How NC Courage is leveling playing field for equal pay: 'Should be the standard'

RALEIGH, N.C (WTVD) -- The gender pay gap in professional sports is back in the national spotlight, but the NC Courage Football Club is taking steps to level the playing field.

For the first time in the club's history, they signed two free agents.

Bianca St-Georges and Dani Weatherholt are league veterans.

They say the move, to come to Courage as free agents, is elevating the game in a number of ways. Players have agency over where they want to play and can negotiate how much they want to be compensated.

"We're very grateful, but that should be the standard now," said St-Georges. "We need to talk about money. I think people are so scared to talk about money."

The athletes say this a relatively new way to come onto a team and for years, you really couldn't really negotiate or even shop around.

"The team had your rights, so there wasn't much wiggle room," said Weatherholt. "(Now your original club realizes) 'Oh, we don't want to lose this player. We're going to have to increase their value and incentivize them,' whether that be pay, whether that be commercial appearances."

"Making money is like a sport and the more value that you have, the more money you should make.," said St-Georges. "This is where it becomes unfair in women's sports. We have a lot of value. We're bringing in a lot of people a lot of momentum. Yet the pay doesn't represent the worth."

That sentiment and the pay disparity are on full display right now.

WNBA number one draft pick Caitlin Clark just signed a 4-year deal worth $338,000. She's going to make $76,000 in the first year.

The amount is a tiny faction of the more than $12 million the NBA's number one draft pick is getting for only one season.

"She's definitely worth way more than that," said Weatherholt.

"It is unfortunate to see such a low salary to start for such a powerful person," said St-Georges.

These players and the team as a whole hope that the conversation around equal pay encourages more people to attend games and offer their support.

"The growth is there, the viewership is there, and I just think it's going to continue to grow," said Weatherholt.

NC Courage's next home game is Saturday, April 27th.