USWNT Receive $529K Donation from Secret Deodorant After Women's World Cup Win

Deodorant brand Secret announced it is donating $529,000—or $23,000 per player—to the 2019 United States women's World Cup team to help close the gender pay gap.

"Let's take this moment of celebration to propel women's sports forward," Secret said in an ad placed in the New York Times on Sunday (h/t the Associated Press). "We urge the US Soccer Federation to be a beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all."

Midfielder Allie Long expressed her gratitude to the company:  

Twenty-eight members of the USWNT sued the U.S. Soccer Federation in March, saying it was discriminatory that the team is paid less than the men's national team. 

The lawsuit against the USSF is far more complex than simple dollars and cents. While the suit asks for women—who earn less than half of the $17,625 a men's player is eligible to receive in bonuses—to receive per-game compensation on par with the men, the women have also highlighted disparities in treatment.

For instance, the suit says women are forced to play on artificial turf far more often than men. The USSF also chartered 17 flights for the men in 2017 as opposed to zero for the women's national team. 

The women's collective bargaining agreement does call for a $100,000 base salary in addition to $72,500 in wages for playing in the National Women's Soccer League. The men do not have such a bargaining agreement and are only compensated if they make the roster for an international game. However, most (if not all) of those players recoup that revenue playing overseas or in MLS for a club team.

In total, the lawsuit estimates an average men's player earns $164,320 more than the average women's player in money given out by the USSF. The women are asking for equal pay across the board, as well as damages for back pay.