US Women’s National soccer team captain, Megan Rapinoe was asked today about tweets that were made last month by Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green. It’s safe to say that Rapinoe was by no means a fan of what Draymond had posted on his Twitter page. Rapinoe has been one of the most outspoken voices in a movement that seeks to provide equal pay for women and men across different industries including the world of sports.
Last month during the NCAA women's basketball tournament players exposed the clear differences between the training facilities that were set aside for the men's teams compared to what the women teams had to work with. This sparked plenty of controversy on social media. At this point in time Draymond Green thought it was a good idea to put his views out there.
Draymond essentially mentioned that women should not allow companies to jump on the “woman empowerment” bandwagon if they were not putting money into movement.
Ultimately what seemed that Rapinoe was the most upset with from what Draymond mentioned was his take on the “revenue” issue. The thing is, companies like the WNBA and even FIFA who run the world of international soccer give women a simple answer to their pleads for equal pay. Women sports generate less revenue and that’s why women players make less money. Draymond weighed in on this in a way that apparently, Rapinoe did not appreciate at all. Green essentially called for women athletes to do more about building the business instead of just demanding more money.
Rapnioe basically mentioned that it was “unfortunate” that with all of the resources that Green has at his disposal he was not able to form a more educated opinion. While mentioning the process that she and other people are going through in promoting equal pay.
“When we talk about equality and women's sports, we always talk first about investment, and funding and resources and marketing and branding and investing in not just the players but the support staff and coaching and media, TV media, print media, all of it,"
In another direct reference to the comments made by Draymond Green Rapinoe forcefully mentioned,
“That's frustrating, that's the take you have. You obviously showed your whole ass in not even understanding what we all talk about all the time”
In simple terms Rapinoe is essentially saying that all of the suggestions that Green is making are things that women have been doing all of this time. In any case, it doesn’t seem that equal pay is something that will come to the world of sports any time soon. This is a discussion that will continue to take place because of this.
