The U.S. Soccer Federation and the U.S. women's national soccer team (USWNT) reached a settlement regarding the equal pay lawsuit brought by the USWNT, with the two parties agreeing on an arrangement that brings to a close one of the most high-profile legal disputes in modern American sports history.
The lawsuit, filed nearly three years ago, sought to secure equal pay for the U.S. Women's National Team compared to the men's national team.
The agreement came two weeks before a scheduled hearing in early March, when the players were set to appeal a May 2020 judgement that saw a U.S. District Court judge throw out the claim of unequal pay due to insufficient evidence.
MORE: What is the SheBelieves Cup?
Below is all you need to know about the lawsuit, the settlement, reaction from both sides, and what this means moving forward.
What was the equal pay soccer lawsuit?
Filed in March 2019, the USWNT brought a class-action lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, alleging gender discrimination that affected the pay scale between the men's and women's national teams.
Initially filed by 28 players just months before traveling to the 2019 Women's World Cup in France, and led by superstar forward Alex Morgan, the women argued that their results as three-time World Cup champions were not compensated on an even scale as the men's side.
MORE: Trinity Rodman makes USWNT debut
Both sides had very different views on what the numbers actually showed and went back and forth in the media with their claims. One of the obvious disparities and sticking points surfaced in the bonus payments made by FIFA to men's and women's national teams participating in their respective World Cups, which FIFA exclusively manages and controls.
The lawsuit became an ugly dark mark on the sport, with fans voicing their support for players at matches. It created a public relations nightmare for the federation and "complicated the sale of federation sponsorships and broadcast rights," according to a Wall Street Journal article.
While fans, much of the media, and even President Joe Biden championed the players, the lawsuit was not guaranteed to succeed for the players, especially following the decision by District Court judge R. Gary Klausner to throw out the claim in May 2020.
That decision was appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, but there was no guarantee that the hearing that was scheduled for March 7, 2022 would fall in favor of the players.
What is the USWNT settlement with U.S. Soccer?
In the agreement announced on Feb. 22, the USWNT and its 61 class-action plaintiffs were awarded a $24 million settlement.
That settlement includes $22 million in payments to the class, plus an additional $2 million "into an account to benefit the USWNT players in their post-career goals and charitable efforts related to women’s and girls’ soccer." Each player can apply for up to $50,000 from this portion of the fund.
U.S. Soccer also agreed to "commit to providing an equal rate of pay going forward for the Women’s and Men’s National Teams in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup." There were no further details on this agreement or what it tangibly means, with the announcement simply stating that "details will be established by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between U.S. Soccer and the USWNT."
The settlement presents a massive step by the federation to mend its relationship with the players. Because of the position of the litigation and the initial decision in favor of the federation, U.S. Soccer was by no means obligated to settle the lawsuit, and doing so represents a major move to not just repair relationships with the players, but also with sponsors and fans.
What is the equal pay settlement's contingency?
There is one major contingency to the settlement agreement between the USWNT and U.S. Soccer.
As part of the agreement, the settlement is contingent upon the successful ratification of a new CBA between U.S. Soccer and the USWNT.
The current CBA expired on December 31, 2021, but was extended through March 31, 2022 as the two parties continued negotiations on a new deal. The additional time was welcome: In addition to the existing lawsuit, women's soccer faced a reckoning in late 2021 with the surfacing of discrimination and abuse allegations in the domestic National Women's Soccer League.
With the lawsuit now contingently settled, negotiations can resume on the CBA, which will address salary structure and pay scale. Having the lawsuit pending during those negotiations would have made coming to an agreement extremely difficult.
It remains to be seen how the USWNT's collective bargaining agreement will be similar or different to the USMNT version which is also in the midst of being negotiated at the same time. It is unclear with the men and women will come together and agree to share all revenues evenly, a scenario which the U.S. Soccer Federation has raised in the past.
If a new CBA is agreed and ratified, the settlement will officially close the litigation.
What did the USWNT say about the settlement?
The leaders of the USWNT class action have been emphatic about how this settlement presents a major win for the players.
Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe appeared on national team, calling the announcement a "monumental step forward in feeling valued."
.@robinroberts: “Is this considered a win for everyone involved?” @alexmorgan13: “It really is. This is just such a monumental step forward in feeling valued, feeling respected and just mending our relationship with U.S. Soccer.” #USWNThttps://t.co/kWY5S6eOU4 pic.twitter.com/hLJKoxjKMq — Good Morning America (@GMA) February 22, 2022
Still, Rapinoe made a point to say that it shouldn't have come to this point. “We really do feel like we won in so many ways, but to even have to go through this at all is unacceptable,” Rapinoe said, “and I think everybody agrees with that.”
The USWNT Players' Association also championed the result as a victory for the players.
"The USWNTPA congratulates the players and their litigation team on their historic success in fighting decades of discrimination perpetuated by the U.S. Soccer Federation," the USWNTPA said in a statement. "Although the settlement reached today is an incredible success, much work remains to be done"
"From the formation of the team in 1985 through the present, the players on the Women’s National Team – despite success on the field with few parallels in any sport – have always been paid far less than the men. Despite this, they achieved great success on the field, and did so with fewer resources than the men’s team, while spending thousands of hours deeply involved in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and the lawsuit that finally forced the Federation to acknowledge the necessity for equal pay.
The settlement announced today is an important step in righting the many wrongs of the past."
What did U.S. Soccer say about the settlement?
U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone, who played on the 1999 World Cup-champion women's team, was adamant that the settlement presents a foundation for building a strong relationship between the players and the federation moving forward, admitting that the federation is looking to make amends.
MORE: New Zealand's Moore scores historic hat-trick of own-goals vs. USWNT
“It wasn’t an easy process to get to this point for sure,” U.S. Soccer’s president, Cindy Parlow Cone told The New York Times. “The most important thing here is that we are moving forward, and we are moving forward together.”
“I’ll be the first to admit that the federation has made mistakes in the past,” Cone continued. “As a former player, I understand the frustration of being treated that way.” She added that the agreement is “just one step towards rebuilding the relationship with Megan and the rest of the team.”