The federation faced a Monday deadline for its response, which comes just a month before the start of the Women’s World Cup, at which the dominant U.S. team is a favorite. The federation said in the 19-page filing that any alleged pay differential between members of the women’s and men’s teams is “based on differences in the aggregate revenue generated by the different teams and/or any other factor other than sex.”
The federation, which didn’t include revenue numbers in its filing, said that no pay comparison can be made between the women’s players, who are paid in guaranteed salaries and benefits, and men’s players, who are paid in appearance fees.
All 28 players in the U.S. Women’s player pool sued the soccer federation March 8 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging violations of the Equal Pay Act and of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the lawsuit, the players allege they have been paid less money than their male counterparts despite winning more games. The players’ suit seeks class-action status.
The U.S. women are the defending World Cup champions and the world No. 1 ranked team heading into the World Cup that kicks off June 7 in France. The U.S. men’s team didn’t qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
The filing says that the men’s and women’s teams have “different obligations, are compensated in fundamentally different ways, and enjoy different benefits; thus, USWNT players have no male ‘counterparts’ who play for the USMNT.”
A representative for the women’s team players issued a statement saying there was “no legal basis for USSF’s claim that it is anything other than a single employer operating both the men’s and women’s teams -- who face drastically unequal conditions and pay under their shared employer. The USSF cannot justify its violation of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII by pointing to the teams’ separate collective bargaining agreements or any factor other than sex.”
The statement said the players “look forward to a trial next year after the World Cup.”
The federation’s filing stressed the differences between the men’s and women’s teams, saying they are “physically and functionally separate organizations that perform services for U.S. Soccer in physically separate spaces and compete in different competitions, venues, and countries at different times; have different coaches, staff, and leadership; have separate collective bargaining agreements; and have separate budgets that take into account the different revenue that the teams generate.”
The federation also said in the filing that it has been “at the vanguard of supporting women’s soccer internationally and provides the USWNT with unparalleled compensation and benefits.”
The players’ suit alleges that in 2014, the federation provided the men’s national team with performance bonuses totaling $5,375,000 for losing in the World Cup round of 16. It compared that with the 2015 Women’s World Cup, when the federation paid the U.S. women’s team $1,725,000 for winning the tournament.
The federation’s Monday filing said the U.S. men’s and women’s teams “face different quantities and qualities of international competition, and no comparison can be made between their respective performance and compensation in such vastly separate spheres.”