US Soccer Contracts: How Much Money Will Players Make In Equal Pay Agreement?

The United States Soccer Federation has reached an equal pay agreement with the men’s and women’s national teams. The collective bargaining agreements are the first of their kind among countries that compete in the World Cup.

New CBAs for the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams start on June 1 and last through 2028. While factors such as games played will affect how much each individual player is paid, the two teams will evenly split World Cup bonus money and receive the same pay rate for games won.

“We do still have two separate contracts,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said via The New York Times, “but everything economically is exactly the same.”

Many of the best men’s and women’s soccer players can expect to make an average of about $450,000 per year from U.S. Soccer, according to The Times. Those figures can approach $1 million with success in the World Cup.

Winners and losers? Women win, obviously, on principle and on payday. Men surrender some money that was always extra given their (higher) incomes but still get raises. US Soccer wins big in leaving toxic issue behind, and (for a change) looking seriously progressive on equal pay.
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) May 18, 2022

For most matches, the USSF will pay players $18,000 per win, $12,000 per draw and $8,000 for a loss against a top opponent. Other matches come with $13,000 for a win, $10,000 per draw and $8,000 per loss, ESPN reports.

The decision for the national teams to evenly split the pool money that they receive from FIFA for the World Cup eliminates a massive disparity in pay. Teams in the 2022 Men’s World Cup will vie for their share of $400 million in bonuses. At the Women’s World Cup in 2023, FIFA will make $60 million in bonus money available.

Prior to the new CBA, men could earn up to $18,125 per player for each win in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers, according to ESPN. That figure was just $3,000 per player on the women’s national team for each victory.

“One-hundred percent, it embodies One Nation, One Team,” USWNT forward Midge Purce told The Athletic. “We’re intrinsically tied now [with the men’s national team]. When they score, we’ll cheer just a little bit harder. We did before, but we’re excited about it — we want a doubleheader. We’re opening doors for a new look of what football is in America.”

The USMNT will play its first match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Nov. 21.