The National Women's Soccer League

Founded in 1913, the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in the United States. Among its various roles, the non-profit fields the U.S. national teams—including the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) and the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT)—which represent the United States in international competition, including the Olympics and the World Cup.

Members of the USWNT are employees of U.S. Soccer and, like the USMNT, are represented by a players' union. Members of the men's team are employees of U.S. Soccer only when they are in training camp or playing in matches. Outside of these commitments, they are employees of their professional league (e.g., MLS) or club (e.g., Chelsea).

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Soccer is a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the global governing body for soccer, which also runs global competitions including the World Cup. The International Football Association Board, of which FIFA is a member, sets the rules of the game. FIFA rules require professional and club soccer leagues around the world to release players who play for national teams at various times of the year for training and competition, even if it interferes with a league's game schedule. In early 2020, the NWSL roster included 23 members of the USWNT. (See Exhibit 2 for the FIFA calendar for women's soccer.)

Since being founded in 1990, the USWNT had won the Women's World Cup four times. The championship tournament began in 1991, and the USWNT took home the trophy in 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019. The Olympic Games hosted its first women's soccer tournament in 1996 and, since then, the USWNT had won four gold medals—1996, 2004, 2008, and 2012. The USMNT, founded in 1885, had never won a World Cup or an Olympic gold medal. The success of the USWNT on the international stage translated into popularity at home: in 2015, the Women's World Cup final between the United States and Japan averaged 25.4 million viewers, setting a record for the most-viewed soccer match—men's or women's—in the United States. The team's success and popularity drew attention to player compensation, especially given the struggles of the USMNT.

In 2017, U.S. Soccer and the USWNT signed a five-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that provided players with better salaries, travel, and accommodations; more financial support for players who were pregnant or adopting; and control over their image and marketing rights. The CBA also included a commitment from U.S. Soccer to improve NWSL stadiums, facilities, and player accommodations. But members of the USWNT didn't think it went far enough.

In March 2019, 28 players filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that U.S. Soccer was violating the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by engaging in "institutionalized gender discrimination" and perpetuating "gender-based pay disparities" (Exhibit 3). They sought $67 million in back pay. In its defense, U.S. Soccer argued that the men's and women's teams had different CBAs and pay structures, making any comparison difficult. The men chose a high-risk/high-reward, pay-for-play structure: they earned $5,000 per game if they lost, while a win against a team outside the top 25 in FIFA rankings earned them $9,375 per game. If they missed games due to injury, they were not paid. The women received a guaranteed base salary of $100,000 plus bonuses of up to $1,350 for games won. As the USWNT pursued its legal claims, the players became high-profile, public faces of a much larger "Equal Pay" movement, raising awareness of the issue well beyond the sports world.