell me again how women are oppressed, good grief!
If they want to be kept women just go back to the kitchen already!
Sounds like a divorce court order.
I’m very glad I have never paid to watch soccer.
The men agreed to this, but I can’t support it.
It’s like having to “tip out” the bus boys; some of whom don’t clean the tables very well.
It is the shame the women’s team is THAT good…but no one cares. So let’s punish the men.
Make this make sense to me.
Is this the same women’s team that protested America on the world stage?
I am very happy that I have never watched soccer .
Just plain wrong....should be proportional
Is this sharing deal how that pink purple haired former Womens player Megan Rapinoe made money? I believe she was retired off the Women’s team a while ago but when she played the main stream media loved to put her in front of a camera with her girlfriend, because she would bash President Trump, like they wanted her too. I seem to rememvber President Trump being asked about her and her comments once, and he responded “Who is that guy?”
The only ,and I mean the only good thing that came from the World cup being played in the USA, is the people that came over here saw how awesome our country is.
Let guess, this a rage bait article.
Likely this is the agreement they had in place for years and all the players are well aware of it when they signed up
That’s TERRIBLE. Women. 😒
The men accepted this agreement so screw them. They deserve it.
Let transgenders compete with them then.
Grifter Welfare Queens
Explain to me how this is not straight up communism.
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”. _Karl Marx
Because men and women are equal after all...
Soccer men deserve soccer women. The countries who are big into soccer are all about handouts and collectivism so what’s the problem?
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