Equal pay for women's soccer or no Fed funding bill

[Sal]

I don't really follow FIFA and their transfer deals, but a quick research shows that the prices have been ramping up through the years - where before the 1950s, or thereabouts, it was not usual for players to transfer between  teams, I reckon, because the prices were so much lower - which meant huge salaries for players now. I dunno why women's soccer has not followed this trend, the usual surmised culprit, ignoring outliers, is the revenue generated from men's soccer matches compared to women's. This isn't the case for all countries though.

for FIFA's own reports:
https://www.fifatms.com/data-reports/reports/

Wikipedia article on the most expensive transfers for +120 years (for men):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mo..._transfers
(there's no such Wikipedia article, yet, for women's transfer)

It shows that, for outgoing, the highest recorded transfers is from USA:
http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2018/...er-market/

[BryanS]

It would be precisely what one would do if one wanted to kill the sport of women's soccer. The law of supply and demand is brutal. There is simply not enough money being made by women's soccer teams to pay them the same. The industry is not sexist, the fans are  

The whole overall societal system is sexist, and we all partake in it. Let's not absolve ourselves of this responsibility by putting it all on a select group of "others" who we have nothing to do with (in this case, "the fans").

Yes, well, I still am not buying any tickets, and that has nothing to do with gender--I just don't care about soccer. I think your point runs into a problem in that it's quite difficult to force people do care.

[GrandizerII]

The whole overall societal system is sexist, and we all partake in it. Let's not absolve ourselves of this responsibility by putting it all on a select group of "others" who we have nothing to do with (in this case, "the fans").

Yes, well, I still am not buying any tickets, and that has nothing to do with gender--I just don't care about soccer. I think your point runs into a problem in that it's quite difficult to force people do care.

To be clear, I didn't charge you with making it about gender, I said that you and I knowingly/unknowingly, consciously/subconsciously partake in a culture that does make it about constructed gender differences.

In the case of sports, women athletes doing sports tends to be seen as something akin to "adorable" at best, men's sports tend to be seen as the real thing that most everyone gets excited about. And that is because, as a society, we've been conditioned to view it this way. Hence, why people don't give much shit about women's sports as they do men's sports.

---

Furthermore, despite a reputation to the contrary, the US prefers the humility of a Jim Craig to the self-aggrandizing bullshit of a Megan Rapinoe, it's disgusting. You never heard Jim Craig say 'I deserve this'.

Rapinoe does come off as highly narcissistic, but it's also clear people are quick to condemn women who are seen as a threat to male dominance for actions that men would otherwise get away with or cop less shit for.

[Shell B]

The federal funding bill shouldn’t exist anyway, so whatevs.

[Aegon]

Pay in pro sports is not dependent on skill. It's dependent on how much money fans are willing to pay to see them / buy their shit.

I actually sat next to a WNBA team on a flight out of Phoenix last month. I asked one of the players about it, and she got real mad because people care about income inequality but dont give a shit about their games. The NBA is actually *losing* money by owning the WNBA.

If you want to see equal pay in professional sports the best thing you can do is support women's sports by actually attending their games and demonstrating interest. How many equal pay advocates follow the WNBA? Or follow the US women's soccer players when they're playing at their domestic clubs?

It's not enough to say you want them to be paid more all while not actually demonstrating interest in them (aside from highly publicized international play.)

[Amarok]

How many equal pay advocates follow the WNBA? Or follow the US women's soccer players when they're playing at their domestic clubs?

I would imagine plenty if not most but the problem is weather they are a big enough group to matter 

It's not enough to say you want them to be paid more all while not actually demonstrating interest in them (aside from highly publicized international play.)

Again do you have any statics to say they don't ?

I actually sat next to a WNBA team on a flight out of Phoenix last month. I asked one of the players about it, and she got real mad because people care about income inequality but dont give a shit about their games. The NBA is actually *losing* money by owning the WNBA.

