US women’s soccer coach paid 27% as much as men’s coach

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. women’s coach Vlatko Andonovski earned 27% as much as men’s coach Gregg Berhalter in the year ending last March 31, down slightly from 28% in the previous year.

Andonovski earned $446,495, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation’s tax filing released Monday, including $50,000 in bonuses for the Americans’ third-place finish in the Tokyo Olympics. Berhalter earned $1,641,398, including $300,000 in bonuses during a year that included the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup title.

Berhalter remained the federation’s highest-paid employee. In the previous fiscal year, Andonovski earned $357,597 and Berhalter $1,291,539.

Earnie Stewart earned $799,380 as the USSF’s sporting director, virtually identical to his $799,699 the prior year. Men’s general manager Brian McBride earned $346,494, a slight increase from $338,417.

Women’s general manager Kate Markgraf was at $500,000 for the second straight year. She also has the title of head of women’s football and her duties include interacting with FIFA, CONCACAF and national associations.

CEO Will Wilson earned $642,348 and his predecessor, Dan Flynn, was listed at $251,886 as an ambassador and former officer.

In a huge management turnover, Wilson left Oct. 31, McBride on Jan. 31 and Stewart on Feb. 15.

Berhalter’s status is unclear after the expiration of his contract on Dec. 31. He is under investigation for a 1991 domestic violence allegation. Anthony Hudson, one of his assistants, was appointed interim coach last month.

Chief commercial officer David Wright earned $516,257 and Pinky Raina, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer, earned $466,864. Chief legal officer Karen Leetzow earned $410,714.

Cindy Parlow Cone, the USSF president, does not receive a salary. A bylaw amendment to establish a $125,000 annual salary for the federation’s president failed to gain approval at the federation’s annual general meeting last March, receiving 58.91% approval and falling short of the two-thirds needed. A similar proposal is on the agenda for this year’s meeting, scheduled for March 16-19 in San Diego.

John Cone, her husband, received $50,280 as payment and expense reimbursement for his work with the USSF coaching education team, down from $112,606 the previous year.

Among players on the women’s team, listed players included Emily Sonnett ($386,742), Becky Sauerbrunn ($379,067), Carli Lloyd ($376,827, listed as her married name, Carli Hollins), Kelly O’Hara ($375,177) and Alyssa Naeher ($373,327).

The USSF received $29.9 million from Soccer United Marketing, the marketing arm of Major League Soccer as part of an agreement that expired this past Dec. 31.

Legal fees included $4.9 million to Lathan & Watkins, which represented the USSF in the equal pay lawsuit by women’s players, and $1.4 million to Morgan Lewis & Bockius, which represented the USSF in collective bargaining.

Revenue was listed at $122.3 million and functional expenses at $145.1 million, including $24 million to settle the lawsuit by women players and $2 million for COVID-related costs.

The federation said it had $108.8 million in what it called program service revenue, including $45.8 million from sponsorship and $44.8 million from national team international games. That was up from $39.98 million in sponsor and royalty revenue in the year ending March 2021 and $3.5 million from national team international games, which were sharply curtailed during the pandemic and played in front of no or limited fans.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.