What we can learn from the U.S. Soccer pay equity campaign

When news broke that U.S. Soccer came to terms on a landmark labour agreement with members of the men's and women's national teams that would—for the first time—guarantee that soccer players representing both the men's and women's national teams will receive equal pay when competing in international competitions, I shared the news and noted that "campaigns matter."

Campaigns matter because without a campaign, this deal simply doesn't happen out of goodness of someone's heart. It doesn't happen organically. It happens because a collection of voices campaigns for change.

With any good campaign, I think we much to learn by analyzing the campaign's evolution. What can we learn from this campaign?

Let's start with the mindset

Campaigns are brutal. They're gruelling, and often unforgiving. To do this well, we need to:

1. Be prepared to fight for the long haul. Campaigns are very effective at driving change, but only if you are prepared to commit for the long haul. If you're not prepared to fight for years, you're not prepared to fight at all. This campaign began in 2016 when the players filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The win wasn't secured until 2022. That's longer than most people stay in one job. It's also why the best campaigns are always on. Often you win by chipping away day in, day out, for years.
2. Have the courage to force a response. When you have a case to make and the other side is not responding, consider taking your case to the court of law. By filing a gender-discrimination lawsuit, the other side cannot ignore you. Sure a win is far from guaranteed, but it forces the other side to respond to your campaign. The players filed on March 8, 2019, and success was far from guaranteed.
3. Know that setbacks inevitable; have the guts to overcome them. On May 1, 2020, a California judge ruled against the players, including their contention of discrimination under the Equal Pay Act. At the time, this was reported a fatal setback to the players. It no doubt hurt, but when you're prepared to fight for the long haul, you're also prepared to keep up the fight, even when dealt a fatal blow. What did the players do? They appealed. They fought back. They didn't let up.

Assemble the facts, make the narrative about values

The most effective campaigns have compelling, irrefutable facts on their side. The best ones have the kind of facts that reasonable people cannot ignore.

1. Write the evidence-based cognitive narrative. The facts in this case were compelling. The U.S. women's national team is the most successful team in the history of U.S. Soccer. When the campaign started in 2016, the team had won three world cups and four Olympic gold medals. In winning the Women's World Cup title in 2016, the team drew the highest American television rating for soccer in history, generating a $17.7 million profit for the U.S. Soccer federation. The women's team is the driving force that generates the majority of the revenue for the federation. Despite this, they continued to be compensated significantly lower than their male counterparts. Each year, both teams play a minimum of 20 friendly matches. The top five players on the men’s team would make an average of $406,000 each year from these games. The top five women were guaranteed only $72,000 each year. Male soccer players would warn a $390,000 bonus for winning the World Cup; women earned $75,000 for actually winning the World Cup. Men would get $69,000 for making the World Cup roster; women would get $15,000. What about the popular argument that the men's World Cup generates more money? Yes, that's true, but the Women's team generated profits to the tune of $5.2 million in 2017, while the men's team lost $1 million.
2. Identify a campaign theme and an emotive narrative. This campaign was all about fairness. What's right and what's fair. "Equal pay for equal play." In five words, we know what the campaign is about, we get the sense that the players are fighting for something so basic and so reasonable, how can we not support their cause? "We're sick of being treated like second-class citizens." Yep, tough to argue with that, especially once the facts are put on the table.

Make this bigger than yourself; make it a movement

This wasn't about the player's who filed the claim. It was about players coming up behind them, and for female athletes around the world. By making it bigger, so many people could see themselves in this campaign. It became a bigger fight about values. Campaigns that drive change bring crowds of people onside. They become movements that build the kind of momentum that can feel unstoppable.

After the women won their fourth World Cup in Paris, the fans inside the stadium quickly went from cheering "U-S-A" to "Equal Pay." The moment was captured on smart phones throughout the stadium and broadcast worldwide, symbolizing the campaign's resonance. This was was more than a game. It was about what's right, and what's fair.

This win will resonate around the world, and other federations will be forced to respond. That's the mark of an amazing campaign: it's ability to create lasting change for years to come. In fact, the campaign has only just begun.