U.S. Women’s Soccer has been fighting a very public battle for pay parity for years. World Cup Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Hope Solo joined Cheddar for a special #chedHER day of programming to discuss how the wide gap has affected her life. “Even being among the best soccer players in the world, I wasn’t making a good enough living,” she told Cheddar in an interview. “I had to supplement my income by doing appearances, by doing photo shoots, oftentimes having my former agent try to convince me to do things like Playboy.” Solo and her teammates filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Soccer Federation back in 2016 to protest the disparities between men’s and women’s salaries in the sport. The men, who failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup after a stunning loss to Trinidad and Tobago in 2017, have not had much luck at the biggest events. But they reportedly get paid four times as much as their female counterparts, who incidentally have brought home three World Cups and four Olympic Golds. Part of the reason, Solo says, is broad pay inequity that plagues so many industries. But it also has to do with how the athletes are portrayed in the media. “We sexualize female athletes,” she told Cheddar. “Before every Olympic Game, many different media come out with a list of the sexiest female athletes. If you scroll down on any article, maybe about me, you’ll see at the very bottom, women on Sports Illustrated covers.” The women’s team reached an agreement with the sport’s governing body last year, but it stopped short of mandating equal pay for both teams. For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/hope-solo-on-closing-the-gender-pay-gap-in-sports).

Share:
More In Sports
With Super Bowl Over, What's New for Draftkings in 2022?
Coming off of the latest NFL season, Draftkings has plans for growth and new bettors to join its platform following what it saw as a record year of state legalization of sports betting and Super Bowl action. CEO Jason Robins joined Cheddar News to talk about what in store for the company in 2022, including labor issues leading to the postponement of the MLB's spring training games and the NCAA's March Madness. "There's a lot of really exciting stuff that happens in the first couple of rounds all the way through to the championship game. So typically we've seen incredible activity during March Madness on the betting side," Robins said.
PlayersTV CEO on New Athletes On Demand Sports Subscription Platform
PlayersTV is bringing sports viewers Athletes On Demand, a subscription platform to provide fans with thousands of hours of sports content from their favorite athletes. CEO Angela Bundrant joined Cheddar News to discuss the new rollout. "People can expect to receive content or buy into content on demand that comes from their favorite athletes," said Bundrant, listing star partners like the Phoenix Suns' Chris Paul and New Orleans Pelicans' C.J. McCollum.
Former Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton on Russian Figure Skater Doping Scandal
The 15-year-old Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva found herself at the center of a scandal after a positive test for a banned substance became public. Valieva fell out of gold contention in the women's free skate after falling, avoiding a potentially embarrassing situation, where a medal ceremony would have been nixed had she won. Scott Hamilton, the retired American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist in the 1984 Games, joined Cheddar to break down the scandal. “It’s a team competition and every member of the team participated in that score and hers should be disallowed”.
Last-Minute Winning Bets for the NBA Tonight
Alex Monaco, host of the “The Bettor Half Hour” on MSG Networks and the “Sports Gambling with Moneyline Monaco” podcast, joins Cheddar Bets to give his last-minute tips before tonight's slate of games starts. Sponsored by BetMGM
Richard Jefferson Previews All-Star Weekend
Richard Jefferson, host of the Road Trippin' podcast, NBA Today analyst, and NBA Champion, joins Cheddar Bets to break down All-Star Weekend festivities and to give his "Pick 6" for tonight. Sponsored by BetMGM
Load More