The Women’s World Cup has kicked off this, and one of the biggest issues surrounding this year’s tournament is pay discrepancies between men and women in the sport.
Despite the recent growth of women’s soccer, many of the highest-earning women soccer players must rely on their off-field sponsorships to buoy their total earnings.
Read more: NBA players react to reported $776 million offer for soccer star Kylian Mbappé: ‘Wtf’
Soccer players earn a set salary from their club teams, and may earn more playing for their country’s national teams if they have successful tournament performances. According to data compiled by Statista, here are the top club team salaries for women’s soccer players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup:
Sam Kerr, $513,000
Sam Kerr of Chelsea F.C. is set to play for Australia during the Women’s World Cup.
Getty Images
Australia striker Sam Kerr, 29, who missed her team’s opening match of the Women’s World Cup after suffering a calf injury, earns the most of any women’s soccer player from her club team Chelsea F.C.
Kerr is also a Nike
NKE,
athlete, and graces the cover of Electronic Arts’s
EA,
flagship soccer game FIFA 23, along with the Frenchman Kylian Mbappe. The Australian Financial Review reported that Kerr made $3.3 million from her top endorsements in 2022.
Alex Morgan, $450,000
Alex Morgan is the captain of the two-time Women’s World Cup champion USWNT.
Getty Images
One of the most well-known soccer players in the world, Morgan makes the most of any USWNT player from her club team. The USWNT forward plays for San Diego Wave F.C. of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Morgan, 34, helped the U.S. win the last two Women’s World Cups, and she’s a force off the field, too. According to Forbes Estimates, Morgan, who has 10 million Instagram followers, earned roughly $5 million off the field with sponsorships including Nike, Beats, Coca-Cola
KO,
and AT&T
T,
Megan Rapinoe, $447,000
USWNT midfielder Megan Rapinoe says she is retiring after this Women’s World Cup.
Getty Images
USWNT midfielder Megan Rapinoe, 38, plays her club soccer at OL Reign in the NWSL, where she earns almost a half-million dollars.
Rapinoe’s earnings off the field were $5 million last year, partly due to her sponsorships with companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev
BUD,
Google
GOOG,
Nike and Verizon Communications
VZ,
See also: Women’s World Cup: U.S. faces tough test against Netherlands in repeat of 2019 final
Julie Ertz, $430,000
Julie Ertz of the United States looks to help the USWNT to win its third consecutive Women’s World Cup title.
Getty Images
The 31-year-old Ertz is the third USWNT player on the list, and plays her club soccer season at Angel City F.C. in the NWSL.
Ertz, who is married to All-Pro NFL tight end Zach Ertz, has nearly 2 million followers across her social media accounts, and has sponsorships with Visa
V,
and the Pepsi-owned
PEP,
Frito Lay.
Marta, $400,000
Marta is Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer with 115 goals.
Getty Images
Brazil’s Marta, generally viewed as one of the top women’s footballers who has ever lived, plays her club games at Orlando Pride in the NWSL. The forward is Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer with 115 goals.
Marta, 37, has nearly 3 million followers on Instagram, and has off-field sponsorships with Frito Lay and Panini.
While these salaries may seem like a lot of money compared to most people’s earnings, it’s still far off from how much the top men’s players earn from their club teams.
Cristiano Ronaldo is earning an estimated $213 million this year from his club Al Nassr, Kylian Mbappe is getting $110 million from his club Paris Saint-German, and Karim Benzema is reportedly collecting $214 million on his two-year contract with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad.
There’s more cash on the line for Women’s World Cup players this year than ever before. The FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup has $150 million in prize money, which is up 300% from the $30 million in total given out during the last tournament in 2019. While this is a significant increase, the amount is still much lower than the $440 million in prize money doled out at the 2022 men’s tournament in Qatar.
FIFA said it’s an “objective” to achieve pay parity between the men’s and women’s tournaments by 2027.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
