What's Wrong with America: USA Women's Soccer Edition

[Gorgiass]

I almost spit out a mouthful of sandwich when this came on the deli's TV other day at lunch break, and really think the topic deserves its own thread but will continue here. It's foolish to compare numbers when the teams aren't even in the same league. Just because both are involved in the same occupation doesn't mean they're doing the same "work". An employee in San Francisco is going to be making much less than an employee in Mississippi, doesn't mean they're being discriminated against.

This pay scale is exactly what these women, like most women, requested - more job security and benefits, less risk-based reward. This is one of the fundamental reasons for the national earnings gap in the first place. From - http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/04/01/u-s-soccer-fires-back-womens-claims/

“It quite frankly seems odd, from a legal perspective, that the players are complaining about a compensation system that they insisted upon, including the very economic terms they’re now complaining about,” Sauer said in a statement. “This is a model of compensation structure that the Players’ Association negotiated specifically for in prior negotiations.”

The lawyer went on to point out, “The Players’ Association asked for and received a structure of guaranteed salary and benefits, rather than pursue their compensation on a pay-to-play basis like the men. That whole process involves tradeoffs.”

Sauer also said there are certain benefits and types of compensation that the female players get that the male players don’t get including certain types of severance pay if they are cut and insurance and injury benefits.

Further, federation spokesman Neil Buethe insisted the numbers the women cited in their lawsuit are incorrect.

“During the last four years, the men’s national team revenues have been significantly higher than the women’s national team’s,” the spokesman said. “The numbers provided in the complaint are at times inaccurate, misleading or even both.”

Furthermore, soccer's main audience is outside the US and that's where the sponsors and dollars come from. Compared to men's and women's prize purses, the US women's team actually took home nearly double the prize money when they won the Cup vs the winning men's team. From - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...occer-players-close-to-scoring-equal-pay.html

Friday’s festivities won’t make upset fans forget that the women’s team took home $2 million for their momentous victory, less than a quarter of the $9 million that the U.S. men’s and other teams were awarded last year after losing in the first round of the men’s World Cup. (The Germans, meanwhile, took home $35 million for the championship.)

But the total prize pool for the men’s tournament was $576 million—40 times the $15 million prize pool for the women’s games.

The Women’s World Cup generated $17 million in sponsor revenue compared to the $529 million revenue pile for last year’s (men’s) World Cup tournament.
But if you do the math, the U.S. women’s team pocketed more of that revenue—roughly 11 percent—than the 6.6 percent given to the Germans.

Sunday night’s women’s final saw a record viewership: 25.4 million viewers tuned in to Fox, making it the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history.
...
But they weren’t even in the same ballpark as the men’s tournament, which drew in a global average of 188.4 million TV viewers per game.

There’s been understandable outrage about U.S. women’s soccer players’ meager salaries, with emphasis on the women’s minimum salary of $6,842 compared to the male players’ new $60,000 minimum, up from last season’s $36,500 minimum.

But the women’s salaries would jump considerably if more people were paying to watch women’s sports—and if more people attended the games, and sponsorships sold well.

Coates said that the stars of the U.S. women’s team make considerably more money from endorsement deals than the stars of the U.S. men’s team. And they should, given how much better the women’s team is and how much better-known their players are.

Also bear in mind when the mainstream news talks about annual earnings that the World Cup takes place once every four years, and Men's and Women's WC take place in different years, so when they tell us that the women's team outearned the men's team in a certain year you can be certain they're using data from a year when the women's WC took place and the men's didn't.

 

[kosko]

^ Very good read. Thanks for that information. I stand corrected in trying to make a case for the women. Assumptions via performance and branding I did believe they had a shot. Looking into it now deeper and the familiar face of "benefits" creeping up it is no surprise they make less make "less". They dont make less though since they take home a larger slice of thier WCs pie.

 

[debeguiled]

This reminds me of a hilarious progression of tweets from Mike Gibbons, co-creator of Tosh 2.0, when he was sitting in a bar, trying to enjoy the Women's World Cup in 2015:

(Link is here https://twitter.com/GibbonsTime/status/614604171640090624, if you want to see it directly, but I will just quote it:

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

My daughter just asked a good question, "Daddy, what do you mean any division 3 boy's college team would beat US or China 15-0?"

6:20 PM - 26 Jun 2015

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

These women soccer players are total pros. It's like watching 11 Danica Patricks.

6:15 PM - 26 Jun 2015

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

Missed kicks get the whole bar jumping!! And there are so many!! Thrill ride!!!


6:00 PM - 26 Jun 2015

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

Women's soccer so much cooler to watch than men's. World class beautiful athletes and far fewer disruptive highlights.


5:48 PM - 26 Jun 2015

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

Gooaaaaaal!!! And no need for slow-mo replay. It was not that fast.


5:39 PM - 26 Jun 2015

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

Just because I haven't written anything in the 1st half doesn't mean I'm not live tweeting all the action in this Women's World Cup.

5:24 PM - 26 Jun 2015

Mike Gibbons
‏@GibbonsTime

Now is not the time to remember that many boys high school soccer teams could have won this game. Not the time.


6:52 PM - 22 Jun 2015

 

[DarkTriad]

To me, the funniest part is that their "pay based on revenue" argument is exactly what they're arguing AGAINST in Title IV actions.

 

[NilNisiOptimum]

And on cue, one of the women leading the lawsuit has been arrested for DUI. http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/abby-wambach-arrested-on-suspicion-of-dui-in-portland-040316

 

[Foolsgo1d]

You may approach similar pay in the US but in Europe, Africa and South America they will laugh you out of the stadium and blare a horn in your face.

Womens sports are boring unless its a showcase of their bodies and football even moreso. Half of the English football team is bi or full-on lesbian and whilst they played well in their own tournament they would get annihilated by a high school team and that is not something which gets men, who are the primary revenue generators of sport, to watch them.

