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The USWNT was dominant in past women’s World Cups for one reason: Most of the world didn’t care about women playing soccer. The world is starting to “care” because it involves national pride and likely soon, the US team will be just another team – winning some, losing some. The days of USWNT crushing the competition are gone.

In the past, the lack of international interest could be attributed to misogyny, but the vast amount of disinterest was because women’s soccer is third-class soccer. Sorry, not sorry. If you think men’s soccer is a snoozefest, imagine the same game played at three-fourths the speed. I’m not your average American soccer hater. One of my sons was nationally ranked at one point and he played D1 soccer. Like the Texas U-15 boys, as a youth, my son’s U-15 team also scrimmaged the USWNT. They dominated. I don’t remember the score but it wasn’t close. I also reffed at a high level. I “understand” the game. I can assure you that international soccer fans understand it too – and if forced to opine would admit that women’s soccer, is soccer on dope. Even the women on the national team, if forced to be honest, would admit that their days dominating the international scene are waning. Yes, USWNT won the last two World Cups, and hardly any American remembers or noticed. The total prize money for the last Women’s World Cup was 30 Million. The total prize money for Qatar World Cup is 440 Million. Why isn’t FIFA awarding equal prize money? Because the world doesn’t watch third-rate soccer.

Back in February, US Soccer Federation announced a “deal” by which the men and women would share in World Cup prize money.  The Federation didn’t have to settle. The USWNT didn’t have a legal leg to stand on, but USSF president Cindy Cone announced the deal as historic — and in one respect it is. It was all about emotion and “equity.”

U.S. Soccer and @USWNT are proudly standing together in a shared commitment to advancing equality in soccer. pic.twitter.com/Sp8q7NY0Up

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) February 22, 2022

But it’s not “equal.” It’s equity. The two are not the same. Even wokesters like Don Lemon can see the obvious.

For simply existing, players on the USWNT will share the money the men’s team just earned for advancing to the knockout stage. An equal split, for not playing a minute. $13,000,000 will be split between the men’s team and the women’s team. Women sitting at home watching the World Cup will get the same amount as the men who are playing in the World Cup. Is that fair? Of course not. There isn’t one player in the NBA who would share their NBA finals bonus money with the WNBA. Not one. Nor should they. In the article announcing the deal, there’s a photo of the women’s team playing in the Olympics. In the background, you can see the stands. In the immortal words of Chick Hearn, “There’s a whole lot of fans dressed as seats.” The stands are empty. No one cares.

The reason FIFA doesn’t pay out the same prize money for men’s and women’s World Cup is that on a grand scale, no one cares about the WWC. The world doesn’t care about it. Sure, FIFA would counter and claim that “over a billion people” watched the Women’s World Cup in 2019, but as the saying goes there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. That “billion” viewers included 342 million Chinese tuning in. And “watching” for one minute counted as a “viewer.” I was one of those one-minute viewers. More telling is the total viewership in the USA. The WWC final in 2019 (I’ll bet you didn’t know it was USA vs Netherlands) was watched by about 15 million Americans. The Super Bowl generates an average of about 100 million. Your average NFL game gets around the same viewership as the WWC finals with an American team playing for the Cup. If our national team wasn’t in the finals, the viewership would have been about equal to a rerun of a Don Lemon show. No one would care.

If USWNT reaches only the knockout stage in 2023 the men’s prize money “split” will be about $500,000. Not per player. Total.

The ladies make bank, simply for existing.

That isn’t equality. It’s equity and it’s wrong.

What would be equal? After the World Cup, the men’s team and the women’s team play each other for the whole prize money. Winner take all.

What do you say, Rapinoe? What do you say, Cindy?