That's sad, but isn't a major factor the amount of attention the sport gets? I'm not big into soccer, but I do follow the major games, and generally I don't have the impression that women's...
That's sad, but isn't a major factor the amount of attention the sport gets? I'm not big into soccer, but I do follow the major games, and generally I don't have the impression that women's footbal gets any attention at all, compared to most other popular sports. Even if men's team is worse off in comparison, the tournaments they play in are bigger. That of course doesn't really justify it in a moral sense, but might be the reason in a "market" sense.
FWIW I've watched a few women's games, they are great and IMHO all it'd take is a few years of PR to make it a mainstream sport. Given how big football already is in most of the world. There is quite some prejudice regarding women playing football, but that probably stems from not having seen any games.
Well, it's a bit of a weird situation because this applies primarily to international football, but international football generates the money that it does largely as a result of the money...
Well, it's a bit of a weird situation because this applies primarily to international football, but international football generates the money that it does largely as a result of the money involved in the professional club structure, and women's pro football doesn't make anywhere near the same amount. I don't have any numbers at hand but I want to say that the US Women's National Team has great brand recognition in the States off the back of their World Cup successes, even more so than the men, so they get huge national support at tournament time and likely generate enough attention and dollars for the US Soccer Federation to match or even exceed the USMNT. In the years between tournaments, though, I'd be surprised if the average attendances and television audiences are 1/3 that of the men's team. They don't yet have the comparatively consistent support of the men, which is also fairly recent itself. There are arguments to be made about how much marketing opportunities or a lack thereof have to do with that, but so many other factors have to coincide to get it to mainstream level.
In any case, the crux of the issue is how the US applies its anti-discrimination employment laws. I'm not sure how strong a case they really have on that basis, because the USSF aren't their employers per se, but I absolutely think they need a players' association to renegotiate some sort of new collective bargaining agreement.
Same with actors, there isn't a real gender pay gap there, everyone is paid what they're worth (i.e what their agent has negotiated for them). I agree with you that it'd probably be pretty easy...
Same with actors, there isn't a real gender pay gap there, everyone is paid what they're worth (i.e what their agent has negotiated for them). I agree with you that it'd probably be pretty easy making Women's Football into a properly recognized sport, but I suppose companies don't want to invest the money because they don't see it being financially feasible, or perhaps the dudes on top feel threatened by a women's football team or sometehing, I don't know.
I love football but don't really follow women's since the teams I usually support are pretty garbage. However the one thing that I read that really made me respect the players is when I read Alex...
I love football but don't really follow women's since the teams I usually support are pretty garbage. However the one thing that I read that really made me respect the players is when I read Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe donated part of their salaries to Juan Mata's charity. Sure it may not be much but every little bit counts and the fact that they stepped up is so impressive.
That's sad, but isn't a major factor the amount of attention the sport gets? I'm not big into soccer, but I do follow the major games, and generally I don't have the impression that women's footbal gets any attention at all, compared to most other popular sports. Even if men's team is worse off in comparison, the tournaments they play in are bigger. That of course doesn't really justify it in a moral sense, but might be the reason in a "market" sense.
FWIW I've watched a few women's games, they are great and IMHO all it'd take is a few years of PR to make it a mainstream sport. Given how big football already is in most of the world. There is quite some prejudice regarding women playing football, but that probably stems from not having seen any games.
Well, it's a bit of a weird situation because this applies primarily to international football, but international football generates the money that it does largely as a result of the money involved in the professional club structure, and women's pro football doesn't make anywhere near the same amount. I don't have any numbers at hand but I want to say that the US Women's National Team has great brand recognition in the States off the back of their World Cup successes, even more so than the men, so they get huge national support at tournament time and likely generate enough attention and dollars for the US Soccer Federation to match or even exceed the USMNT. In the years between tournaments, though, I'd be surprised if the average attendances and television audiences are 1/3 that of the men's team. They don't yet have the comparatively consistent support of the men, which is also fairly recent itself. There are arguments to be made about how much marketing opportunities or a lack thereof have to do with that, but so many other factors have to coincide to get it to mainstream level.
In any case, the crux of the issue is how the US applies its anti-discrimination employment laws. I'm not sure how strong a case they really have on that basis, because the USSF aren't their employers per se, but I absolutely think they need a players' association to renegotiate some sort of new collective bargaining agreement.
Same with actors, there isn't a real gender pay gap there, everyone is paid what they're worth (i.e what their agent has negotiated for them). I agree with you that it'd probably be pretty easy making Women's Football into a properly recognized sport, but I suppose companies don't want to invest the money because they don't see it being financially feasible, or perhaps the dudes on top feel threatened by a women's football team or sometehing, I don't know.
I love football but don't really follow women's since the teams I usually support are pretty garbage. However the one thing that I read that really made me respect the players is when I read Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe donated part of their salaries to Juan Mata's charity. Sure it may not be much but every little bit counts and the fact that they stepped up is so impressive.