The United States Women’s National Team will get a paltry $2 million for their victory on Sunday. The men’s German team got $35 million for winning the 2014 World Cup.
The U.S. Women's National Team will earn a $2 million bonus for their victory in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, compared with $35 million the German men's team got for their victory over Argentina in the 2014 World Cup.
Elaine Thompson / AP
Pilon also reported that National Women's Soccer League teams have a salary cap of $200,000. Major League Soccer teams each have a a $3.1 million salary cap.
In other sports, the disparity in salary between men and women's leagues is equally as obvious:
With the exception of women's tennis — which only recently won equal prize money at all four Grand Slam tournaments — the gender disparity across other professional sports remains poor, as well. Total prize money for the PGA tour, more than $250 million, is more than five times that of the LPGA tour ($50 million), according to the Women's Sports Foundation. In the WNBA, the minimum salary for 2013 was $37,950 and the team salary cap was $913,000. For NBA players during the same season, the minimum salary was $490,180 and the team salary cap was $58.7 million.
When the disparity in pay for women athletes versus men is raised, the argument often veers toward television ratings, with claims that women's sports are watched by significantly fewer people.
However, TV By The Numbers reports that 20.3 million viewers tuned in to the Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan. The match between the U.S. and Portugal during the 2014 men's World Cup — the most watched soccer game in U.S. history until last night — produced 18.2 million viewers.
