US Women’s Soccer team appeals decision ruling that they were not discriminated against

US District Judge Gary Klausner had written in his legal opinion that the women's case didn't pass muster due to the fact that they had actively rejected on offer to be paid the same way the men's soccer team is paid.

According to the Daily Wire, the ruling stated, in part:

"The WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players. Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA (collective bargaining agreement) worse than the MNT (men’s national team) CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT’s pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure."

The men's team does not receive a base salary, nor any sort of other benefit like the women's team does, which in part accounts for the lower-risk lower-pay nature of their agreement.

The women's team actually gets paid from more than one source. The US Soccer Federation (USSF) pays for games they control and put on. FIFA, for example, pays teams according to the money they bring in, however, which is based on viewership. For this reason, women get paid significantly less for FIFA games, which much less people tend to watch.

The USSF was the only organization named in the lawsuit.