Inside Flipboard

The Week in Review: U.S. Dominates in Women’s World Cup

Inside Flipboard / July 10, 2015

This past weekend, the United States Women’s National Team won the FIFA Women’s World Cup, beating Japan 5-2 for its first tournament victory since 1999. USA midfielder Carli Lloyd delivered a hat trick within the first 16 minutes of the game, putting the team up 3-0 and all but sealing the game’s fate.

The broadcast was watched by an estimated 26.7 million viewers in the U.S., the largest audience for a soccer broadcast in U.S. history. While the victory, which came a day after Independence Day, was a vital step for the future of the sport, it also shed light on some of the gender disparities between women’s and men’s soccer.

The team was paid $2 million for their World Cup win, compared to the $35 million the German Men’s National Team received after their victory last July, and the $8 million the U.S. men’s national team was paid following elimination in the first round. A number gender issues still remain in the world of women’s soccer, from FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s comments in 2004 that female players should wear “tighter shorts” to the average National Women’s Soccer League salary of $6,000 to $30,000, well below the men’s average. Ad revenue and sponsorships do determine pay, but compensation parity is not impossible: Wimbledon introduced equalized pay for male and female athletes in 2007.

In addition, many women around the world are still discouraged from playing soccer entirely. In Middle East and African countries, women are banned from the sport outright, while some South American nations have been forced to cut funding and investment in women’s teams.

Despite these issues, women’s soccer is expected to to use its latest win to increase momentum and visibility: for the first time ever, a women’s sports team was celebrated with a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan.

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