The women make 13% of the revenue generated where the men make 9% of the revenue generated. Am I missing something?
Two different sets of figures being described here. You are talking about the share of revenue given out to players at the World Cups by FIFA; the argument is over the salaries paid to the players by the US Soccer Federation. The Women's World Cup does produce less revenue than the Men's tournament, but that's FIFA's revenue. US Soccer gets its revenue largely from other sources.
What do the numbers look like for the soccer federation?
U.S. womens soccer games have generated more revenue than U.S. mens games over the past three years.
Thats according to audited financial statements from the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) obtained by The Wall Street Journal. In 2016, womens games generated $1.9 million more in revenue than mens games. From 2016 to 2018, womens games generated approximately $50.8 million in revenue, compared with $49.9 million for mens games.
The Journal report notes that the ability of the womens team to generate gate revenues that equals or exceeds the mens team is an important battleground, and central to an ongoing lawsuit filed against the USSF by 28 members of the U.S. womens national soccer team in March.
The lawsuit states if the mens and womens teams won each of the 20 non-tournament games they are contractually required to play, womens team players would earn a maximum of $99,000 ($4,950 per game), while mens team players would earn $263,320 ($13,166 per game). The suit also states that from 2013 to 2016 women players earned $15,000 for making the national team while the men earned $55,000 in 2014 and $68,750 in 2018.
The formal response to the lawsuit by the USSF claims that any differences in pay are based on differences in the aggregate revenue generated by the different teams and/or any other factor other than sex.
According to The Journal, this difference can largely be attributed to ticket sales. The USSF sells broadcast and sponsorship rights for the mens and womens teams together, and as a result, it can be difficult to determine the exact broadcast value of the two teams.
I dont know how you quantify that, David Neal, vice president of production and executive producer of FIFA World Cup on Fox, tells the Journal. But right now the shining star of U.S. Soccer is the U.S. womens national team. These women are heroes and I think that carries great value.