Four Stars

The USWNT put on a bravura performance at the World Cup.  They came in and played with a combination of joy and grit that was really fun to watch.

The issue of how women's soccer is treated is an interesting one and perhaps more complicated than advocates who look at it merely from a US perspective.

A lot of conservatives who are bashing their own national team because Megan Rapinoe is "not going to the fucking White House," note that a U-15 MLS side "beat" the women in a scrimmage.  It was a glorified kick-around, but the idea that any MLS team (MLS is a second tier league, globally) could beat the women's world champions is both true and irrelevant.  I'm pretty sure the reigning men's champions, France, couldn't beat the worst NBA team in basketball.  Basically, mens and womens' soccer are different sports. 

I watched the US men play to a disappointing loss 0-1 against Mexico in the Gold Cup final.  The pace of the game was simply much, much faster than the women's game.  Men's physical speed and power are simply....more.  It isn't a question of skill or technique or heart.  So, the fact that men can beat women isn't an argument.

Instead, the broader argument for paying men and women differently comes from the global differences in the two sports.  Men's soccer is the biggest sport in the world.  In the US, soccer is maybe 4th.  Women's soccer in the US is kind of a big deal at the professional level, and there are women's leagues in Europe.  It's not surprising that the knock-out stage of the Women's World Cup featured the US, Australia, and Canada (nations with strong women's sports), China and Japan that put a lot of work into their women's national teams and eight European teams.  By the quarterfinals, it was the US and seven European teams.

Globally speaking women's soccer simply exists in the shadows of the men's game.

One solution to the unequal pay would be to divorce women's soccer from the international crime consortium known and FIFA.  While this would be of benefit to the USWNT and perhaps some of the European teams, it would crush whatever development we might hope to see in traditional soccer-mad regions like Africa and Latin America that have poor records developing women's athletics of any kind.

USSF should pay the women more.  There's literally no excuse for them not to.  America loves a winner, and the women bring in as much or more revenue (depending on the year) as the men.  But the contract structure for the USWNT works to pay EVERY player on the roster, whereas the men are paid for playing time.  This makes sense, because the men make more in their professional league, because at THAT level, MLS is more popular than the NWSL. So a player like back-up, back-up goalkeeper, Tyler Miller, probably saw next to no money for being on the Gold Cup roster, because he never saw the field.  But he's drawing a decent paycheck from LA.  Whereas a similarly situated player on the women's team, Adrianna Franch, needs the guaranteed paycheck.

The issue with the USWNT and equal pay is one that is fairly unique to the US and the popularity of women's soccer in this country.  It's not an excuse for USSF to short change the women, but it's slightly more complicated than first blush.