Conservative commentator Lauren Chen said Thursday that the U.S. women’s national soccer team pay should “absolutely” be proportionate to their earnings if sponsorships, advertising, viewers and tickets sales are equal to the men’s team.
“If everything else is equal, then I say, absolutely, their pay should be proportionate to the amount that they bring in, Chen, a host of BlazeTV, told Hill.TV during an appearance on “Rising.”
“If they feel like they’ve been treated unfairly, they have every right to try and pursue legal action and we can wait and see what happens,” she continued.
But Chen expressed skepticism over concerns of equal pay, arguing “there may be more at play here.”
“When you say something is simply due to their gender, you have to be able prove that the bias is not due to things like different attendance in stadiums, merchandise sales and all of that stuff,” she said.
The pay gap between men and women has gained renewed attention in light of U.S. women’s national team’s second consecutive World Cup title. Following their 2-0 victory against the Netherlands, fans at the stadium were captured on video chanting “equal pay” in reference to the disparity.
U.S. viewership for the FIFA Women’s Cup final was more than 20 percent higher than the men’s World Cup final last year between France and Croatia, according to Fox Sports, which aired the match. And, according to multiple reports, the women’s team has also continued to generate more revenue than U.S. men’s soccer games.
Even before the win, the women team’s home jersey was the top-selling soccer jersey ever on Nike’s website for one season.
However, there remains a substantial disparity between women’s prize money and the men’s.
For instance, each player on the U.S. women’s soccer team could receive about $260,000 in maximum earnings for winning the Women’s World Cup, while each player on the U.S. men’s soccer team could have earned nearly $1 million if they had won the tournament.
All 28 players of the women’s team have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation over the gap, accusing the organization of “institutionalized gender discrimination.”
The women’s team co-captain Megan Rapinoe said Tuesday that “it’s time for action” to secure equal pay for female soccer players.
“I think the conversation needs to move from are we worth it, should we have equal pay to what can we do now,” Rapinoe said on “Good Morning America.”
—Tess Bonn
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