"You want full stadiums? We filled them."
U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe calls out the NCAA tournament and other gender disparities in women's sports on #EqualPayDay.
U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe calls out the NCAA tournament and other gender disparities in women's sports on #EqualPayDay.
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00:00And I feel like, honestly, we've done everything.
00:01You want stadiums filled, we've filled them.
00:03You want role models for your kids, for your boys
00:06and your girls and your little trans kids, we have that.
00:09You want us to be respectful.
00:11You want us to perform on the world stage.
00:13You want us to take the stars and stripes
00:15and the red, white, and blue across the entire globe
00:17and represent America in the best way possible.
00:20We've done all of that, and simply,
00:23there's no reason why we're underpaid
00:26for the exception of gender.
00:28We put in just as much work.
00:38We train just as hard.
00:40You know, we compete to bring trophies back
00:43to the United States, bring gold medals back
00:45to the United States.
00:47We do our jobs and do it in the best way that we possibly can.
00:51And for all of us who work so hard and see, you know,
00:56how hard the men's teams work and see how hard our teams work
00:59and know that that's equal, it's just unacceptable
01:03that we're still fighting for equal pay.
01:17It's just absolutely unacceptable, you know,
01:20to say that you value your student-athletes
01:25and to say that, you know,
01:26this is the most important time of the year.
01:28We all know March Madness is very exciting.
01:31Probably everyone's brackets are blown up
01:33at this point with a few upsets.
01:34But, you know, to have your women's players
01:37or people who play on women's teams
01:39show up for one rack of dumbbells
01:41is just completely unacceptable.
01:43Someone, at some point, thought to themselves that was okay.
01:47You just simply have to do better.
01:48And even the new weight room
01:50that the women's team has is still unacceptable.
01:53It's not to the standard needed to perform at that level,
01:56and it's certainly not to the standard of equal
01:58that the men have.
01:59With a lack of proper investment,
02:02we don't really know the real potential of women's sports.
02:05What we know is how successful women's sports
02:07have been in the face of discrimination,
02:09in the face of gender disparity,
02:11in the face of a lack of investment
02:13on virtually every single level in comparison to men.
02:17So, for me, it goes much deeper
02:19than just what's hitting my bank account,
02:22but it's about investing resources into the team
02:25and into the business of the team
02:28so the next generation can actually fully realize
02:30their potential as a sport.
02:40We've realized that, yes, we're fighting for ourselves,
02:43and, yes, you know, we have our outstanding lawsuit
02:47with the U.S. Federation, but we're with everyone.
02:51We're with so many women across the country.
02:53We are with so many women
02:55who aren't able to be in this committee hearing,
02:58who aren't able to get the ear of the media,
03:00who do not have the bright lights
03:02and the cameras on them all the time.
03:04We are looking to carry this torch for so many other women.