U.S. women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe had some simple advice for fans who are loudly advocating for the women...
Megan Rapinoe on how fans can support the fight for equal pay: Come to games, buy jerseys, become season ticket holders, tell your friends about it. pic.twitter.com/Zooy7C3tEy— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 10, 2019
Rapinoe's answer could be seen as an acknowledgment that lower pay for women's soccer players is not simply caused by a desire by the powers-that-be for women to make less money; rather, the amount players get paid is based on the amount of revenue generated by the sport.
The very act of comparing revenues and pay structures between the men's and women's teams is quite complicated. The two teams have different collective bargaining agreements, play different numbers of games, and the men's team team only earns bonuses while the women's team has a base salary-plus-bonus structure.
Variables aside, Rapinoe believes the debate is clear-cut.