So this is the second and final part of the podcast, releasing a day after South have limped away defeated to Calder United 6-1 in the semi final. The link to it from Sound Cloud will be included down the bottom, But I would like to further share my thoughts, some research and observations of the matter we discussed. Essentially this podcast was done after the victory over Heidelberg where Kelsey Minton scored the winner in extra time to clinch a semi final spot against Calder United. The topic we covered is a sensitive and controversial one, while everyone is mixed with euphoria and alcohol and no prior preparation while I’m shooting questions on the fly, what could possibly go wrong?
We centre our discussion around the professional women’s athletes in the soccer sphere who have been banging their drums and protesting through multiple platforms for their simple message, asking for equal pay. To fully understand what exactly this simple line means and elaborate on it, stems from the focal point of the American Women’s International football team demanding their federation to provide an equal amount of payments they receive compared to men’s when they play at an international level. The podcast may not clarify this clearly, as we can establish that at club level, it is strictly a capitalistic economy, where the men’s are well beyond the establishment of forming an attractive market of third party stakeholders to invest into the clubs and the competitive leagues around the world.
What we wish to now know is, is it necessary to spread the financial pool evenly in both men’s and women’s international teams from what the governing bodies have at play to spend on. Overall you could make a strong case for this to happen. Men’s don’t necessarily ‘NEED’ the extra amount from Football Federation Australia each time they represent the Socceroos as I am sure, for those plying their trade in Europe, they are making significant amount of financial gain already. But arguably, financial payments do hold some motivational value for the men to move away from their employer temporarily to represent their country.
It’s noteworthy to observe the action of the Dutch Football Federation, ” whose women finished second at this year’s World Cup — reportedly committed to paying its male and female footballers the same by 2023. ” (Ramsay, G CNN 2019) And the American’s are still engaged in a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation to achieve in their quest to receive equal pay.
CNN’s Ramsay had quoted Dutch Legend Frank de Boer, an opposition of the idea,
“I do believe when it comes to the economics of the game, as popularity keeps increasing it will lead to increased revenue and higher salaries in the women’s game, which is fantastic and what we all want to see.” but the fact of the equal pay agenda is just “ridiculous”…
“It’s the same like tennis,” in an interview with The Guardian. “If there are watching, for the World Cup final, 500 million people or something like that, and 100 million for a women’s final, that’s a difference. So it’s not the same.”And of course they have to be paid what they deserve … and not less, just what they really deserve. If it’s just as popular as the men, they will get it, because the income and the advertising will go into that.”But it’s not like that, so why do they have to earn the same? I think it’s ridiculous. I don’t understand that.”
So in essence, simple economics right? the more they play, the more attraction the gain, the more investment they receive yeah? Here is a fact:
“the women’s team has actually generated more revenue than the men’s since the 2015 USWNT’s World Cup win sparked a new level of American interest in the women’s game. According to financial reports from the U.S. Soccer Federation reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, USWNT games generated more total revenue than the USMNT games from 2016 through 2018: $50.8 million in revenue vs. $49.9 million for the men.” (Roberts, D 2019)
The fact of the matter is, some nations such as the United States have generated more revenue from women’s international games than men’s due to their achievements. However:
The overall prize purse for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was $400 million, and the winning team, France, got $38 million of that to divvy up among its players and staff. By comparison, the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup purse was $30 million, and the USWNT got $4 million of that. So the winning men’s team last year earned more than the entire Women’s World Cup purse this year. 2015, the USWNT prize purse was just $2 million. In 2014, the USMNT divvied up $9 million after exiting in the Round of 16. (Roberts)
In the discussion over soccer pay, it is key to distinguish between two separate spheres: regular season, where base pay is determined by U.S. Soccer, and World Cup years, in which payouts come from FIFA. (Roberts)
So could we present an argument to FIFA to encourage an increase into women’s international tournaments in order to create sustainability of living the life of a professional female athlete? The second argument is to also look into the national federations at their marketing strategies. This whole ongoing hysteria lasers in on specifically on equal pay, but I would like to agree and present Alvarez’s argument from The Guardian, who identifies investments into marketing as the critical error that failed to maintain the hype and support of the female American team.
Let’s look at the WNBA, whose marketing budget makes it difficult to build a fanbase – and therefore revenue – to support its athletes.
As Washington Mystics player Elena Delle Donne said last year: “We absolutely do not get promoted as our male counterparts do. Yes, I’m talking about the NBA. When you put millions of dollars into marketing athletes and allowing fans to get to know a player they develop a connection with someone or something you are more engaged and continue to want to see/learn more. How is anyone going to get to know me or any of my colleagues if we aren’t marketed as much?”
The root of the problem isn’t what women are getting paid: it is the lack of foundation that they have to build from to capitalize on their talent. When we make equal pay the central part of the conversation, we miss all the smaller things that enable a system that hurts women’s advancement in sports and their opportunity to generate equal revenue, and in return warrant equal pay. And when the marketing isn’t there, it gives ammo to the usual critics who say: “See? They don’t generate enough interest.”
To conclude: The truth is, women’s sports will not achieve parity if the barriers that keep them in the trenches remain. We can talk about equal pay all we want, but it doesn’t matter until we start investing equally in how we market and promote these athletes.
References
Alvarez, A 2019, ‘I thought the main issue in women’s sports was equal pay. I was wrong’, The Guardian,
CNN, GR ‘Frank de Boer calls equal pay in international football “ridiculous”’, CNN,
Roberts, D 2019 ‘What critics get wrong about the U.S. women’s soccer pay debate’,
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