Champion Female Soccer Players Make Far Less Money Than Male Players
The champion U.S. women’s soccer team earns far less than male players.
— -- More than 25 million people watched the U.S. women’s national soccer team earn their third FIFA Women’s World Cup title on Sunday.
The U.S. has more Women’s World Cup titles than any other country, and Sunday’s final -- a 5-2 defeat of Japan -- was the most-viewed soccer game in U.S. history.
When it comes to money, though, the ladies fall far short.
The website Sporting Intelligence reports the average salary in the U.S. men’s soccer league, Major League Soccer, is $305,000. For women, the average salary is $14,000, according to Fusion.
As for prize money, Reuters reports the total for the men’s FIFA World Cup is $576 million, while it’s about $15 million for the women, according to Business Insider.
Last year, the U.S. men’s national soccer team, which failed in its bid to make it to the finals of the World Cup, was paid $9 million in prize money, according to Reuters. The American women -- the 2015 World Cup champions -- will earn $2 million, reports Business Insider.
In addition to compensation inequality, female soccer players are also fighting battles on other fronts.
On Monday, England’s soccer federation tweeted that its own women’s team – which lost to Japan in the semi-final round of this year’s World Cup – would “go back to being mothers, partners and daughters ... ." The tweet has since been deleted.
Female soccer players may not be playing on a level field, but they are still scoring some financial wins.
After their triumphant victory at the World Cup, sales of U.S. women’s team jerseys rocketed by 3,000 percent, according to online retailer Fanatics.com.
Experts predict that more female players could secure high-profile endorsement deals, much like Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Christen Press have done.