THE EQUAL PAY GAME CHANGER: USING MANDATORY REPORTING TO ENCOURAGE CORPORATIONS IN THE SPORTS ECOSYSTEM TO INCREASE INVESTMENT IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

In 2016, the United States Women’s National Team began a lengthy fight for equal pay by filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 2019, the fight continued when the team sued the United States Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. When the court granted summary judgment to the U.S. Soccer Federation on their Equal Pay Act claim, it closed the door for the team to achieve equal pay through a public law remedy. The tedious fight came to an end with a settlement which guaranteed that the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams would be paid equally. Although the settlement agreement was an incredible feat, the team’s fight for equal pay highlighted that with no public law remedy available, women in sports would have to look elsewhere to achieve equal pay. From the outset, women’s sports have faced significant underinvestment. Throughout their history, women’s sports have followed the blueprint of men’s leagues—without the financial support that have allowed those leagues to thrive. With the main focus of inequality for female athletes being monetary compensation, the underlying issues are often ignored. The fight for equality in women’s sports is chalked up to simply achieving equal pay. After addressing the root cause of inequality in women’s sports, this Note analyzes the lack of investment in women’s sports and the need to combat it in order to achieve the ultimate goal of pay equality. Highlighting the need for investment, this Note identifies the incentives that investing in women’s sports offers to corporations. The best solution to create a stable, long-term dedication to investment in women’s sports is through expanding the use of Environmental, Social, and Governance practices.