At Women鈥檚 World Cup, a growing focus on fairness in pay
The Women鈥檚 World Cup 2023 is underway in Australia and New Zealand, and it鈥檚 smashing television viewership and ticket sales records.
FIFA, the organizer of the World Cup, says fans have already bought nearly to the games, and corporate sponsorship is surging. More eyes are focused on the biggest event in women鈥檚 soccer than ever.
But fans and observers are again asking why the world鈥檚 best women players should be awarded so little compared with those on the men鈥檚 teams.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThe FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup is setting records for viewership and ticket sales. Yet as our charts show, women players lag far behind men in pay, a gap that some nations are trying to address.
This year鈥檚 prize pool totals $110 million, a giant increase from $30 million in 2019 but a far cry from the men鈥檚 2022 World Cup trove of $440 million.聽
FIFA, New York Times
Unhappy with this imbalance, American players from both the men鈥檚 team and world champion women鈥檚 team reached a deal last year with the United States Soccer Federation, the sport鈥檚 national governing body, that makes compensation for athletes fairer. Under the new deal, men and women will pool their winnings and split them 50-50.
FIFA pays prize money to each country鈥檚 soccer association, not directly to players. Many countries鈥� associations pay players per the terms of negotiated labor contracts. But about two-thirds of teams do not have such contracts, leaving their soccer associations to disburse prize money as they see fit. Athletes have complained about late and missed payments, and unfair compensation. The average salary for Women鈥檚 World Cup players worldwide in 2022 was $14,000. Earlier this year, FIFA promised to ensure each woman in the tournament was paid at least $30,000 but admitted in June that it聽聽national associations would distribute the money in that way.
Some national federations, such as those in Australia and Japan, have made their own collective bargaining agreements intended to improve pay for women athletes, and others, such as Denmark鈥檚, offer player bonuses. But the majority of players in this year鈥檚 tournament will not benefit from such agreements and are subject to FIFA鈥檚 pay structure.
FIFA says it will aim for pay parity for the 2026 and 2027 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 World Cups. Until then, deals like this may be the best way to ensure that prizes for the top tournament are distributed equitably.
