On Tuesday Sept. 6, 2022 the United States Women’s National Soccer Team signed a momentous equal pay contract.

The historic collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was signed after a win against the Nigerian Women’s National team, 2-1. The new contracts will cover equal pay between the men’s and women’s national teams through tournament victories, world cup wins, and appearances. The agreement was not an easy one to come to. The debate between men and women’s pay has been a decade-long discussion. In 2019, the women’s team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. soccer administration. The lawsuit was a focal point when the Women’s National team won the 2019 FIFA women’s world cup. When the President of FIFA Gianni Infantino awarded the players with their medals, chants of “Equal Pay” from the crowd drew a ton of support for the women’s team around the world. In February of 2022, the lawsuit was settled and U.S. soccer agreed to pay $24 million to the U.S. women, but it was all dependent on the fact that there would be a new labor agreement. The settlement was decided in May of 2022 and signed on Sept. 6 and in December of 2022, it will be in court to be finalized. 

The USWNT has an incredible squad of world class players that have won numerous games together. The USWNT signing is a huge step in the fight for more equal pay in women’s athletics. The impact that the CBA will have when finalized will have a ripple effect through women’s sports leagues around the world. The signing will benefit female sports and the stability of women’s sports leagues in staying operable and successful. In the U.S. the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is the current operable league but before that, there was the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPS) and the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) which both failed from low revenue and publicity. Players in the NWSL get called up to play nationally because of solid club play, therefore they will get paid at the national level of pay as well. Women’s soccer in the U.S. is coming back up and national pay raise is supposedly rumored to help our leagues in recruiting and higher pay. Women have historically been paid less in terms of playing sports professionally, having the CBA signed and almost finalized is a huge break for all of women’s sports.