If FIFA is viewed as a unity in which every athlete “does the same job”, then it’s patently unfair to have one subset paid differently from any other. Wouldn’t that make it unfair for a star to be paid more than a role player? That bothers me on a gut level. It may smack of casuistry, but I’d be more comfortable thinking of “the job” as being partly inclusive of the financial value an employee generates for the employer. Honestly, I dislike this whole framing, and I don’t even think that it’s necessary in order to justify paying the women *more* than the men—at least in the US.
Under a purely market-driven view, one would expect athletes’ pay to be reflective of their value to the organization. Worldwide, the men’s World Cup makes FIFA (and the USSF) more money than the women’s, so it makes sense—on this limited analysis—to pay the men more. From what I gather, that result is partly due to the way FIFA’s revenue sharing works. It doesn’t take into account that the US women’s team is more successful than the men’s by just about every metric, including non-game things like popularity and viewership. The primacy of men’s soccer worldwide lets FIFA’s revenue-sharing model hide the value of US women’s soccer.
I have been told by someone with more knowledge of the subject than myself (which is probably nearly everyone on this subject) that the women’s team actually brings in more money than the men’s team in this particular instance. Because they win. And Americans insist on winning.
What? The US men’s team has never won a single World Cup, so clearly they need the additional funding…
Yep. Meanwhile….
What a Maroon #2
hilarious
It depends on how you categorize things.
If FIFA is viewed as a unity in which every athlete “does the same job”, then it’s patently unfair to have one subset paid differently from any other. Wouldn’t that make it unfair for a star to be paid more than a role player? That bothers me on a gut level. It may smack of casuistry, but I’d be more comfortable thinking of “the job” as being partly inclusive of the financial value an employee generates for the employer. Honestly, I dislike this whole framing, and I don’t even think that it’s necessary in order to justify paying the women *more* than the men—at least in the US.
Under a purely market-driven view, one would expect athletes’ pay to be reflective of their value to the organization. Worldwide, the men’s World Cup makes FIFA (and the USSF) more money than the women’s, so it makes sense—on this limited analysis—to pay the men more. From what I gather, that result is partly due to the way FIFA’s revenue sharing works. It doesn’t take into account that the US women’s team is more successful than the men’s by just about every metric, including non-game things like popularity and viewership. The primacy of men’s soccer worldwide lets FIFA’s revenue-sharing model hide the value of US women’s soccer.
@Nullius in Verba
#4
But the market value depends on the distribution of income, which is skewed towards men.
The women’s team may be popular in the US, but less so elsewhere:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/article-two-toxic-legacies-of-womens-world-cup-hatred-of-var-and-loathing-of/
Well you’d kind of expect the US team to be more popular in the US than outside it, I think…
Personally I had never given them a second’s thought until Rapinoe said “We’re not going to the fucking White House” the other day.
@Nullius in Verba
I have been told by someone with more knowledge of the subject than myself (which is probably nearly everyone on this subject) that the women’s team actually brings in more money than the men’s team in this particular instance. Because they win. And Americans insist on winning.
Re #9
Yep.
http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/uswnt-us-soccer-revenues-lawsuit
“Two years ago Lewes FC became the first football club in the world to pay their women’s team the same wages as their men’s team.”
Apparently it is all working out very well!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-agony-and-the-ecstasy/2019/jul/16/lewes-fc-equal-pay-club-best-paid-player-woman