U.S. women’s national team ripped off financially

The United States women’s national team defeated Japan on Sunday night, 5-2, in the World Cup final. For the U.S. women, it was their third championship in World Cup history and the first since the famed 1999 team. Without question, it was a monumental achievement for all parties involved.

Yet, somehow, they are getting jobbed on the financial side of things. The women’s team will receive $2 million from FIFA for winning the tournament, a sizable sum to be sure. However, the German men’s team that won the 2014 World Cup received $35 million.

Even worse, the United States men’s team that was beaten in the first round collected $8 million from FIFA. Additionally, any team that simply participated in the men’s World Cup was given $1.5 million, according to Judd Legum of ThinkProgress.

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Thanks for coming out and getting hammered, here’s your check.

The men’s World Cup surely generates more money and massive ratings across the globe in comparison to the women. Still, the injustice remains. In the United States, where the victors live, the tournament was a rousing success. The game against Japan did a 15.2 overnight rating, per Sports TV ratings. It’s a ridiculous number by any measure and easily became the most-viewed U.S. women’s soccer game of all-time, breaking the record previously held by the 1999 final between the United States and China.

Think of it this way: the 2014 World Series drew a 15.2 rating for Game 7 between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals, per Deadline.com. The exact same number. Who would have thought even 20 years ago that this was possible? Soccer is undoubtedly on the rise in America, whether some would like to admit it or not.

Regardless of how much each gender’s tournament brings in, FIFA should be making sure that the winner of either is paid more than some mediocre team that got knocked out in the round of 16. At this point, the U.S. women are vastly ahead of the U.S. men in world competition for a variety of reasons, and it is not close.