The unions for the men’s and women’s national football teams of the United States have ratified new collective agreements with American football, which include equal distribution of bonuses for the World Cup, the federation and the two unions announced on Wednesday.
The two CBAs will take effect on June 1 and run until the end of 2028. The US National Football Team Players’ Association (USNSTPA), which represented the men’s players, has been operating without a CBA since the end of 2018. players in the US National Team (USWNTPA) expired in late 2021, although it was extended.
The agreements are a promise kept by the president of the American Football Federation, Cindy Parlow Cown, who promised that the new CBA will have to solve the problem of equal payment of bonuses from the World Cup. The monetary interest agreements also entered into force for the so-called financial agreement between the USWNT and the federation, which was announced in February after years of litigation.
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“I’ve been saying this for a long time. I wanted to lead this. I wanted US Soccer to lead this,” Cohen told ESPN via video call. “But we couldn’t do it alone. We needed both men and men [union] and women’s and women’s players [union] to gather in one room to negotiate a contract.
“And I’ll be honest, there were days when I didn’t think we’d get over it. But we are here and I am so incredibly proud of what we have achieved and what is happening. means not only for the game here in the United States, but worldwide. “
The deals change the dynamics between the two teams. Previously, they competed for attention and resources from the USSF. Now they are working together for the benefit of the two unions.
“I’m really excited to start this partnership almost clean, clean. We’re working together,” said Nashville SC defender Walker Zimmerman, a member of the USNSTPA leadership team. “We have achieved so much with this revolutionary CBA and we certainly are [going to] applaud like crazy because that’s exactly what this CBA is. It’s equal. We will be their biggest fans. I’m sure they will be our biggest fans. “
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American football president Cindy Parlow Cown explains the details of the new CBA for USMNT and USWNT.
As the striker of the women’s national team Midge Peirce, a member of the CBA Allied Commission, added: “I think what this CBA is doing is finally creating this’ One Nation. One team. And I think that really united us under this ideology that we have been pursuing for a very long time. “
The respective unions will receive 90% of the FIFA bonuses paid at the 2022 and 2023 World Cups and 80% of the 2026 and 2027 edition bonuses. All funds paid from these bonus pools will be divided equally between the two national teams. team. FIFA has announced that the total bonus fund for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be $ 400 million, while the bonuses for the women’s tournament in Australia in 2023 will be $ 60 million. In the previous cycle of the World Cup, the men’s team last won more prizes than the first women’s team.
“There are difficult conversations, but at the end of the day this is the right thing to do,” Zimmerman said. “It simply came to our notice then [the U.S. women’s team players] deserve. This is something they have fought so hard for, and honestly, sometimes it feels like we just came to them and were late.
“It’s not easy to look back and think about this whole journey and where it started for them and how we got in. And that’s why it’s even more important for us to feel involved. It’s never too late to get involved.”
The new CBAs achieve equality in other areas as well. Men’s and women’s teams will have identical bonuses based on performance for games and competitions. The women’s team will no longer have guaranteed salaries for some players and will have the same pay structure as the men’s team has always had.
Both unions will also be involved in revenue sharing, including 10% of trade revenue between $ 55 million and $ 75 million and 15% of all trade revenue over $ 75 million. Both teams will also receive an equal share of ticket revenue, with teams receiving $ 5.06 from each ticket sold by the end of 2026 and $ 5.75 from each ticket in the last two years of the deal.
For matches controlled by the USSF – namely friendly – players will receive $ 18,000 for a win, $ 12,000 for a draw and $ 8,000 for a loss if the opponent is ranked in the top 25 in the FIFA rankings. For all other opponents, the amounts are $ 13,000 to win, $ 10,000 to draw and $ 8,000 to lose. For World Cup matches, each player will receive a $ 10,000 play bonus, plus an additional $ 14,000 for winning or $ 10,000 for a draw.
A source familiar with the men’s deal told ESPN that the men’s players will receive a $ 2.5 million bonus related to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, which will not be shared with the women’s team. This is essentially a retroactive payment due to the fact that the men have worked on their old CBA for more than three years.
There are also aspects of the deal with women that are unique compared to the contract with men, including ongoing protection from injury, childcare and parental leave. But for women, the new CBA marks a major change as it moves away from guaranteed wages to the pay-per-play model that has long been a staple in the men’s deal.
“The ability to do that comes a lot from the strength that NWSL has gained over the last few years,” Peirce said. “We have a strong enough league here at home, where we can rely a little more on those salaries and leave a little more risk to the national team. And I think that really helped to release that risk.”
An agreement was announced in February on the equal pay case for the women’s team, with the USSF agreeing to pay $ 22 million to players, with an additional $ 2 million invested in a fund that could be applied to players’ post-career endeavors. This deal depended on the coordination of a new CBA with women, which will include a decision on bonuses for the World Cup. Once this goal has been achieved, the agreement can be finalized.
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