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America’s Stance on Equal Pay for Athletes

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Source: Statista

The U.S. women’s soccer national team successfully defended its title at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, but the team that clinched its fourth World Cup title on Sunday is still in the middle of another battle: that for equal pay.

In March, 28 members of the 2015 World Cup squad sued the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) over gender discrimination, arguing that they are unfairly treated both in terms of pay and employment conditions compared to the (significantly less successful) men’s soccer team. According to the suit, if both teams were to play 20 friendly matches over the course of a year and win them all, the women would receive $99,000, while the men would cash in $263,320. Those numbers are even more astonishing when considering that the women’s team generated more revenue for the USSF compared to the men’s team over the past three years, according to figures obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

While fans of women’s soccer are (unsurprisingly) in favor of equal pay for female players, they even chanted “equal pay!” following the U.S. victory on Sunday, where does the general public stand on the issue? According to a survey carried out by YouGov in cooperation with Statista, the majority of U.S. adults think that female athletes should be paid equally, with 30 percent of all respondents demanding equal pay for women at comparable events (e.g. the FIFA World Cup or Wimbledon), while another 28 percent think female athletes should be paid equally relative to the amount of revenue an event creates.

Are Ticker Tape Parades a Thing of the Past?

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Source: Statista

Today the national U.S. Women’s soccer team is being celebrated with a ticker tape parade in downtown Manhattan for their World Cup win against the Netherlands this past Sunday.

The first ticker tape parade in New York took place on October 28, 1886, as a celebration of the new Statue of Liberty. The impromptu event ran between Battery park, at the southern-most tip of Manhattan where the Statue is visible, through the Financial district and up to City Hall. The route is now known as the Canyon of Heroes.

Originally, ticker tape was a paper strip where messages were recorded on a telegraphic tape machine. They were remotely driven devices used to provide updated stock market quotes. The used tape messages were in abundance in the Financial district and were thrown from windows in celebration of any given parade. Today, ticker tape is replaced with tons of recycled paper and confetti.

As the chart below illustrates, the heyday of ticker tape parades was in the 1950s, after World War II. In that decade, there were 71 parades, which welcomed foreign dignitaries, U.S. generals, veterans, and sports stars. The event has waned in recent years, with only three ticker tape parades in this decade, all celebrating sports wins for New York area teams or U.S. national teams. In the past decade, two out of the three ticker tape parades have been to celebrate the World Cup wins of the U.S. Women’s soccer team.