Players including Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan tweeted that they would continue the pay fight.
Photo: bernadett szabo/ReutersThe U.S. women’s soccer team tasted something it is not accustomed to—defeat—when a federal judge on Friday gutted its claim that its employer, the U.S. Soccer Federation, discriminated against it by paying it less than the U.S. men’s team.
Now, the aftermath of that ruling, which came after more than a year of bitter rhetoric between the two sides, may pose an even more challenging situation for the team and the federation.
In a written decision, Judge R. Gary Klausner said the women hadn’t provided enough evidence of pay discrimination to take the issue to the scheduled June 16 trial. The women had bargained for a different pay structure than the men, one that promised them steadier compensation but a lower pay ceiling, Klausner wrote. He also concluded that from 2015-2019, the women were paid more than the men.
The back-to-back World Cup-winning U.S. women said they would appeal the decision. Star players including Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Christen Press tweeted that they would continue the fight.
Like a divorcing couple forced to stay home together during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. women’s team and U.S. Soccer must find a way to coexist despite the decision. The case is still scheduled to go to trial, albeit with a narrower focus that is far short of the sweeping pay-equity precedent the players reached for.
And while the team’s on-the-field activities are suspended because of the pandemic, one day the players will face returning to the pitch to play for an employer it waged a tough and so-far unsuccessful legal battle against. The parties are stuck with each other; there is no other team for the women to play for.
As the case continues, it also poses an uncomfortable social problem for everyone involved. The players and their legal team successfully rallied the team’s fans—and also its sponsors—behind their cause over the past year. Spectators chanted “Equal pay!” last year after they won their most recent World Cup.
U.S. Soccer, meanwhile, won a key hurdle in court but could continue to suffer in the court of public opinion.
“The women on this team and previous (U.S. women’s soccer) teams are role models for so many women and men in this country, and are arguably the most successful international team in our country’s history,” said Gabe Feldman, professor of sports law at Tulane University. “It’s hard (for U.S. Soccer) to be painted as the good party when you are battling this group of women in court.”
The U.S. women’s team celebrates after winning the World Cup.
Photo: Alessandra Tarantino/Associated PressJudge Klausner allowed to proceed to trial the women’s accusations of inferior treatment by the federation in travel and support services—“a relatively small financial piece, but any discrimination based on gender is damning,” Feldman said. Also, although claims under the Equal Pay Act can be difficult to prove, the Ninth Circuit, to which the case would be appealed, is large and unpredictable, he said.
U.S. Soccer’s victory—and the ruling is a huge win for the federation—could save it millions of dollars. The plaintiffs, via an expert’s analysis, had said they could be owed nearly $67 million in back pay.
But, Feldman said, “Although there was a significant financial exposure in this case, it’s unclear how much damage the federation has done through this dispute.”
As the U.S. men’s team continues to rebuild after its failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. women’s team is U.S. Soccer’s most celebrated and best-known asset.
The lawsuit has only brightened the spotlight on the women’s team. It has prompted sponsors to go to unusual lengths to publicly support the women—despite being a sponsor of the U.S. Soccer Federation overall.
Two sponsors, Coca-Cola and Visa, made the plaintiffs’ witness list for the women’s case. A Coca-Cola executive was scheduled to testify via video deposition on the company’s “commitment to the WNT, the popularity of the WNT in the eyes of Coca-Cola, and the drive to sponsor the USSF because of the WNT,” according to a March court filing.
A Visa executive was scheduled to testify on “Visa’s desire to have its sponsorship money…specifically allocated towards providing equal pay to members of the WNT” and on “Visa’s efforts to ensure that at least half of Visa’s investments would fund women’s soccer and/or the WNT.”
Also in March, U.S. Soccer sponsors including Coke, Visa, Deloitte and Budweiser publicly objected to arguments made by the federation in the women’s lawsuit that a “higher level of skill” and “more responsibility” are required of members of the men’s national team than the women’s team.
To be sure, the U.S. women are seen by many as politically polarizing—particularly after the release of a video during the World Cup of Rapinoe saying she wouldn’t visit Donald Trump’s White House if the team won.
But the number and profile of their followers have risen as the wins piled up and their cause continued.
On Thursday, Rapinoe hosted presumptive Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, for a live interview on her Instagram page—Rapinoe saying with a smile that she was available to be vice president.
Two days later, after the judge’s ruling, Joe Biden tweeted: “To @USWNT: don’t give up this fight. This is not over yet. To @USSoccer: equal pay, now. Or else when I’m president, you can go elsewhere for World Cup funding.”
The U.S. is co-hosting the 2026 men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico. The U.S. government generally doesn’t directly fund sporting events but “safety and security,” including federal intelligence and antiterrorism efforts, are a significant part of projected costs for the 2026 World Cup, according to a bid document.
A U.S. Soccer spokesman declined to comment on federation sponsors or on Biden’s tweet.
The bottom line: There is only one U.S. Soccer Federation and one U.S. women’s soccer team.
“These employees, they don’t have the ability to go work for another employer,” Feldman said. “So they are tied together, for better or worse. The question moving forward is, how do they work together in a way that minimizes these conflicts and adequately pays the women. It may be that litigation is the necessary way to do that. One would hope that there’s still room for settlement.”
Write to Rachel Bachman at rachel.bachman@wsj.com
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