CLOSING THE GAP

As the United States women’s national soccer team continues its fight for equal pay, the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) is bringing attention to the low pay of professional athletes in the NWSL. 

Last week, the NWSLPA launched a #NoMoreSideHustles campaign in an effort to call attention to the low salaries of NWSL players, which have caused many to pick up side jobs to make ends meet. Currently, the minimum player salary for the NWSL’s 2021 season is $22,000 and the maximum player salary is $52,500. Of the roughly 200 players who are part of NWSLPA, a third make the league’s minimum salary and about 75% make $31,000 or less, reports NWSLPA. By comparison, the average player in Major League Soccer earns $398,725 for the 2021 season. 

“The continued raising of standards of the NWSL is a priority and that includes elevating the player experience in all aspects, including continuing to increase compensation,” an NWSL spokesperson told CNBC Make It. The NWSL explains that since the league's start in 2012, player compensation has increased every year. 

In response to NWSLPA's campaign calling out the league's low pay, several current and former players took to Twitter to share their stories of working two, and sometimes three, additional jobs while playing soccer professionally. 

Jessica McDonald, a player for the North Carolina Courage of the NWSL, shared that she’s “worked at Amazon packing boxes during 10 hour days” while also raising her son. And Kat Williamson, a former defender for the team Portland Thorns FC, said she has “cleaned homes for extra money and worked at a dental office as a receptionist.” 

Caroline Stanley, who played for several different NWSL teams from 2015 to 2018, shared with CNBC Make It that she relied on leftover money from her college scholarship stipend during her rookie year. At the time, she says, the league had a salary cap that only allowed teams to pay two goalkeepers, which meant that as a third-string goalkeeper she didn’t get paid. Later that year when the first- and second-string goalkeepers got injured, Stanley stepped in to play and was given a prorated contract. But, even then she says the pay was less than a livable wage.

“I know for a fact I wasn’t making close to $10,000 because I didn’t have to pay taxes,” she says. “I obviously reported everything and it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re not making any money.’”

Meghann Burke, executive director of the NWSLPA, says the #NoMoreSideHustles campaign comes at a time when the players association is negotiating its first collective bargaining agreement with the league. Now, in its ninth season with 10 teams and several big-name sponsors, she says it “feels like the time to pivot” as the league is in a “strong position to pay these players a fair wage.”

Click here to read the rest of the story about the NWSLPA’s #NoMoreSideHustles campaign and be sure to reach out to me via email at courtney.connley@nbcuni.com or on Twitter @ClassicalyCourt to share your thoughts about the ongoing fight for equal pay in sports and other industries. 

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