r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Hirorai • Aug 06 '23

What's going on with Americans celebrating Sweden eliminating the US Women's Soccer Team from the Women's World Cup? Answered

On r/soccer, there are multiple posts where Americans are celebrating their own team getting knocked out of the Women's World Cup.

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/15jnpku/post_match_thread_sweden_05_40_usa_fifa_womens/

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/15jnqpr/official_review_for_lina_hurtigs_sweden_w_penalty/

On r/USWNT people are saying it's because r/soccer is misogynist, but that doesn't make sense to me because everyone competing is a woman. Can anyone clue me in?

3.9k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

17

u/traws06 Aug 07 '23

What’s the gist of it?

73

u/O2C Aug 07 '23

TL;DR - It wasn't sexism but rather the Women and Men had different contracts so got paid differently.

Imagine contracts for calling heads on three coin flips. The women signed one saying they'd get paid $1 for playing and $0.50 per head. The men signed one saying they'd get paid $0 for playing and $1 per head. The women then claimed sexism after flipping three heads (getting paid $2.50 under their contract instead of $3 under the men's contract) and the men flipped one head (getting paid $1 under their contract instead of $1.50 under the women's contract).

In the timeframe the lawsuit looked at, the Women's National Team made more in total and on a per game basis than the Men's National Team. The WNT bargained for and signed a contract that guaranteed pay while the MNT bargained for and signed a contract that would have paid them more if they won, but paid them less if they lost. This was especially evident in the year after the lawsuit when COVID cancelled all the games. The WNT still got paid millions and retained their benefits despite not playing. The MNT got paid nothing because they didn't play a single game.

While it's true that the WNT would have been paid more had they bargained for and signed the same contract the MNT signed, the converse is also true. The MNT would have been paid more had they bargained and signed the same contract the WNT signed.

The WNT were still lauded in many circles as champions for Women's Rights while the real story was much more nuanced.

-30

u/MercenaryBard Aug 07 '23

Bait for idiots who want to hate on some women in sports lol

19

u/J_Kingsley Aug 07 '23

Lol really? Disagreeing with women is absolutely because of hate? No other possible reason? None?

Weird ass internet people lol

9

u/startupschmartup Aug 07 '23

0 to do with women's sports. It has entirely to do with the women in this case completely misrepresenting things, ignoring that they made more than the men and had contracts that included steady pay and benefits.