US soccer player Megan Rapino may have found her new angle. She recently lost her day in court on a claim that female soccer players make less than their male counterparts. A claim that the courts found to be completely untrue. In fact, the female soccer players make more than the men but cost the league millions in return from lack of spectator interest.
The short on that story is, they opted to get paid differently than the men and receive smaller bonuses because those bonuses are based on fan turnout at the games. Women’s soccer fills fewer seats but that’s not discrimination from the league, that’s a lack of interest.
Mind you, Rapino’s net worth is upward of 3 million…
However, now that Biden is in office, Rapino thinks she has found another chance to spin her claims of financial discrimination. This time the soccer player touted her sexual orientation to further state her claim into victim-hood. Claiming that as a member of the LBGTQ community she has been ‘dismissed’ and ‘disrespected’:
“I’m a member of the LGBTQ community with pink hair, and where I come from, I could have only dreamed of standing in the position I am today at the White House. I’m also a professional athlete, and I’ve helped – along with all of my teammates virtually here today, one teammate literally here today – win four World Cup championships and four Olympic gold medals for the United States,” Rapinoe said.
“Despite those wins, I’ve been devalued, I’ve been disrespected and dismissed because I am a woman. I’ve been told that I don’t deserve any more than less because I am a woman. You see, despite all the wins, I’m still paid less than men who do the same job that I do,” she continued. “For each trophy – of which there are many – and for each win, for each tie, and for each time that we play, it’s less.”
“I know there are millions of people who are marginalized by gender in the world and experience the same thing in their jobs,” Rapinoe said. “And I know there are people who experience even more where the layers of discrimination continue to stack against them. And I and my teammates are here for them. We on the U.S. Women’s National Team are here because of them.”
WATCH
Megan Rapinoe: "I've been devalued, I've been disrespected and dismissed because I am a woman. I've been told that I don't deserve any more than less because I am a woman. Despite all the wins, I'm still paid less than men who do the same job that I do." https://t.co/canJYaCV9s pic.twitter.com/yFycaMbVXn
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 24, 2021
A fact sheet on pay differences showed that the female teams out-earned their male counterpart, though they lost the USSF millions. A report previously done by the DailyWire offers more details about those findings:
“The women’s team sued … claiming they were denied equal pay by the USSF. The USSF later released a “fact sheet” explaining that the women’s team lost the federation millions of dollars and yet they still out-earned their male counterparts. The women’s team, while claiming unequal treatment, collectively bargained for their pay structure, just like the men’s team. The women receive a base salary of $100,000 each year and an additional salary of $67,500 to $72,500 for playing in the National Women’s Soccer League. The men’s team does not have this agreement, they only receive bonuses. The women’s team also receives bonuses at a higher percentage of what the men’s team earns, yet because women’s soccer brings in less money, they receive less in bonuses. The women’s team also has benefits like a retirement plan and health insurance. The men’s team does not receive any benefits.”
Discrimination happens in any field. I get that. I just don’t see it here. Do you? Let me know in the comments below.