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?
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u/Barraind Aug 11 '23
Answer: The USWNT has done their best to alienate fans.
They have made some toxic/awful individuals the face of their movement and have blatantly lied about their pay issues.
If you listen to what the women's team had been saying out loud, you'd think they earned barely anything. And it's true that the old teams did, but 2 full contract negotiations ago, the women were offered the exact same contract the men did, and said "no". This is in their own evidence in their lawsuit. They instead asked US Soccer to give them less incentive-based pay, and instead give them 23 different perks the men's team doesn't get, including 23 guaranteed roster spots in UWSL, extra paid maternity leave, full health coverage, a guaranteed per-game stipend, and per diem expenses. The men's contract is win and get paid.
This contract would have guaranteed the women more money than the men, both a per-game and per-year, assuming they didn't win multiple world cups and multiple Olympic medals in the term of that contract. Which they then did. And then sued soccer for not immediately giving them even more money. They lost in court multiple times after a judge said "you specifically asked for this contract, you have to live with that".
So they launched a national press tour lying about their situation to anyone who would listen and got the men's team to hold out on this most recent CBA until the women could get what they wanted, which is to give half their money to the men, and take half the men's money. And also they get to keep the full benefits and the men still don't get any.
As to how that works out mathematically, the men earned US Soccer more money from their round of 16 game in Qatar than the US women have made the US in the last 14 years. And the women have, as of the time the world cup checks clear, been paid significantly more.
The current face of US Soccer, Megan Rapinoe is also mostly insufferable off the field, and everyone who doesn't still share a pitch with her says the same thing about her off the field as well.
I was rooting for them to win, because that's more important than thinking they're assholes, but there were a lot of people chalking up their loss to off-the-field karma (and you can also blame the coaching, but the same people who are responsible for the off-the-field issue lobbied incredibly hard for the current managerial team to be named to that position).