 

[Delta]

The Daily Show weighs in on the pay gap issue with a segment that's aggressively stupid even by their standards:

http://www.sportsgrid.com/soccer/da...e-uswnt-should-make-as-much-as-the-mens-team/

The most absurd quote comes just after midway through the video:

And you know what makes this pay disparity even worse, or even more unfair, is the fact that the U.S. men's soccer team are nowhere near as good as the women. Like they're a fine time, but American women dominate the sport.

My high school basketball team dominated our division, while the New York Knicks have a losing record. Therefore, the New York Knicks are nowhere near as good as my high school team. I don't understand why their players make so much more money.

 

[Recovering Beta]

Serious man jaw on that girl in the photo. Not attractive.

 

[911]

I used to like the USWNST until I realized that it was a negative role model for girls. Many of the stars are raging 3rd wave type gay activists and poor role models.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/9636...word-gay-because-she-is-excellent-and-we-love

Scroll to the bottom of this link:
https://kickitlikemom.com/2015/04/06/5-reasons-to-attend-a-professional-womens-soccer-match-asap/


Also, the US women's team tends to overwhelm other teams through shear physicality. US star Abby Wombach is 6" 180lb, she scores most of her goals by shoving around smaller feminine defenders.

 

[WalterBlack]

One of the US dyke players is trying to ride the BLM gravy train...

'It was a little nod to Kaepernick': Megan Rapinoe kneels for Star-Spangled Banner

Colin Kaepernick’s protest against racial injustice in the US appears to be slowly spreading with the soccer international Megan Rapinoe kneeling during the national anthem before Seattle Reign’s NWSL game against the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday.

Kaepernick’s protest first came to prominence last week, and has sparked debate across America. His latest refusal to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner came on Thursday when his team, the San Francisco 49ers, played the San Diego Chargers. He was joined by his team-mate Eric Reid.

On Sunday, Rapinoe said her gesture was a nod towards Kaepernick. “It was very intentional,” Rapinoe told American Soccer Now after the game. “It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.

“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.”

Rapinoe is one of USA’s most talented players, and helped her team to gold at the 2012 Olympics as well as victory at the 2015 World Cup. She has long been known to speak her mind and is an ambassador for Athlete Ally, a charity that combats homophobia in sports.

Kaepernick has received criticism and support for his protest with some saying it is disrespectful to the military, with others insisting his stand represents the freedom of Americans to express themselves. On Thursday, the quarterback pledged to donate $1m to community projects as part of his drive towards equality.

 

[Barron]

The pic of her kneeling with mass empty stands in the background serves as a subtle reminder:

Absolutely No One cares about female sports and female athletes. No one would have even heard about this if not for the journalist satisfying their equalist quota by covering it.

Attention Whoring for Dykes and Future Faggots Everywhere! Is the real headline

 

[Pride male]

^I care about the Japanese soccer team.

 

[Leonard D Neubache]

This seems as good a thread as any to mention a recent observation of mine.

The final for the Women's Australian Football League was broadcast on free to air television recently and despite turning a rather sparse and anaemic the crowd audio seemed to indicate that it was a packed 100k stadium on steroids.

Every goal and mark was (apparently) met with thunderous applause, but when they screwed up and raised the cameras to show empty stands beyond the front rows it really revealed how desperate they are to push this nonsense.

Canned applause from non-existent crowds. Pathetic.

 

[Buck Wild]

This seems as good a thread as any to mention a recent observation of mine.

The final for the Women's Australian Football League was broadcast on free to air television recently and despite turning a rather sparse and anaemic the crowd audio seemed to indicate that it was a packed 100k stadium on steroids.

Every goal and mark was (apparently) met with thunderous applause, but when they screwed up and raised the cameras to show empty stands beyond the front rows it really revealed how desperate they are to push this nonsense.

Canned applause from non-existent crowds. Pathetic.

Amazing. Potemkin crowds. I hesitate to even ask what's next---these people get more Stalinist by the day.

 

[Leonard D Neubache]

One of the US dyke players is trying to ride the BLM gravy train...
...

...
On Sunday, Rapinoe said her gesture was a nod towards Kaepernick. “It was very intentional,” Rapinoe told American Soccer Now after the game. “It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.

“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. ...

Which liberties are they? Free speech, even if it hurts queer feelings? The right to bear arms even if you're a redneck? Yeah, I bet this bull-dyke cunt is really keen on "protecting liberties".

 

[The White Wolf]

This isn't the first time the US women's national team has lost to a mens youth side. But 5-2 to Under 15 boys Academy really shows the ladies' prowess Don't expect to see this covered on SportsCenter :lol:

http://www.cbssports.com/soccer/new...-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

 

[Transsimian]

Sorry to break the jerk, but this is the actual Japanese women's soccer team.

 

[Paracelsus]

No surprises there. In Japan efficiency is prized above all: the women's soccer team can also play in the men's.

 

[rudebwoy]

This isn't the first time the US women's national team has lost to a mens youth side. But 5-2 to Under 15 boys Academy really shows the ladies' prowess Don't expect to see this covered on SportsCenter :lol:

http://www.cbssports.com/soccer/new...-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

I just saw this on the Dailymail website.

What an embarrassment.

I love the way this got little publicity.

 

[Hell_Is_Like_Newark]

This isn't the first time the US women's national team has lost to a mens youth side. But 5-2 to Under 15 boys Academy really shows the ladies' prowess Don't expect to see this covered on SportsCenter :lol:

http://www.cbssports.com/soccer/new...-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

The US women's Olympic hockey team had a similar outcome when they played against a bunch of high school age boys. I think boys were on the JV team to boot.