US Soccer Announces Its Support for Equal Pay Legislation Before Congress - U.S. Soccer

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CHICAGO (Aug. 6, 2021)— U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone sent letters on July 30, 2021, to the co-sponsors of the Even Playing Field Act and the Equal Pay for Team USA Act of 2021 strongly supporting both pieces of legislation.

U.S. Soccer is committed to equal pay and is proud to support these pieces of legislation which seek to ensure that all national governing bodies offer equal opportunity, including investment, promotional support, working conditions and compensation for their athletes, staff and other senior officials.

The full text of both letters is available below.

U.S. Soccer Letter Supporting Even Playing Field Act

July 30, 2021

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

United States Senate

331 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Jackie Speier

U.S. House of Representatives

2465 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Lois Frankel

U.S. House of Representatives

2305 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Sylvia Garcia
U.S. House of Representatives1620
Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Patty Murray

United States Senate

154 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Brenda Lawrence

U.S. House of Representatives

2463 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Veronica Escobar

U.S. House of Representatives

1505 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Senators Feinstein and Murray and Representatives Speier, Lawrence, Frankel, Escobar and Garcia:

The U.S. Soccer Federation’s (U.S. Soccer) core mission is to make soccer, in all its forms, the

preeminent sport in the United States. We do this by supporting players, coaches, referees and

other senior officials at all levels, including our 21 national teams and more than 100 member

organizations in communities across the country. We are especially proud of our senior national

teams and continue to celebrate the success of the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) as

they compete for a record fifth Gold Medal in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

U.S. Soccer is steadfast in our support of both our senior national teams and is 100 percent

committed to equal pay for our senior national team players. We provide members of the

USWNT and U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) with unparalleled compensation and

benefits, placing them both among the highest paid national teams in the world.

We strongly support the Even Playing Field Act. It is important that all national governing bodies

(NGBs) offer equal opportunity, including in investment, promotional support, working

conditions and compensation for their athletes, staff and other senior officials and that NGBs are held accountable for their actions.

U.S. Soccer has new leadership, including me as U.S. Soccer President and Will Wilson as CEO,

along with a new Chief Legal Officer and new Chief Commercial Officer. This new leadership is

fully focused on addressing player concerns about equal pay. As a former USWNT player, and

as President of U.S. Soccer, I am committed to fair and equitable compensation, regardless of

gender. To that end, U.S. Soccer worked with the USWNT players to resolve the Title VII

working conditions portion of their recent lawsuit, which includes venue selection, field surface,

accommodations, staffing and charter flights. We believe the ability to come to an agreement on these issues demonstrates the commitment of U.S. Soccer’s new leadership to finding a new way forward with the USWNT. Even while the appeals process advances on the equal pay aspect of the lawsuit, U.S. Soccer will continue to seek to resolve this issue with the players outside of court.

U.S. Soccer has offered to pay the USWNT using the exact same structure and with the exact

same game bonus amounts as the USMNT for the games that U.S. Soccer controls. But the

players are also asking U.S. Soccer to pay them an additional $100 million, which represents the

historic difference between the prize money available to the winning federations in previous

FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cups, as well as the projected prize money difference between

the upcoming FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cups. This is a funding source that is not

controlled by U.S. Soccer and is determined by FIFA. If U.S. Soccer were to make up for FIFA’s

prize money gap, it would likely bankrupt the federation, taking away millions of dollars from

our 19 other national teams, youth development programs and training and licensing programs

for coaches and referees.

While FIFA has announced an investment of $1 billion for women’s soccer, the difference in

prize money remains stark. U.S. Soccer will remain vigilant in pressing for equal prize money on

the international stage, and U.S. Soccer has already been advocating for FIFA to increase the

prize money for the Women’s World Cup. That gap between the Men’s and Women’s World

Cup was most recently $34 million ($38 million for the 2018 Men’s World Cup winners and $4

million for the 2019 Women’s World Cup winners) and the gap is expected to increase.

If U.S. Soccer were to pay more to make up for FIFA’s prize money gap, it would have less

money to develop the next generation and grow the sport for the future. While U.S. Soccer is a

global leader in investing in women’s soccer and driving growth of the women’s game across the world, other countries are investing large sums of money in their women’s development

programs. If the U.S. wants to maintain its edge, it is critical that U.S. Soccer continue playing a

leading role in growing the women’s domestic game in the United States.

Below are a few ways U.S. Soccer has invested and is continuing to invest in growing the game

for all:

After helping to spearhead the creation of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) almost nine years ago, U.S. Soccer has provided significant support to the league through player salaries, league office support, assistance with marketing, broadcast and sponsorship agreements, and efforts to expand the league.
We will continue building on the millions of dollars we have invested in our youth programs, including the tens of millions of dollars we invested in our women’s development academy.
US Soccer launched the SheBelieves campaign in 2015 to empower women and girls and to continue growing women’s soccer in the United States and across the globe. Each year, the USWNT hosts other national teams for the SheBelieves Cup and U.S. Soccer hosts the SheBelieves Summit.
The Federation will use the 2026 Men’s World Cup, which is projected to be the biggest sporting event in world history, to generate additional interest in women’s soccer and grow the game for women and girls all across the country.
The Federation is discussing the possibility of bidding on the 2031 Women’s World Cup.

On behalf of all of us at U.S. Soccer, I thank you for your continued interest in this matter and

for your support of players, coaches, referees and other senior officials across our Federation.

We remain committed to building on the success of our teams and continuing to grow soccer

here in the U.S. at every level of the game and we’re confident that working together we can do

just that. We believe the Even Playing Field Act will help hold U.S. Soccer and other NGBs

accountable as we continue to grow our sport and broaden our reach and we are grateful for your support of those ongoing efforts.

Sincerely,

Cindy Parlow Cone

President

U.S. Soccer Letter Supporting Equal Pay for Team USA Act of 2021

July 30, 2021

The Honorable Maria Cantwell

United States Senate

511 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito

United States Senate

172 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators Cantwell and Capito: