U.S. Soccer star Carli Lloyd takes on women's wage gap in New York Times op-ed

U.S. women's soccer star Carli Lloyd has penned an op-ed for the New York Times addressing the ongoing controversy over the wage-gap between the men's and women's national teams. 

Addressing the recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing that she is a part of, alongside her U.S. women's national team teammates, Lloyd says, "[I]t had nothing to do with how much I love to play for my country. It had everything to do with what’s right and what’s fair, and with upholding a fundamental American concept: equal pay for equal play."

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Noting the team's ongoing success, including last summer's World Cup victory and generating over $17 million profit for U.S. Soccer, Lloyd also mentions that her bonus for winning the 2015 World Cup ($75,000) was less than one-fifth of the U.S. men's team World Cup victory bonus, which is $390,000. The disparity is even more stark when considering the fact that the men's team has never won a World Cup, while the women's team has won three. 

And according to Lloyd, that's just one of many examples of an expansive gap between what the U.S. men's team is paid versus the women's team. 

Each year, the United States men’s and women’s national teams each play a minimum of 20 friendly matches. The top five players on the men’s team make an average of $406,000 each year from these games. The top five women are guaranteed only $72,000 each year.

Yes, U.S. Soccer has stepped up to support the National Women’s Soccer League — it also subsidizes our salaries for the N.W.S.L., at roughly $54,000 per player — and yes, we can get some modest bonuses by playing for the national team. But still, the inequality is jarring.

The move isn't unprecedented. Lloyd notes last year's strike by Australia's women's national team for higher pay and says the U.S. women's team nearly went on strike over wage issues two years ago. 

The filing, made in March, is in the name of five players: Lloyd, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn. 

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The EEOC will conduct an investigation before making a ruling on whether or not the women's team pay should be increased. 

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