Opinion: It’s time for all professional sports to pay attention to what US Soccer just did

Back in March 2019, when 28 USWNT players endorsed the discrimination lawsuit filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, naming disparities in pay as well as in working conditions, they were four months away from their next World Cup crown. In the opening rounds that summer, they destroyed — to baseless criticism — Thailand 13-0, the largest margin of victory in the tournament’s history. In the final, they took down the Netherlands 2-0, a team that had recently employed an equal pay scale to create pay equity between the men’s and women’s sides within the next year. Indeed, parity was front and center during the trophy ceremony, in which American fans chanted “equal pay” in front of a global audience of some 1.12 billion.

“Pay equity slowed during the pandemic, and combined with attacks on women’s rights, it has felt bleak,” Brenda Elsey, professor of history at Hofstra University and co-host of the feminist sport podcast “Burn It All Down,” told me.

With the announcement of this new agreement, soccer is no longer at a standstill but is poised to lead the way on how to combat the consequences of the longstanding lack of investment in all women’s sports. Soccer is forging a context for equity that moves beyond which US soccer jersey sells the most (and that answer might be surprising… but shouldn’t be).

Indeed, the arrangement presents an almost immediate dividend for US soccer players, as the men’s side has already qualified for the Men’s World Cup in November in Qatar (after failing to do so in 2018). Their qualification is critical in understanding how the new CBA pans out, as, in addition to equal pay for participation on the international pitch, the deal includes an unprecedented stipulation regarding shared cash from FIFA for playing in the World Cup. The weight of this clause cannot be understated, as historically the championship women’s squads have…