Players from the United States women’s national team filed a lawsuit seeking equal pay from the U.S. Soccer Federation in March 2019 and in December 2020 agreed to a proposed settlement regarding non-compensation claims.
In May 2020, a federal judge rejected the women’s team arguments about receiving unequal pay compared to the U.S. men’s national team. However, the women’s team continues to demand change from the U.S. Soccer Federation.
According to an official U.S. Soccer press release, U.S. Soccer agreed to new working condition policies regarding hotel accommodations, staffing, venues and travel. U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said she believes there is still work to accomplish to reach equality for the U.S. women’s national team.
“Just as important, we want to work with the USWNT on growing women’s soccer here in the United States and across the globe,” Cone said. “Part of this is encouraging FIFA to invest equally in the men’s and women’s game, including increasing the World Cup prize money. I will lend my voice and efforts to making this happen not only for the USWNT but for all women’s national team players and everyone who believes in the women’s game throughout the world.”
California Baptist University’s women soccer team players Kacey Dennis and Brodi Blomdahl said they believe it is unfair that women competing at the national level are compensated less than men.
“If you look at the women’s U.S. national team, who had so much success over the years that they deserve to be paid the same, if not more than men get paid because they are more successful than the U.S. men’s national team,” said Brodi Blomdahl, junior communication sciences and disorders major.
Blomdahl said she believed at CBU the fan base for women’s soccer and men’s soccer is equal in size, but Kacey Dennis, junior biomedical science major, said she believes more could be done to better support women’s soccer.
“I believe that schools put more of their attention on men’s sports, which can then be correlated with the amount of fan base women’s soccer gets,” Dennis said. “People can spread our program more through social media. I think that certain sports are highlighted more than others and that women’s soccer at CBU deserves more recognition due to the accolades we have accomplished in the past.”
CBU’s women’s soccer season has been practicing in preparation for their upcoming season. Lancers can show support by posting on social media and watching online streams of their games.
