When the U.S. women's soccer team returns from the Rio Olympics, there will be no ticker-tape parade or celebratory selfies with President Obama or triumphant magazine covers.
Perhaps most important, unlike following their World Cup win in 2015, there will be no victory tour that generates millions in revenue for U.S. Soccer the team can cite as further leverage in their fight for equal pay.
SEE ALSO:Elimination: U.S. women's soccer just took its worst Olympics loss everThe squad's devastating quarterfinal loss to Sweden —incomprehensible just a few weeks ago — is a gut-punch for more than one reason. For the first time ever, the team won't medal in the Olympics. And they can no longer claim the bragging rights of global dominance which, in women's soccer, is about more than just ego.
In contrast to the men's team, the women have to grapple with the burden of trying to change long-held attitudes about women's sports. The early loss means they can't capitalize on the opportunity to draw an audience that might have been previously skeptical or ambivalent about women's soccer. It means they won't become part of the cultural zeitgeist that is the frenzy of Olympics coverage.
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Worse yet, they've built their case for equal pay on a winning record and growing audience. They generated far more revenue than the men last year, a point key players mentioned time and again after they filed a wage discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March. Those five players argued that they made nearly four times less than their male counterparts, a figure that U.S. Soccer has disputed. They've also been outspoken about regularly playing on turf and poorly maintained fields.
Now that the team has lost in historic fashion, naysayers (and perhaps U.S. Soccer) can use the defeat and its fallout to move the bar for equal treatment higher by insisting on a revenue-based measure of their worth. That metric, however, fluctuates depending on the year and arguably reflects entrenched gender bias.
When the men's team lost in the round-of-16 at the 2014 World Cup, it had nowhere near the same implications. The team was celebrated for its noble effort against Belgium, but the stakes were not as high; the loss couldn't have a ripple effect on a long-term fight for equal recognition and pay.
It's also worth considering whether this battle took an unspoken or little-understood toll on the women's team. Like every championship-winning squad, they bore the pressure of keeping the streak alive. That alone can take down the best athletes.
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Add to that, however, a public relations campaign that likely required an Olympic medal to maintain its momentum, and that might test the limits of an athlete's fortitude. Remember too that female athletes have the task and joy of trying to inspire the next generation of young girls to play at the highest levels.
In essence, this team had to be twice as good to insist on getting what it deserves. Male athletes, you'll notice, don't encounter the same psychological minefield.
These pressures may have been the least of their worries on Friday. Between recent injuries to key players, a shocking tie with Colombia in group play, the relentless heckling of goalie Hope Solo and a determined Swedish side, it's no surprise that the match was a struggle.
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What would be a shame, however, is if the team felt less entitled to equal pay and treatment upon returning home to the U.S. And if fans and advocates offered quieter support, or none at all, fearing that they could no longer make an airtight argument on their behalf. If anything, the defeat puts a spotlight on the tightrope these athletes must walk.
The loss, however, makes them no less worthy of grass fields and equitable compensation. They perform the same work as the men's side, and while the details of contracts and payouts are complicated, they should not be held accountable for the fans who refuse to believe that women's soccer is exciting and decline to spend their money on it.
The women who play for the United States are among the sport's best. They are leaders, and yes, sometimes heroes. They may not have played that role in Rio, but one loss shouldn't have the power to change their fundamental worth.
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