US women’s soccer win reignites fire for equal pay

The USA women's soccer team’s recent World Cup win is reigniting the fire in the team's fight for equal pay.
After the U.S. women's national soccer team's 2-0 World Cup victory over the Netherlands Sunday, fans showed their support by chanting "equal pay" from the stands.

According to several sources, the minimum yearly salaries for National Women's Soccer League players are $16,000 to $46,000. For men, it’s $55,000 to $70,000.
The two teams have different collective-bargaining agreements with different pay structures. Certain events, like the World Cup, have a separate bonus structure. The prize for the 2018 Men's World Cup stood at $400 million, and the winner France took home $38 million. The total prize money for the women is around $30 million, and the winning country will split $4 million.

In March, 28 members of the U.S. women's team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation alleging pay discrimination. Following Sunday's win, team captain Megan Rapinoe says their case is even stronger.

"I think that the federation is in a unique position to kind of ride this wave of good fortune and get on board, and hopefully set things right for the future," she says.

The maker of LUNA Bar brand nutrition bars has pledged to pay $31,250 to each of the players who make the U.S. roster for the Women's World Cup, an amount the company says makes up the difference between bonuses for the men's and women's national teams. California-based Clif Bar & Company announced the planned payments Tuesday on Equal Pay Day, which highlights the gender wage gap.