--- title: How U.S. Women's Soccer Players Got Better Pay description: Find out how the U.S. women's soccer team members worked together to get more equitable pay. canonical: https://time.com/4731043/womens-soccer-equal-pay-dispute/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-07T17:16:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:23.990Z og:title: How U.S. Women’s Soccer Players Got More Equitable Pay og:description: ‘I am incredibly proud of this team’ og:url: https://time.com/4731043/womens-soccer-equal-pay-dispute/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc66d264dc3ebf12/69888d182dce0185739e86c0/megan-rapinoe-hope-solo-women-soccer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: megan-rapinoe-hope-solo-women-soccer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How U.S. Women’s Soccer Players Got More Equitable Pay twitter:description: ‘I am incredibly proud of this team’ twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc66d264dc3ebf12/69888d182dce0185739e86c0/megan-rapinoe-hope-solo-women-soccer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How U.S. Women’s Soccer Players Got More Equitable Pay  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Apr 7, 2017 5:16 PM UTC  Carli Lloyd (10) is congratulated by goalkeeper Hope Solo (1) and midfielder Megan Rapinoe (top) after scoring a goal during the final match between USA and Japan during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada, July 5, 2015. Carli Lloyd (10) is congratulated by goalkeeper Hope Solo (1) and midfielder Megan Rapinoe (top) after scoring a goal during the final match between USA and Japan during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada, July 5, 2015.Franck Fife—AFP/Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Apr 7, 2017 5:16 PM UTC Players on the U.S. women’s soccer team worked together to [negotiate](http://time.com/4726892/us-womens-soccer-salary-negotiations/?iid=sr-link2) a new contract to settle their [equal pay](http://motto.time.com/4578379/us-women-soccer-equal-pay-fight-60-minutes/?iid=sr-link1) dispute. On Wednesday, the team announced that it had settled with the U.S. Soccer Federation on a new [contract](http://time.com/4726892/us-womens-soccer-salary-negotiations/?iid=sr-link2), which provides the players with raises, higher bonuses and better travel accommodations (though it does not guarantee equal pay with the men’s squad). The new deal ends a wage dispute that began when five players [filed](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/sports/soccer/uswnt-us-women-carli-lloyd-alex-morgan-hope-solo-complain.html) a federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year. The New York _Times_ [reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/sports/soccer/uswnt-us-soccer-labor-deal-contract.html) that the players took control of their pay battle, down to the gritty details. While spread out across the country, team members crafted their demands and arguments in emails, text messages, anonymous surveys and Google documents. And as negotiations intensified with the U.S. Soccer Federation, co-captain [Becky Sauerbrunn](https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/04/04/becky-sauerbrunn-uswnt-cba-talks-nwsl-usmnt-relationship) and defender Meghan Klingenberg would meet with teammates to rehearse what each would say during negotiations and fine tune the details of the contract, down to a single word. After [firing](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/sports/soccer/uswnt-cba-rich-nichols.html) the team’s union lawyer in December, some players [convinced](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/sports/soccer/us-women-union-cba-talks-equal-pay.html) more teammates to join their effort by softening the tone of their argument to “equitable” — rather than equal — pay. U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati told the _Times_ those changes helped accelerate the new contract. Last weekend, 16 players — wearing matching team attire — sat in on negotiation sessions, which culminated in the ratified contract. > [](https://twitter.com/AndrewDasNYT/status/849717232510828544) “I am incredibly proud of this team and the commitment we have shown through this entire process,” U.S. women’s soccer team member Megan Rapinoe said in a statement to the _Times._ “While I think there is still much progress to be made for us and for women more broadly, I think the W.N.T.P.A. should be very proud of this deal and feel empowered moving forward.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4731043/womens-soccer-equal-pay-dispute/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4731043/womens-soccer-equal-pay-dispute/"},"headline":"How U.S. Women’s Soccer Players Got More Equitable Pay","datePublished":"2017-04-07T17:16:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:23.990Z","description":"‘I am incredibly proud of this team’","url":"https://time.com/4731043/womens-soccer-equal-pay-dispute/","keywords":["motto","gender equality","Equal Pay"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc66d264dc3ebf12/69888d182dce0185739e86c0/megan-rapinoe-hope-solo-women-soccer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc66d264dc3ebf12/69888d182dce0185739e86c0/megan-rapinoe-hope-solo-women-soccer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"megan-rapinoe-hope-solo-women-soccer","caption":"Carli Lloyd (10) is congratulated by goalkeeper Hope Solo (1) and midfielder Megan Rapinoe (top) after scoring a goal during the final match between USA and Japan during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada, July 5","creditText":"Franck Fife—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4731043/womens-soccer-equal-pay-dispute/","name":"How U.S. Women’s Soccer Players Got More Equitable Pay"}}]}] ```