There’s no lack of information evidencing the arrival of women’s sports. Women’s sports project to generate$ 1. 28 billion in revenue in 2024, the first year it does moon$ 1 billion. Traders are racing to generate money on the pattern. Television ratings are even telling. 18th consecutive quarter The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the final game, which attracted less audiences than the men’s title match between Purdue and UConn. The new 2024 WNBA Draft had a record-breaking number of viewers, also. There’s a good story to tell, but those acquainted with the struggle for women’s justice in sports know the reality is more complicated. Among them is Richard Nichols. Over the past few decades, the prosecutor and strategist has participated in the most contentious and revolutionary legal battles involving women athletes. Nichols founded the American Basketball League ( ABL), a professional women’s basketball league that competed with the WNBA, in the 1990s. He eventually represented the United States and Hope Solo. S. Women’s National Soccer Team is suing the United States for similar give. S. Soccer. Nichols, along with HoopsHype team author Sam Yip, tells his tale in a new guide coming out Tuesday. All Things Being Equal: The Genesis, Costs, and Aftermath of the USWNT’s Equal Pay Battle (Skyhorse Publishing ) details the legal and business tactics Nichols cultivated to overcome roadblocks to equal treatment. Hailing from New Bedford, Mass. , Nichols earned degrees from Dartmouth College, Stanford University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Rules. He has practiced at businesses and run companies. Nichols acknowledges that he might not be the typical female athlete hero. Why does a black man like you tell the story of predominantly white women athletes ‘ fight for equality and compensation, in your opinion? ” he says people have asked. What matters most to Nichols is that he responds that his passion and commitment to justice. Solo writes that Nichols warned USWNT people about being pulled, prodded, and infiltrated by U.S. S. Soccer’s brokers, managers and yet management consulting firms ” as they raised problems. She claims that while Nichols pressed on,” the people who were the loudest were also the people who caved, backed over, and settled.” Despite a$ 24 million settlement with the United States, Solo’s description of All Things Being Equal highlights a key concept: S. Soccer in 2022, the lawsuit, Nichols insists, “did never give them an award of similar spend. ” It led to USWNT players accepting the men’s “pay-to-play ” compensation model in so-called “identical compensation ” and “equal pay for equal work ” collective bargaining agreements for the women’s and men’s soccer teams in 2022. Nickels believes that USWNT players did come to terms with their own deception. S. Soccer ” by accepting a “pay system, ” not an “equal pay system, ” and hinges on players appearing in games. If they had adhered to his schedule, the USWNT people might have earned significantly more money. As executive director of Women’s National Team Players Association, Nichols led the people ’ decision to file a complaint with the U. S. March 2016 EEOC Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity The people claimed U.S. S. By engaging in wage discrimination and owing up to$ 60 million, soccer had violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Although the decision attracted considerable media and political focus, settlement negotiations led by EEOC staff, who were aware that the Trump Administration may change the organization, failed to reach a consensus. Nichols claims that because of U.S. pressure, he was forced to leave by the end of 2016. S. A chastising plan was planned by soccer executives and management consultants. He claimed that a management team that was more sympathetic to the U.S. would have replaced Nichols. S. Soccer, the people negotiated a CBA in 2017. It contained pay policies and compensation metrics Nichols termed “egregious, ” “terrible ” and “abysmal. Nichols goes on to explain the plan behind Solo bringing a wage-discrimination complaint against U.S. S. Soccer in August 2018. Music asked her friends to join but “to this morning, ” Nichols writes, “Solo awaits a reply. Solo and his colleagues filed their own lawsuit in March 2019 largely co-opting constitutional arguments created by Nichols and another attorneys. In 2020, they lost in a federal district court. With an elegance pending, the people settled. While much of All Things Being Equal is on sport, Nichols delves into the ABL’s rise and fall in the book, “ABL v. NBA Commissioner David Stern. ” As Nichols tells it, “there would be no WNBA” without the ABL. Till now, Nichols claims Stern was disinterested in starting a women’s professional group. Nichols claims Stern attempted to “kill ” the ABL in subsequent attempts after the ABL began to sign Jennifer Azzi and other notable players. One walk was to team up with NBC activities execute Dick Ebersol to reveal the WNBA’s design, an announcement that Nichols said “chilled Reebok, Nike, and ESPN—existing NBA partners—from finalizing their talks with the ABL. Nichols claims that Stern also sent “emissaries ” to meet with famous players in an effort to sway them from the ABL. Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Rebecca Lobo all pledged to play in the WNBA. Without a reliable television deal,” we would have no outlet where sponsors had leverage and advertise their products,” according to Nichols, who argued that the ABL’s survivability depended on getting one. The New England Sports Network and the Pacific Southwest Sports Network were the two regional sports networks that Nichols ‘ group assembled in place of a major system offer. In addition, Nichols ‘ group secured a one-year deal with Black Entertainment Television for a prime-time Saturday night slot, but Robert Johnson, who founded BET and would buy the Charlotte Bobcats ( Hornets ) in 2002, called him to warn him that any association with the ABL would harm his desire to own an NBA team. Imagine chose not to extend the ABL contract for a second period. By offering higher pay, the ABL attempted to compete with the WNBA. According to Nichols, the ABL paid its players$ 100,000 while the WNBA made about$ 25,000. The ABL’s pay scale required that people who wanted to work from home and not have to leave the safety of the United States obtain enough funds to qualify as a livable wage. Nichols claims that Stern made it his personal mission to overthrow the ABL, including, he claims, by telling undergraduate women’s basketball coaches that they would never be able to coach for the US Olympic Team or at USA Basketball training tents. Nichols also asserts that Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls, had a secret relationship with Stern and would n’t stop until he won. According to Nichols, Reinsdorf told him,” David thinks he owns all of professional sports, and he will scuttle any attempt to intrude on something that has anything to do with specialized hockey.” ” While the ABL’s appearance was improving, it was properly blackballed, Nichols asserts. ABL game scores would n’t even be broadcast by ESPN. Nichols adds that Stern would be irritated by many potential partners, including Spaulding and State Farm, if they did n’t meet because they would be associated with his organization. The ABL folded in 1998. The WNBA, in comparison, is set to begin its 28th season amid substantially increased fan attention. When asked about the recent rise in women’s basketball’s reputation, Nichols finds many benefits in all, but he contends that injustice still exists. “The Caitlin Clark phenomenon is certainly great for women’s professional sports, ” Nichols told Sportico. “But, unfortunately, all the hype about Caitlin ( a ) deflects from the reality that as the top WNBA player, she’ll make a slave wage of$ 76,000 per year, ( b ) creates a false sense of financial prosperity for WNBA Players, and ( c ) convinces fans that all is well in the WNBA. ”