USWNT v. U.S. Soccer: The $24M Settlement, CBAs, and Federal Law

The U.S. Women’s National Team’s equal pay settlement, announced on February 22, 2022, resolved the players’ lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for $24 million and a binding commitment to pay the women’s and men’s national teams at equal rates going forward, including pooling and splitting FIFA World Cup prize money between the two squads.¹

How the $24 Million Is Divided

Of the total, $22 million was allocated for distribution among the class of players. A separate $2 million fund was set aside for players’ post-career goals and charitable work in women’s and girls’ soccer, with individual players eligible to apply for up to $50,000.¹

The class covered all USWNT players from June 11, 2015, through the date of final judgment.² A November 2022 court filing listed proposed payouts for 72 players, with 34 receiving six figures. The largest individual amounts after attorneys’ fees included roughly $643,873 for Christen Press, $640,677 for Julie Ertz, $640,324 for Becky Sauerbrunn, and $639,273 for Carli Lloyd.³

Judge R. Gary Klausner granted preliminary approval on August 11, 2022, and final approval on December 5, 2022. He left the roughly $6.6 million attorneys’ fee request unresolved at the final hearing, setting additional briefing.⁴

Equal Pay Going Forward and the New CBAs

The settlement was contingent on ratifying new collective bargaining agreements that would lock in equal terms.¹ Those CBAs were announced on May 18, 2022, formally signed on September 6, 2022, and run through 2028. For the first time, the men’s and women’s national teams negotiated under identical economic terms.⁵

The most consequential piece is the World Cup prize money arrangement, which made U.S. Soccer the first federation in the world to equalize FIFA prize payments. The federation pools the prize money it receives from both the men’s and women’s World Cups, sets aside 10% for youth development, and divides the rest equally among players on both rosters.⁶

The gap the pool closes is large. The U.S. men earned about $13 million for reaching the round of 16 at the 2022 Men’s World Cup, while the 2023 Women’s World Cup awarded only $4.3 million to the tournament champion. Pooling means the women’s team is no longer capped at the smaller women’s prize.⁶

Other core provisions of the CBAs:

Identical roster appearance fees and performance bonuses for both teams in friendlies and official competitions, using the same tiers based on match outcomes and opponent rankings.
A 50/50 split between the two teams of a portion of broadcast, sponsorship, and partner revenue, plus a share of home-match ticket revenue and sellout bonuses.
A shift in how women’s players are paid: guaranteed salaries are gone, and U.S. Soccer no longer pays NWSL club salaries for national team players, aligning the women’s model with the men’s pay-for-play structure.
Equal standards across both teams for charter travel, hotels, training and rehabilitation staffing, childcare support, and playing surfaces, plus a 401(k) plan with up to a 5% match.

How the Case Reached a Settlement

The dispute began with a March 2016 wage discrimination complaint five USWNT players filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, citing the federation’s own 2015 financial report and alleging the women’s team generated nearly $20 million more in revenue than the men’s team that year while being paid roughly four times less.⁷

On March 8, 2019, 28 USWNT members filed a class and collective action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, case number 2:19-cv-01717-RGK-AGR.⁸⁹¹⁰ Early estimates put the damages claim at roughly $67 million.¹¹

The case took a serious hit on May 1, 2020, when Judge Klausner granted partial summary judgment to the federation, dismissing the Equal Pay Act claims along with an artificial-turf safety claim.¹²¹³

Title VII claims about unequal working conditions survived. The players appealed the Equal Pay Act ruling to the Ninth Circuit in July 2021.¹⁴ The February 2022 settlement came before the appellate court ruled, which means the trial court’s Equal Pay Act reasoning was never tested on appeal.

Hope Solo’s Objection

Former goalkeeper Hope Solo, one of the original 2016 EEOC complainants, was in an unusual posture. She had filed her own separate suit against the federation in August 2018 and, while part of the Title VII class in Morgan, had not opted into the Equal Pay Act collective action, so her individual EPA claims remained active.¹⁵ In October 2022 she formally objected to the settlement, arguing it lacked transparency about individual payouts and that the roughly $7.9 million in legal fees carved from the $22 million class fund was excessive. “Without knowing how much each player — including me for our Title VII claims — will be paid, or when we will get paid, it’s impossible for players to determine whether or not the proposed settlement… is fair, adequate or reasonable,” she said.¹⁶ Judge Klausner approved the settlement over the objection but held the fee question open.⁴

The Federal Law It Inspired

The settlement and CBAs directly prompted federal legislation. The Equal Pay for Team USA Act, sponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell and Shelley Moore Capito, passed the Senate unanimously on December 8, 2022, and the House on December 21, 2022. President Biden signed it into law on January 5, 2023, as Public Law 117-340.¹⁷¹⁸

The law mandates equal compensation, medical care, travel arrangements, and expense reimbursement for athletes in the same sport regardless of gender, and it reaches the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and 50 national governing bodies. It also requires the USOPC to conduct oversight and report on compliance.¹⁹

1
CNBC. USWNT and US Soccer Federation Reach $24 Million Settlement in Equal Pay Lawsuit
2
Classaction.org. Morgan et al. v. United States Soccer Federation Settlement Agreement
3
Just Women’s Sports. Christen Press Headlines USWNT Equal Pay Settlement Payouts
4
Bloomberg Law. U.S. Women’s Soccer Pay Bias Pact Gets Nod, Lawyer Fees Unresolved
5
U.S. Soccer. USSF Women’s and Men’s National Team Unions Agree to Historic Collective Bargaining Agreements
6
ESPN. Equal Pay Explainer: USWNT Prize Money at Women’s World Cup
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NPR. Members of U.S. Women’s National Team File Federal Equal Pay Complaint
8
vlex. Morgan v. U.S. Soccer Federation
9
New York Times. U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Complaint
10
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Morgan v. U.S. Soccer Federation
11
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12
NPR. Federal Judge Dismisses U.S. Women’s Soccer Team’s Equal Pay Claim
13
Employment Law Worldview. U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s Equal Pay Act Claim Dismissed but Other Gender-Based Claims Remain
14
University of Miami Business Law Review. Morgan v. United States Soccer Federation
15
Sportico. Hope Solo US Soccer USWNT
16
NBC Chicago. Hope Solo to Object to US Soccer Equal Pay Deal
17
Congress.gov. Equal Pay for Team USA Act of 2022 (S. 2333)
18
Amsterdam News. President Biden Signs Equal Pay for Team USA Act
19
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce. Historic Win for Women’s Equality in Sports: Equal Pay for Equal Play Coming to Team USA