USWNT

I'm not saying every school gets that kind of money, but the schools making money off of sports are doing it off men's football and basketball.
I think E was pointing out not all men's football and basketball teams are profitable based on your rebutal below.

Now you posted this below, which includes an if and big time. Much different than your post above.
You're right. I also said in my post "I'm not saying every school gets that kind of money [referring to the oodles of cash March Madness generates]" but it's a vague and admittedly lazy way to avoid the complexities of Title 9. I know not every school has a $65 million budget for football like Penn State, and there are a few non-football, non-men's basketball sports that make money, but I just simplified things to make it easier to discuss. In practice, it's pretty much 1 male:1 female ratio of scholarships given out, yeah it's not always like that, but it's close enough for discussion purposes on this board. And schools giving full rides are generally spending money from the men's football and basketball gravy train, schools not on that gravy train usually offer partial scholarships and financial aid. Again, I know there are exceptions but it's close enough for discussion purposes.

How is basketball a cheap sport? Do they not pay thier college coaches? The team doesn't get athletic trainers? The school doesn't allow the basketball players to use the gym and sports facilities? They travel in yellow school buses? Please explain how basketball is cheaper than other sports at a college university.

First, basketball is one of the few sports that generates money, even for schools that don't have a big time program. Second, the team is small, you can only roster 12 per game so you save money on travel and hotels, and you don't have to offer a lot of scholarships compared to football. Third, every school has a basketball gym that can be used for both men and women, the equipment can be used for men and women, all of the facilities can be used for men and women, so Title 9 compliance is cheap with basketball. Fourth, there are not that many coaches for basketball, especially compared to football. If you are an AD on a tight budget, you can get away with one coach for men's team, one coach for women's team. And fifth, if you need another women's team to get in compliance with title 9, you can throw in a girls volleyball team into that gym for relatively cheap.

A lot of schools that can't make money off football have cut their football program for budgetary reasons. The sport has expensive equipment that can't be shared with other sports, expensive insurance, you need to offer a lot of scholarships to compete, you have to pay a lot of coaches, the stadium is not ideal for other sports, and then you have to fund a bunch of different women's teams to comply with title 9.
 
I've never heard a kid say I don't want to play because I'll be underpaid when I make the national team.

I have heard this and I've also heard "There's no money in this unless I become so big I get endorsements". I've also heard "I'm not gonna slag it out on a pro team making peanuts just for the love of the game".
 
You're right. I also said in my post "I'm not saying every school gets that kind of money [referring to the oodles of cash March Madness generates]" but it's a vague and admittedly lazy way to avoid the complexities of Title 9. I know not every school has a $65 million budget for football like Penn State, and there are a few non-football, non-men's basketball sports that make money, but I just simplified things to make it easier to discuss. In practice, it's pretty much 1 male:1 female ratio of scholarships given out, yeah it's not always like that, but it's close enough for discussion purposes on this board. And schools giving full rides are generally spending money from the men's football and basketball gravy train, schools not on that gravy train usually offer partial scholarships and financial aid. Again, I know there are exceptions but it's close enough for discussion purposes.



First, basketball is one of the few sports that generates money, even for schools that don't have a big time program. Second, the team is small, you can only roster 12 per game so you save money on travel and hotels, and you don't have to offer a lot of scholarships compared to football. Third, every school has a basketball gym that can be used for both men and women, the equipment can be used for men and women, all of the facilities can be used for men and women, so Title 9 compliance is cheap with basketball. Fourth, there are not that many coaches for basketball, especially compared to football. If you are an AD on a tight budget, you can get away with one coach for men's team, one coach for women's team. And fifth, if you need another women's team to get in compliance with title 9, you can throw in a girls volleyball team into that gym for relatively cheap.

A lot of schools that can't make money off football have cut their football program for budgetary reasons. The sport has expensive equipment that can't be shared with other sports, expensive insurance, you need to offer a lot of scholarships to compete, you have to pay a lot of coaches, the stadium is not ideal for other sports, and then you have to fund a bunch of different women's teams to comply with title 9.
I posted the reply, because I knew you would spend time writing a dissertation. Catch and release! :confused:
 
"I'm not here to criticize Title 9". That's pretty funny.

Title IX doesn't require any institution to provide equal numbers of scholarships for men and women. If it did, no school would have a football team. ("In 2013-14, NCAA member schools fielded an average of 430 student-athletes, including 243 males and 187 females." -- NCAA, Oct 15, 2014) It only has to provide an equivalent and proportional opportunity for men and women to participate in similar activities. "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Policy decisions by the Department of Education and settlements to lawsuits over the years have added more details, but the general idea is still the same. In the case of soccer (which should be our primary concern here) the men and women's programs at any institution that offers both usually are remarkably similar in funding, structure, and operation - it's the simplest way to show equal treatment.

NCAA FAQ on the matter -- http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/inclusion/title-ix-frequently-asked-questions#how

This is misleading. The standard under Title IX is proportional participation opportunities, but the way one determines whether proportional opportunities are provided by a school is based on actual participation. If actual participation is not roughly proportional to student population, I don't think there is a school that has proven that it provided proportional opportunities.

