A man has filed a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation and US Women’s National Team (USWNT), seeking approximately $100m in damages.
Michael Buxbaum submitted the lawsuit to the Southern District of New York on 8 April, following the USWNT’s 2-1 loss to Japan in the SheBelieves Cup. He alleges that the team was “not trying to win” and is demanding a nine-figure sum in response.
Emma Hayes, who recently took charge of the team after a successful stint with Chelsea Women in England, reportedly used the invitational tournament to give opportunities to younger, less experienced players, indicating the tournament was focused more on development than immediate results.
Buxbaum, however, argues that the team made no real effort to compete for the trophy. His lawsuit also accuses the US Soccer Federation of making false claims to the federal government and misusing funds.
It has since been made clear that the organisation is a nonprofit and does not receive any government funding.
Buxbaum also demands that the US Soccer Foundation stops accepting “foreign money for playing the game of World Football.” Additionally, he wants US matches removed from broadcast and all betting on games suspended.
Furthermore, his demands cover players and staff, as he is seeking full financial transparency regarding revenue, salaries, expenses, healthcare and post-employment benefits.
Despite the lawsuit, Hayes stood by her approach after the loss to Japan, telling reporters it was “mission accomplished” and that the focus was on assessing “which ones will go with the U23s, and which ones will develop with us.”
Rise of women’s football
It isn’t clear what drove Buxbaum to file this lawsuit, though he has made a name for himself in recent years. A lawsuit he filed in January was dismissed after it was found that Buxbaum had filed more than 50 suits over the past two months.
However, USWNT could perceive this as positive attention and clarification that the sport is continuing to grow.
While viewership and commercial success maintains steady growth, betting has also been on the rise. At the start of the month, Insider Sport heard from a roundtable of gambling stakeholders about the dramatic increase in gambling on women’s football.
In the discussion, Jeevan Jeyaratnam, Chief Betting Officer at Abelson Sports, highlighted the US as the market leader.
Jeyaratnam said: “There’s little doubt that women’s sports have strong traction in the US, where leagues such as the Women’s National Basketball Association are primetime. Women’s soccer is also on the rise; the NWSL, no doubt in part due to a 40x increase in TV money, has experienced a massive growth in franchise values.
“According to Sportico and Deloitte, Kansas City Current was expected to generate $36.3m in 2024, compared to $17.9m for Barcelona, one of Europe’s top teams.”
