USA women's football team reaches landmark $33m equal pay settlement with US Soccer

After a six-year legal battle, past and present players of the US women's national football team have reached a landmark settlement with their governing body, US Soccer, over equal pay.

The deal is one of the biggest in the history of soccer in the USA, promising the players $24m ($33.2m AUD) — largely in back-pay — as well as a pledge to equalise bonuses and prize money to match their male colleagues.

US Soccer and the players arrived at the agreement on Tuesday, with most of the money being split between the group of several dozen athletes including World Cup stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and recently-retired Carli Lloyd.

The governing body also agreed to establish a $2 million retirement fund to support players in their post-football careers as well as other charitable initiatives.

Despite a US judge dismissing the players' equal pay arguments in 2020 (a decision that was appealed by the players), the eight-figure settlement is a tacit admission by US Soccer that payments for the women's and men's teams had been unequal for years.

As part of that legal battle, the two sides settled the working conditions portion in December 2020, which addressed inequalities in travel, accommodation, and playing surfaces. However, their equal pay claim was thrown out by a judge.

As such, Tuesday's settlement represents an unexpected victory for the players, who were not only able to secure financial compensation that redressed historical underpayments, but also a commitment from the federation to enact the same equal pay reforms the judge had rejected two years ago.

As part of the agreement, US Soccer has pledged to equalise prize money between the men's and women's national teams across all competitions, including World Cups, in the