After a six-year legal battle, past and present players of the US women's national football team have reached a landmark settlement with their governing body, US Soccer, over equal pay.
The deal is one of the biggest in the history of soccer in the USA, promising the players $24m ($33.2m AUD) — largely in back-pay — as well as a pledge to equalise bonuses and prize money to match their male colleagues.
US Soccer and the players arrived at the agreement on Tuesday, with most of the money being split between the group of several dozen athletes including World Cup stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and recently-retired Carli Lloyd.
The governing body also agreed to establish a $2 million retirement fund to support players in their post-football careers as well as other charitable initiatives.
Despite a US judge dismissing the players' equal pay arguments in 2020 (a decision that was appealed by the players), the eight-figure settlement is a tacit admission by US Soccer that payments for the women's and men's teams had been unequal for years.
As part of that legal battle, the two sides settled the working conditions portion in December 2020, which addressed inequalities in travel, accommodation, and playing surfaces. However, their equal pay claim was thrown out by a judge.
As such, Tuesday's settlement represents an unexpected victory for the players, who were not only able to secure financial compensation that redressed historical underpayments, but also a commitment from the federation to enact the same equal pay reforms the judge had rejected two years ago.
As part of the agreement, US Soccer has pledged to equalise prize money between the men's and women's national teams across all competitions, including World Cups, in the teams' next collective bargaining agreements.
"For our generation, knowing that we're going to leave the game in an exponentially better place than when we found it, is everything," Rapinoe said.
"That's what it's all about. Because, to be honest, there is no justice in all of this if we don't make sure it never happens again."
The drawn-out legal battle, which began in 2016, has taken a toll on US Soccer, both financially and in terms of their reputation.
The federation's fight against the reigning World Cup champions saw major sponsors withdraw, as well as fans turn their backs, particularly after court filings emerged where US Soccer claimed women players had less physical ability and responsibility than their male counterparts.
Outrage over those filings led to the resignation of former president Carlos Cordeiro, with ex-US women's national team player Cindy Parlow Cone replacing him in March 2020.
"This is just one step towards rebuilding the relationship with the women's team," Cone said.
"I think this is a great accomplishment and I'm excited about the future and working together with them. Now we can shift the focus to other things, most importantly, growing the game at all levels and increasing opportunities for girls and women."
The mechanisms for equalising World Cup bonuses is yet to be determined. Until now, US Soccer had based bonuses on payments from FIFA, which provided a $400 million prize pot for the men's World Cup in 2018, including $38 million to champions France, while the Women's World Cup was only given $30 million total, including $4 million to the winning USA team.
The men's and women's teams have already held joint negotiations with US Soccer, which is seeking a single collective bargaining agreement that covers both teams.
If such an agreement is reached, the men's players will likely have to agree to share or surrender millions of dollars in potential FIFA payments and funnel them to their women counterparts.
In doing so, they would follow the examples set by other nations including Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, and Brazil, all of whom have committed to closing the gender pay gap at national team level.
The US women's team have won four World Cups since the tournament began in 1985, while the men's team has not reached the semi-final stage since 1930.
