After the US Soccer Federation settled a similar lawsuit against players from the US women’s national team in 2022, the organization reached a second, previously undisclosed financial settlement with former USWNT head coach Jill Ellis, who threatened to sue for being underpaid. partner of the national team, various sources familiar with the deal told ESPN.
The settlement comes after USWNT players settled a similar lawsuit against the USSF in February 2022 for $24 million. Three months later, the US Women’s National Team Players Association, the union that represents USWNT players, successfully negotiated a landmark collective bargaining agreement with the USSF in which players are paid equitably with those on the USMNT.
Around this time, Ellis threatened to sue the USSF if he was not compensated again for his time as USWNT head coach, which spanned from 2014 to 2019 and included two World Cup titles.
Sources told ESPN that there was resistance among some board members to a settlement with Ellis, especially since after he stepped down as USWNT coach, Ellis was paid a total of $442,598 by the USSF to be an “Ambassador/Former Key. Employee,” according to USSF’s tax filing for the year fiscal year 2021.
However, the source said, the desire to avoid another public war through equal pay – in this case with a highly respected and successful coach – as well as the fact that insurance paid for some of the settlement, brought today.
Sources told ESPN that in the spring of 2022, the USSF board authorized the legal representative to pay more than $1 million. Another source told ESPN that the final settlement exceeded $1 million, although due to the confidential nature of the settlement, there was no explicit record of the payment to Ellis on the federation’s IRS Form 990 for fiscal year 2023. Some sources indicated that the settlement amount was included in the related line item with USSF legal fees.
The following year, Ellis became president with the San Diego NWSL Wave.
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson told ESPN, “We do not discuss labor issues.” Ellis had no comment.
That Ellis made less than his male counterpart while coaching the USWNT is not in dispute. For fiscal year 2020, which covers the period from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, Ellis earned total compensation of $746,623, with a base salary of $516,352. She also made a $202,000 bonus for leading the USWNT to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the second World Cup victory Ellis has overseen.
In contrast, for the 2020 fiscal year, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter received total compensation of $1,329,492, with $1,222,710 coming from base salary.
The disparity was even more pronounced at the start of Ellis’ tenure. For the 2016 fiscal year from April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016 — the period that coincided with her first Women’s World Cup victory — Ellis’ total compensation was $327,332, including a $90,000 bonus.
At the same time, USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s total compensation was $3,076,594. Klinsmann also took the position of technical director of US Soccer during this period.
The extent to which the settlement with Ellis has had a ripple effect on subsequent negotiations with the national team coach is not clear. The IRS Form 990 for fiscal year 2024, the last year that Vlatko Andonovski coached the USWNT, has not been released. Fiscal year 2023 sees total compensation reach $448,485.
Forbes has reported that current USWNT coach Emma Hayes’ salary is around $1.6 million, the same as what Berhalter made during her most recent contract year. According to the USSF’s latest IRS Form 990, during the 2023 fiscal year, Berhalter made $2.3 million, including a $900,000 bonus for qualifying the USMNT to the 2022 World Cup.
One USSF source said Hayes’ compensation was what was needed to remove her from Chelsea from the English Women’s Super League. But other sources, all of whom asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the federation’s compensation issue publicly, said the Ellis settlement had an impact on the negotiations.
The national team manager’s compensation issue resurfaced after Mauricio Pochettino took over as USMNT head coach last month.
Sources told ESPN that Pochettino’s base salary will be $6 million a year, with private donors picking up some of that amount. Chelsea will also pay Pochettino more than half of the $14 million he was owed for the remainder of his contract when he left the Premier League club earlier this year.
This raises the question of whether Hayes’ compensation will be matched by Pochettino’s. But several federation sources told ESPN that this is not the case. There is no federation regulation or board policy that requires USMNT and USWNT coaches to be paid the same.
As for Ellis, while he remains president of the Waves, he is now at the center of a separate legal matter involving his position with the club.
In July, following allegations of creating a toxic work environment, Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against Brittany Alvarado, the team’s former video and creative manager. This was followed by a lawsuit filed by five former Wave employees against the club and the NWSL alleging various forms of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination. Ellis is not named as a defendant in the new lawsuit, although he is mentioned throughout.