U.S. women’s soccer Olympic boycott ‘on the table,’ Becky Sauerbrunn says

[KamaAina]

http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2016/04/11/usa-womens-soccer-boycott-olympics-becky-sauerbrunn/

U.S. women’s soccer team co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn said players could decide in July to boycott August’s Olympics if nothing has changed regarding a wage-discrimination complaint filed against U.S. Soccer two weeks ago.

“It (an Olympic boycott) would still be on the table,” Sauerbrunn said in an ESPNW interview published Sunday. “We are reserving every right to do so. We’re leaving every avenue open. If nothing has changed, we don’t feel real progress has been made, then it’s a conversation we’re going to have.”

Sauerbrunn’s comments were firmer than Alex Morgan‘s response on March 31 to Matt Lauer‘s question if players would boycott matches or strike.

“I think that’s why we’re here taking this action and filing this complaint,” Morgan said then.

[erpowers]

1. Hope They Do Not Boycott

I hope the U.S. Women's Soccer team does not boycott the Olympics over pay. I do not think the women should be paid the same as the men. The men bring in more money and as a result should be paid more. Maybe the women should get more pay, but not the same as men. In addition, they should be paid for friendly matches whether they win or lose the matches. Maybe both the men's and women's team should be paid 50% of the money each team brings into U.S. Soccer and have that money split between the players and coaches.

If the women do boycott, I think they should be kicked off the team and replaced with new players. I support workers going on strike and boycotting, but I do not think this situation warrants a strike, or boycott.

[caraher]

2. Have you checked the finances?

While one claim circulating puts the women's revenue at $20 million more than the men, even a piece critical of that claim says

For the upcoming year, the federation predicts the women’s team will bring in about $17.6 million in revenue, resulting in a net profit. The men’s team, on the other hand, is expected to bring in about half of that, $9 million, and end up with net losses.

Your proposal would surely result in a huge pay cut for the men, at the very least!

[erpowers]

3. Men's World Cup Generates More Money Than Women's World Cup

The U.S. Women's team is complaining that each player on the winning Women's World Cup team only made $75,000 while the U.S. men's teams, which only made it to about the round of 16 made about $390,000. The problem for them is that the Men's World Cup from 2014 generated about $529 million in revenue. The Women's World Cup from last year is said to have brought in only about $17 million. The large gap in revenue generated is why the U.S. women were pay much less than the U.S. men.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/10/are-women-soccer-players-close-to-scoring-equal-pay.html

[hughee99]

4. You know what happens to sports that are popular when they're on tv but don't have a big following?

When they go on strike, most people don't even notice that they're gone, and they move on to something else.

If the US Women's team goes on strike, even if all their demands are met, they'll lose in the bigger picture.