You should also be looking at each school, not national averages. For instance, the Naval Academy is 75 percent male, so they just need to provide women 25 percent of the opportunities. Obviously, nothing about proportionality would preclude the Naval Academy from having a football team.

It's pretty easy to figure out once you know that men's football and basketball fund all other sports, and schools have to dish out 97 girls scholarships (to make up the 85 for football and 12 for men's basketball) before they can give out even one more scholarship for men's soccer.

I don't think this is correct either. The NCAA determines the number of scholarships per sport. It's not like a school without a football team can redeploy the scholarships to other, cheaper, sports. The men's teams are stuck with the limited numbers regardless. It really should be changed, and it's more a problem with the NCAA then it is with Title IX. If certain schools want to put all their eggs in the football basket, let them. But that shouldn't prevent non-football schools from freely placing their scholarships into other men's sports.

I've always thought men from non-football sports/schools should sue under the right circumstances. It seems like a clear equal protection clause violation for a school to only provide 9 men's soccer scholarships vs. 14 for women. Since the school wouldn't be able to point to football as a basis for the difference, the school would have a hard time defending the difference.
 
Thanks for the post Glen, it's a frigin complicated topic that gives me a headache, I know I have a simplified understanding of it.

But back to the topic of what to pay USWNT, I actually have no issues with what the women are being paid after their latest negotiation. The fact of the matter is that the men's World Cup generates more than enough money to fund the men's team, women's team and youth teams, if FIFA didn't take such a huge, absurd cut of the profits.

Think about it. Total prize money for men's World Cup was $576 million and each of the 32 teams paid a $1.5 million participation fee (totaling $48 million) so net prize money was $528 million. Yet FIFA earned $4.8 billion off the World Cup, so FIFA holds on to slightly less than $4.3 billion, absolutely ridiculous.

In my next life I pray I get born as a FIFA official. It'd be so awesome leaching billions of dollars every four years off of the skills and hard work of players who have more talent in their pinky toe than I do in my whole body.
 
That and along with the new US WNT player deal.
It is nice to see that being a pro soccer player is actually possible for women. A few years ago it was not possible. For most D1 players, college is still the best place to be, but it is still nice to see more opportunities for women players. I wish her the best of luck.
 
It is nice to see that being a pro soccer player is actually possible for women. A few years ago it was not possible. For most D1 players, college is still the best place to be, but it is still nice to see more opportunities for women players. I wish her the best of luck.
To bad the deal was only for the US WNT players and not for the rank and file NWSL players.
 
To bad the deal was only for the US WNT players and not for the rank and file NWSL players.
I saw this in some other thread. "US soccer should put the DA money into the NWSL instead of a female development academy. They could use the money to pay salaries to make being a female pro a viable career." This would make the women's national team stronger than scouting the 15 years olds that they can already scout in ecnl and college.
 
I saw this in some other thread. "US soccer should put the DA money into the NWSL instead of a female development academy. They could use the money to pay salaries to make being a female pro a viable career." This would make the women's national team stronger than scouting the 15 years olds that they can already scout in ecnl and college.
To bad the MLS teams don't partner and back the NWSL teams. Similar to the European leagues financially supporting their women clubs or the NBA with the WNBA.
 
If she continues to play well and keeps her looks her endorsement money will make her salary insignificant.

Maybe down the line but as of right now nobody is lining up to throw money at a sport that is on TV a few times a year. Not to mention that she will have to find some place to play. Unless US Soccer pulls some sort of power move she won't be in the NWSL. Good luck to her.
 
Maybe down the line but as of right now nobody is lining up to throw money at a sport that is on TV a few times a year. Not to mention that she will have to find some place to play. Unless US Soccer pulls some sort of power move she won't be in the NWSL. Good luck to her.
So, what's the deal or opportunity that she could not pass up? The articles don't really speak to this.
 
So, what's the deal or opportunity that she could not pass up? The articles don't really speak to this.

As a Tier 1 player with US Soccer she stands to at least make $100k from them plus whatever she gets from a pro contract which will likely be another $100k if she plays abroad. I heard that she has a meeting with Nike and Adidas which could gross her another $250k-$500k a year ($1-2 million dollar deal for 4 years through the Olympics). Being US Soccer's shiny new toy is an opportunity. Weird for a federation to encourage somebody to leave college. At least in the NBA it's the greedy owners and not USA Basketball that is trying to exploit the teenagers. Probably has something to do with there being no full time coach for USA Basketball. The coaches have to get a real job and earn real results not wins against Albania and Russia. Good luck to her she has to strike while the iron is hot.
 
I think she will go play in Europe for at least a year.

Depends upon whether US Soccer can force the Washington Spirit to deal her rights to Portland or somewhere domestically that she wants to play. In terms of development Europe is probably a better play but if she inks a deal with Nike or Adidas they might force her to play stateside. How else can they hope to shill soccer stuff to little girls if they can't see her play regularly and the US is definitely the largest market for selling girls soccer related apparel.
 
Maybe US soccer isn't too concerned about players being roll models as far as education is concerned, just soccer in general, something to consider in choosing DA.
I wonder if she comes from money or modest means?
 
Maybe US soccer isn't too concerned about players being roll models as far as education is concerned, just soccer in general, something to consider in choosing DA.
I wonder if she comes from money or modest means?

Her father is a business owner so no she isn't broke.
 
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