Women's Soccer Champion Recalls Playing for Just $10 a Day

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. women’s soccer squad is favored to win this summer’s World Cup, and players are finally beginning to gain the kind of media exposure and endorsements that men’s teams have taken for granted.

But it’s been a long road.

When former player Kristine Lilly joined the team -- on the way to appearing in five World Cups and winning two -- she was paid just $10 a day.

The athlete, now 47, joined Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams on the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast to discuss her experience on the team -- and its increasing clout. The club faces the host team France Friday in the quarterfinal of the World Cup.

• On corporate support for a U.S. women’s soccer league:

It’s about doing what’s right. This is where corporations need to come in. We’ve done this on the men’s side. When businesses supported the men’s league, you didn’t get an investment right back. It took time.

• On joining the national team while still in high school:

They were like, “Here, sign this contract.” I was like, “OK.” I was signing my life away. I wasn’t getting any rights, any pay. We got $10 a day. We didn’t know that maybe this is something we should get paid for. Then, as the sport grew and we started to understand and get a hold of what’s going on, we were like, “Hold on, this isn’t right.” We realized this is bigger than just us. We started fighting for pay.

• On lack of respect for the women’s team:

Back in the day, when we’d have flights -- you would see the U.S. women’s team in middle seats. You would look down the row and you’d see all like red sweatshirts. And we were like, “Can we just get an aisle?” And we’d laugh. I’m not sure what the men were flying -- I’m sure it wasn’t middle seats or maybe economy.

• On what it’ll take for a U.S. women’s league to succeed:

Being visible. You’ve got to get the spots on TV. You have to get where it’s constantly seen. And it’s got to grow. We need all these components. We’re still young, and it’s growing pains more than failures. A lot of kids are playing the game. They’re watching it on TV. If we keep the women’s game still visible for people to see instead of just the World Cup every four years.

• On making a living after soccer:

For us on the female side, we see it as a window. And the window closes for us. For the men, it doesn’t close. I ended my career, and I have to make a living. If a man won two World Cups and two gold medals, I’m not sure they would be like, “What do I have to do now to make some ends meet?”

• On her book, “Powerhouse,” which chronicles the tactics that helped shape the team’s success:

You talk about leadership. You talk about chemistry. You’re talking about ethos, setting your foundation. We play for each other. That was a common theme. Communication is one of the most important things.

• On U.S. team’s controversial goal celebrations in its 13-0 tournament-open win over Thailand:

Goal differential makes a difference, so the goal number itself I understand. If it’s your first goal ever in the World Cup, I totally understand. The World Cup feeling escalates everything. Maybe a couple, just a little bit, a little high-five -- been there, done it. But this is how they are. That’s how their personalities are and how they celebrate with not just their team, with the fans.

To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net;Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.