USWNT: Making Strides for Women On and Off the Field - Presentation & Script

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USWNT PRESENTATION: SCRIPT

Historically, women have had far fewer opportunities to engage in sports, both at the amateur and professional levels. However, this history continues to this day with women earning 81.4% the amount of their male counterparts. This is the case for the U.S. Women’s National Team, who’s players earn far less than the men’s team despite performing better and generating more revenue. The good news is that it’s 2019, and the USWNT is leading the latest wave of activism through lawsuits against its governing body, activist programs like #SHEBELIEVES, and public engagements to spread awareness. The USWNT is not just fighting the battle for equal pay but winning it.

USWNT

The USWNT is nothing short of a force, having won 4 Women’s World Cup titles, 4 Olympic gold medals, and 8 CONCACAF Gold Cups since its inception in 1985. The USWNT consists of more than just fantastic athletes, but rather defiant and powerful women who act as role models and political activists, and who are using their platform to take a stand against the sexism and unfair business practices of the male-dominated sports system, having time again demonstrated their ability to spark discussion and prompt change.

U.S. Soccer Federation

The U.S. Soccer Federation, which I will refer to as U.S. Soccer, is the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. U.S. Soccer is governed by a board of directors and president, Carlos Cordeiro. In 2018, U.S. Soccer had total operating revenue of $101.4 million, a quarter of which can be attributed to revenue from games played by the national teams.

Background

The USWNT fight for equal pay and treatment has been going on for years, from boycotts and movements to lawsuits.

• In March 2016, five players filed a complaint against U.S. Soccer over unequal pay and bonuses with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

• In 2017, multiple players signed a collective-bargaining agreement with U.S. Soccer and won control over limited licensing and marketing rights.

• However, the women’s fight for equality did not end there. Last March, the players filed another lawsuit against USSF on the grounds of gender discrimination.

The Numbers

• If both teams played 20 friendlies in a year, a top-tier women’s team player would earn “38% of the compensation of a similarly situated men’s team player.

• In 2015, the women were paid a quarter of what the men earn, even though the women’s team brought in nearly $20 million more in revenue.

• Since 2016, the women’s games have generated around $900,000 more revenue than men’s, and following their 2015 World Cup win, have generated $1.9 million more.

• In 2016 and 2017, the women’s team had a net revenue of $8 million and expenses of $1 million, whereas the men’s net revenue was $350,000, and expenses were $2.7 million.

Activist Message Frames

How the players frame their messaging has a tremendous impact on the overall success of the team's movement to abolish gender discrimination and receive equal pay. The players' communication strategies can best be examined and evaluated through three activist message frames: the diagnostic frame (problem identification), the prescriptive frame (steps to eliminate the problem), and the motivational frame (call to action).

Diagnostic Frame: Problem Identification - Pay Inequality

The diagnostic frame identifies and defines the problem at hand. The team has used financial statements and statistics to highlight the apparent and persisting differences between the pay of male and female players and spotlighted them through public engagements, interviews, and rallies. The team has also brought attention to the problem of pay inequality by boycotts to publicize the issue and demand change. In 1989, due to a contract dispute over low pay, nine prominent USWNT players took a stand by boycotting training before the 1996 Olympics. And, following the USWNT’s incredible World Cup win in 1999, 20 members of the team boycotted the Australia Cup in January 2000 after being offered only $6,300 per player and no per-game bonuses.

Prescriptive Frame: Steps to Eliminate the Problem – U.S. Soccer Federation Lawsuit

The prescriptive messaging frame takes steps to eliminate the problem. On March 3, 2019, International Women’s Day, all 28 USWNT players took action by suing the U.S. Soccer Federation for “institutionalized gender discrimination under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.” The team accused the federation of not compensating or treating them in a manner fair to the men’s team, arguing that USWNT generates more revenue and garners higher TV ratings than the men’s team, yet still, get paid less because they are women. The women also claimed that USSF provides unequal playing and travel conditions to the two teams, as well as unequal promotional efforts.

Motivational Frame: Call to Action – Athletes Turned Activists

The motivational frame paves the way for implementations, as it “aims to catalyze social movement action.” The players use their platform and campaigns like #SheBelieves and #EqualPlayEqualPay to issue a call to action to supporters everywhere to join them in their fight for equal pay.

The #EqualPlayEqualPay campaign began in 2016 when the team created T-shirts and temporary tattoos with the slogan which they wore at exhibition matches. When the USWNT defeated the Netherlands in the 2019 World Cup final, fans could be heard chanting the slogan and days later, during the 2019 World Cup victory parade in New York City, the players, and their fans kept the spotlight on the equal pay issue with fans boasting signs and chanting “equal play, equal pay” along the parade route.

The SheBelieves Cup is an international round-robin tournament conceived and developed by the USWNT to inspire young women to believe in themselves. During the 2015 World Cup, the USWNT created “hashflags” and throughout the duration of the tournament, when someone used the hashtag #SheBelieves on Twitter, a special United States “SHE flag emoji” would appear along with it. Beyond campaigns and movements, the players have made their voices and opinions heard everywhere through talk shows, news publications, and their personal social media profiles.

