Soccer phenom Hope Solo is an outspoken advocate for the gender pay gap in sports. Along with her U.S. Soccer teammates she is advocating for equal pay in the league. Cheddar's Hope King spoke with the athlete about challenges facing women in sports, and how she is inspiring the next generation.
"Being the best in the world--the best soccer player in the world in my position--I still wasn't making a good enough living so I had to supplement my income," says Solo. "When you're the best in the world as a female I still am forced to make these choices that I don't want to have to make. It's a serious issue that present day athletes are facing every single day."
The gender pay gap in professional soccer is staggering. In 2016 male players won about $390,000 in bonuses for winning the World Cup, compared to $75,000 for female players according to a study by The New York Times.
"We have progressed, but at some point when it's simply not equal we can't keep talking about well it's better. Because better is not good enough," said Solo.
Trea Turner, Paul Goldschmidt and an unrelenting U.S. lineup kept putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard, a dynamic display of the huge gap between an American team of major leaguers and Cubans struggling on the world stage as top players have left the island nation.
March Madness is heading to the Sweet 16 without a handful of top teams. Two No. 1 seeds, Kansas and Purdue, No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Virginia are all gone — and gone with them are millions of busted brackets.
A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia now allow at least some form of sports wagering, but the prospects are mixed for expanding sports betting to additional states this year.
March Madness isn’t just about filling out — and later trashing — brackets. There are more ways to bet the field in the NCAA Tournament, an event that will consume basketball fans over the next three weeks.
