ESPN has just officially secured the exclusive worldwide broadcasting rights to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). The deal, which gives ESPN the rights to both the regular season and playoffs, allows ESPN Player subscribers to broadcast NWSL matches in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia.
The USWNT’s search for equal pay and equality looks to be heading back to the courts.
The U.S. women’s national team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination earlier this year. The two sides decided to meet for mediation to come to an agreement before going to court.
Those talks appear to have broken down on Wednesday.
On the heels of the announcement of Kate Markgraf as the first general manager of the USWNT, the USSF has stated it will be preparing a bid to host the 2027 Women's World Cup. The 2027 bid has been hinted at over the past year, with president Carlos Cordeiro mentioning a potential bid at a USSF meeting in February.
U.S. Soccer also reaffirmed they intend to bid for the 2027 Women's World Cup in the final section.
Frank de Boer, manager of Atlanta United, has become the talk of the town after calling equal pay “ridiculous.”
In an interview with the Guardian he said:
The United States Soccer Federation announced the first official USWNT general manager will be former U.S. player Kate Markgraf on Monday.
Kate Markgraf, 1999 @FIFAWWC champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist named first GM of the #USWNT » https://t.co/dRYFtKwsuV pic.twitter.com/1lh7QSe0fv
There’s no more convenient way to earn a surfboard than by winning at the Teen Choice Awards, so Lionel Messi and Tobin Heath will be disappointed to have lost out on Choice Male Athlete and Choice Female Athlete, respectively, at the 2019 award show in Hermosa Beach, California, on Sunday night.
But soccer still got its moment in the spotlight when Taylor Swift was presented with the inaugural Icon Award at the show — presenting her surfboard was USWNT star Alex Morgan.
The U.S. Soccer Federation’s hiring of lobbyists is not going well.
The USSF lobbyists were ostensibly hired to try to convince politicians that the USWNT was in fact paid quite well and the USSF should not be punished for an inequality between the men’s and women’s national teams.
But things appear to be going south for U.S. Soccer.
With the mediation between the USWNT and United States Soccer Federation on the horizon, it appears the USSF has sought out extra support when attempting to dispute the USWNT equal-pay suit.