According to soccer star Lindsey Horan, competing in the Olympics is “a nonstop effort.”
The 30-year-old co-captain of the U.S. women’s national team is preparing for her third Olympic Games this summer after helping the team win a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
This will be Horan’s third Olympic Games and she will lead an 18-man roster announced just last week in Paris looking to reclaim the gold medal that the United States has not won since 2012.
Photo by Laurence Griffiths via Getty Images
Being called up to the Olympic team “still feels so, so emotional,” the veteran said. luckWhile she describes the process as “exhausting,” it also comes with lucrative financial opportunities for the team.
“A lot of our success in partnerships and branding has always come from major tournaments,” Horan explained.
But despite increased investment in the women’s sport, Horan acknowledged that “there’s still a big gap” between men’s and women’s contracts. Horan is the highest-paid player on the U.S. women’s national team, but she only makes $1.5 million on and off the field. Forbes.
“If you compare the contracts of men’s teams in Europe with those of women’s teams, the money is ridiculous,” said the midfielder, who also plays for French club Olympique Lyonnais Féminine. “It’s millions of dollars a week.”
In 2022, five U.S. women’s national team players reached an agreement with the U.S. Soccer Federation to resolve a grievance they filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging unequal pay and treatment.
Still, female soccer players will earn, on average, just 25 cents for every dollar earned by men at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. CNN Analysis found.
according to Forbes According to the list of the world’s highest-earning athletes in 2023, the top three players, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, each earned $120 million that year. In comparison, the combined earnings of the top 15 highest-earning female players in the 2023 World Cup rankings is less than one-third of what these players made individually.
“When you see these deals and the investment being made in men’s sports, it’s amazing,” Horan said, but she is optimistic that increased interest in women’s sports will bring about change.
“You know what Caitlin Clark was trying to do for the team. [WNBA]”Clark’s starting salary is just $76,000, while NBA rookies such as the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama are making nearly $12.2 million in their first year,” Horan said.
“But you look at the endorsement deals that are on top of that.” The Indiana Fever rookie has signed multimillion-dollar contracts, including a $28 million deal with Nike that’s rumored to be the largest endorsement deal ever for a women’s basketball player.
The No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft has propelled the league to new heights. For example, the Chicago Sky’s game against Angel Reese on June 23 was the most expensive game in WNBA history, with an average ticket price of $271, more than three times the average sales price of $88 for a Sky home game, according to online ticket sales platform TickPick.
“This is an investment that we’ve talked about before and it needs to continue to grow and grow, and I think that’s going to happen if you look at where women’s sports is going,” Horan said.
Sponsorship comes to the rescue
Soccer is big business, and as the U.S. Women’s National Team and its players continue to enjoy success on and off the pitch, brands are starting to take notice.
Nike CEO Mark Parker said a notable sign of the U.S. women’s national team’s popularity was record sales of its home uniforms. The Wall Street Journal In 2019, it was “the #1 soccer uniform (men’s or women’s) sold in a single season on Nike.com.”
Women’s soccer is also growing without the Olympic stage. Yahoo Sports The NWSL reportedly signed a “record-breaking” four-year, $240 million broadcast deal that will see the league broadcast on CBS, ESPN, Scripps Sports and Amazon.
Additionally, research firm Sponsors United found last year that the number of brands buying sponsorship and media in the NWSL has grown at four times the rate of Major League Soccer since 2019.
Courtesy of Coppola Wines
“We’re seeing a lot of brands increasing investments that they’ve been targeting for a long time, and it’s really exciting,” said Horan, who promotes eight major brands including cherry juice brand Cherry Bundi, Microsoft’s Xbox and, most recently, famed film director Francis Ford Coppola’s winery.
Of his latest brand deal, Horan said: “Football is the love of my life, but I also cherish spending time with my family over a glass of wine. I always choose partnerships that I truly believe in, so this is a really exciting one for me.”
Towards the 2024 Olympics
With her sights set on the Olympics this month, Horan is leading the youngest U.S. women’s team since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
With the addition of newcomers like 19-year-old Jaidyn Shaw, the average age of this year’s team is 26.8 years old, four years younger than the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team. Half of the players are also making their Olympic debut, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Horan, the national team’s all-time leading scorer every year since 2015, said he has “complete confidence” in his young players.
What’s her secret to creating a winning mindset?
“To always exude confidence,” she said. luckShe credited the success to four years of work with a sports psychologist.
“My whole mindset, especially at the Olympics, is to go out and win. Take it match by match,” she said.
