[sphinx]

U.S. Soccer's lawyers just dynamited their own case with language in the most recent court filing that was so grotesquely insulting that ANY jury will find for the women. U.S. Soccer is now in the situation of groveling, necessarily, and taking the position that it's own legal filing does not represent its opinion. U.S. Soccer needs to shoot its lawyers, as well as any imbecile in management who approved the language used.

U.S. Soccer is the employer of both the men's and the women's national team players. The women win world championships. The men lose to Caribbean microstates. The women will win in the court of public opinion even without U.S. Soccer being stupidly insulting. The pay issue is complex and U.S. Soccer has a case. But they'll get their heads handed to them if they think insulting the women is a winning strategy.

[Colorado Doug]

The easy way to sort this out is not a lawsuit. Clearly the women’s team is better than the men’s team so just let the women compete at the same level and play against men’s teams. I’m sure that Rapino can show us just how awesome she is then.

[Alberta's Child]

The case may never even get to a jury.

The core argument of U.S. Soccer is that the women are paid less because they are playing under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement they signed. It is exceedingly rare for a U.S. court to let the law override a contract — especially a labor agreement — that was signed willingly by two parties.

[Svartalfiar]

U.S. Soccer is the employer of both the men's and the women's national team players. The women win world championships. The men lose to Caribbean microstates.

Really, no one cares about that. Which team is drawing more fans into the stadium? Which team is making more $$ for the league from sponsorships and related branding?

It doesn't matter if the women win every game they play for a decade - if they don't make the money to fund the league, then they end up going away.