That hardly seems conclusive or quantifiable

Pay in pro sports is not dependent on skill. It's dependent on how much money fans are willing to pay to see them / buy their shit.

Which is why the current model of sports sucks

[Aegon]

How many equal pay advocates follow the WNBA? Or follow the US women's soccer players when they're playing at their domestic clubs?

I would imagine plenty if not most but the problem is weather they are a big enough group to matter 

It's not enough to say you want them to be paid more all while not actually demonstrating interest in them (aside from highly publicized international play.)

Again do you have any statics to say they don't ?

Yeah... the viewership/ratings and live attendance say they don't. They're both pretty damn low, especially compared to the men's counterpart.

In terms of soccer, I'd love to conduct a poll that asks, "Do you think the women's US soccer team should be paid the same as the men's," with the follow-up question: "Which NWSL team does Megan Rapinoe play for?"

I actually sat next to a WNBA team on a flight out of Phoenix last month. I asked one of the players about it, and she got real mad because people care about income inequality but dont give a shit about their games. The NBA is actually *losing* money by owning the WNBA.

That hardly seems conclusive or quantifiable

WNBA at Crossroads After Losing Nearly $12 Million Last Season

And that's with paying the players an average of $79k/year. Something tells me they'd be far deeper in the hole if they received hundreds of thousands or millions. This is straight from the horse's mouth. The Phoenix Mercury ride coach.

Pay in pro sports is not dependent on skill. It's dependent on how much money fans are willing to pay to see them / buy their shit.

Which is why the current model of sports sucks

[/quote]

Okay, but do you seriously think that we're going to change that model? This is capitalism 101.

[Shell B]

I thought the taking in as much money argument was debunked earlier in this thread.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I thought the taking in as much money argument was debunked earlier in this thread.

It was, but here's a reminder for those who may have missed it:

"From 2016 to 2018, women's games generated about $50.8 million in revenue compared with $49.9 million for the men, according to U.S. soccer's audited financial statements. In 2016, the year after the World Cup, the women generated $1.9 million more than the men."

But only about one-quarter of U.S. Soccer's total operating revenue can be attributed to gate revenues, according to the federation's financial documents. The other revenues come mainly from broadcasting and sponsorships, and it's difficult to parse out which teams contribute more to these revenues because U.S. Soccer sells sponsorships and broadcasting rights as a bundled package.

Still, there's reason to think that the recent success and popularity of the women's team is boosting revenues: Nike chief executive Mark Parker said that the U.S. women's team home jersey "is now the number one soccer jersey, men's or women's, ever sold on Nike.com in one season," according to The Washington Post.

By the only metrics that can be reliably determined, the US women's team generates more revenue than the men's team, and have done so since 2016.

Boru

[Amarok]

I would imagine plenty if not most but the problem is weather they are a big enough group to matter 

Again do you have any statics to say they don't ?

Yeah... the viewership/ratings and live attendance say they don't. They're both pretty damn low, especially compared to the men's counterpart.

In terms of soccer, I'd love to conduct a poll that asks, "Do you think the women's US soccer team should be paid the same as the men's," with the follow-up question: "Which NWSL team does Megan Rapinoe play for?"

That hardly seems conclusive or quantifiable

WNBA at Crossroads After Losing Nearly $12 Million Last Season

And that's with paying the players an average of $79k/year. Something tells me they'd be far deeper in the hole if they received hundreds of thousands or millions. This is straight from the horse's mouth. The Phoenix Mercury ride coach.

Which is why the current model of sports sucks

Okay, but do you seriously think that we're going to change that model? This is capitalism 101.

1.That wasn't my question . You asked how many people who support equal pay attended games . My question was even if every one of them did would it make a difference? as in are they a big enough demographic to matter? .To your follow up question team USA and need I mention she gets plenty of media attention and it hardly matter as a lot of soccer fans care about clubs and teams not players .

2. Well were not going to change it with that attitude and that's my point capitalism is terrible for sport .Funny enough the first person to point that out was the founder of the NHL.