Timeline:

On March 3, 2019: All 28 members of the USWNT filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer. That same day in an interview on “The Today Show,” Team captain, Megan Rapinoe said that “At the heart of this whole issue we believe that there has been discrimination against us and while we have fought very hard and for a long time we still feel that we don’t have what we’re trying to achieve, which is equality in the workplace”

In May, U.S. Soccer denied the claims in the women’s lawsuit arguing in a court filing that the pay differential between the men and women players is “based on differences in aggregate revenue generated by the different teams and/or any other factor other than sex” adding that the two teams are “physically and functionally separate organizations.”

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Many U.S. Politicians and sports activists, including Senator’s Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and none other than THE Billie Jean King, expressed their support for the team in their fight not only for the World Cup but also for equal pay. Billie Jean King said These athletes have brought more attention, support, and pride to women’s sport than perhaps any other team in history. It is long past time to pay them what they rightly deserve.”

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On July 7, the women won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the fourth time.

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1.12 billion viewers watched the team play the Netherlands in the championship game, a record audience for the competition and an increase of 30% from the 2015 World Cup.

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U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced a bill to withhold funding for the 2026 men’s World Cup set to be held in the US until the women’s team receives equal pay on July 9.

On July 10, 2019, The USWNT participated in a World Cup championship parade in New York City and New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signs an equal pay bill into law.

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As an added touch, the USWNT players sent the Federation a serious message when they turned the equal pay lawsuit into confetti for their ticker-tape parade – shredding the documents to pieces and throwing them in the air. Not surprisingly, fans loved this sparking a social media frenzy, which in turn helped to spread awareness of the team’s lawsuit against U.S. Soccer.

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In this video, you will see USWNT players Ashlyn Harris and Alex Morgan playfully mocking the U.S. Soccer President, Carlos Cordeiro, over their equal pay rights.

That same day, Procter & Gambles, Secret Deodorant placed a full-page ad in the New York Times to communicate its support of the U.S. Women’s team’s fight for pay equality. The advertisement plays off the number 23, which represents the number of players on a championship soccer team as well the pair of chromosomes in a human – whether they be male or female. The brand also pledged $529,000, or $23,000 for each of the 23 players on the team, to the USWNT Players Association.

On July 21, 2019, USWNT and U.S. Soccer agreed to begin the mediation process after the completion of the World Cup.

On July 29, a mere eight days after agreeing to mediation, U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro issued an open letter claiming the USWNT was paid $34.1 million in bonuses and salaries from 2010 to 2018, while the USMNT was paid $25.4 million

The next day, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team Players Association demonstrated their support for the women’s team and criticized Cadeiro’s claims as “false accounting.” (July 30)

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Negotiations between the women’s team and U.S. Soccer over equal pay demands broke down without a resolution on August 14, 2019.

On August 15, 2019, Megan Rapinoe addressed the conflict on “Good Morning America” saying “the team won’t accept anything less than equal pay.” That same day during an appearance on “The Today Show,” Rapinoe said the team “feels a responsibility not only to stand up for what they know they deserve as athletes but also for what they know is right – on behalf of their teammates, future teammates, fellow women athletes, and women all around the world”

The team requested to certify it’s lawsuit as a class action on September 11. This would mean that the lawsuit would include all players who had been called up to play at a camp or in a game over the number of years as defined by the suit, not just the ones originally named on the roster.

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On September 30, U.S. Soccer filed a motion with the court against the players’ request for class action certification claiming that the four players wanting to represent the class make too much money compared to their teammates, and therefore, were not appropriate representatives of the team.

On October 6, The players responded in a statement clarifying that the “only legal requirement for those who can represent a class is that there be a sufficient likelihood that [plaintiff] will again be wronged in a similar way in the future”

The United States District Court for the Central District of California rejected the counter-argument made by USSF and granted the USWNT players class status on November 8.

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Up-to-Date

The trial in the USWNT’s gender discrimination lawsuit against USSF is scheduled for May 5, 2020, which is more than six months earlier than requested by the parties, and a mere 11 weeks before the opening match of the 2020 Olympics. The players have undeniable negotiating leverage having just won the 2019 World Cup and completing a highly profitable victory tour – plus the impending Olympics where the team is again projected to win the Gold and will be center-stage. The world is closely watching how the USWNT and USSF communicate their positions throughout the lawsuit, so with all eyes on them it is more important than ever to effectively deliver the team’s message to effect a change. While the world will have to wait at least until May for the court’s decision, fans are hopeful both the USWNT and women everywhere will win that they have long deserved – equal play, equal pay.

Discussion

The communication strategies employed by the USWNT throughout their battle for equal pay were consistently aligned with the diagnostic, prescriptive, and motivational activist message frames, and therefore, were successful. Through parades, campaigns, boycotts, and public-speaking events, the USWNT successfully raised awareness for the issue of equal pay that has plagued them and women everywhere for too long. The USWNT clearly identified the issue of pay inequality – and forced it into the spotlight – with financial statements, statistics, and player boycotts. The players then took the necessary steps to eliminate the problem of pay inequality through a lawsuit against their governing body. And lastly, the players successfully aligned their communications with the motivational message frame as they called upon fans everywhere to support them on the pitch and off the field in their battle against gender discrimination through public statements, social media, national talk shows, parades, and public appearances. Their actions illustrate how a successful team through its followers can effect change by shining the light on an issue of fundamental fairness.