Emma Hayes has set a new standard for how much a coach of a women’s soccer team can earn, and it is hard to say she is undeserving. Hayes currently oversees the United States Women’s National Team. Before then, she emerged as one of the brightest soccer minds with a dominating stint with Chelsea. The Blues won the Women’s Super League seven times under Hayes before adding a further five Women’s FA Cups. That was enough to court her to the USWNT, which was desperate to return to the top of international women’s soccer.
Hayes, who is English, would require significant compensation to move from England over to the United States to coach the side. Not only was Hayes the most desirable candidate for any women’s soccer job, the USWNT had to pull Hayes away from Chelsea. The way to do that was a strong project and considerable wages. Now that Hayes is officially in the dugout managing the USWNT, the focus is on the side’s performances.
However, for those questioning how much Emma Hayes manages to earn with the United States, the answer is clear. Each year, Emma Hayes pulls in $1.6 million, with US Soccer paying Hayes handsomely. For comparison, that is over $1 million more per year than it paid Vlatko Andonovski, the head coach before Hayes. Yet, that was a major stipulation in bringing Hayes to the United States. The coach received equal payment compared to her men’s counterpart after Andonovski earned one-third of Hayes’s deal. Gregg Berhalter was making as much as Hayes before US Soccer fired him after the Copa America.
“I have certainly been awarded a contract that I think I’m worth,” Hayes said. “Money has never been my motivation in life. I think focusing on that would be against who I am.”
Hayes pulling in $1.6 million per year is not just a historic figure for US Soccer and the USWNT. Emma Hayes is the highest-paid coach in all of women’s soccer. This does not make her the best-paid coach in all of women’s sports, however. Several women’s college basketball coaches in the United States make more than Hayes. That includes coaches like LSU’s Kim Mulkey, Geno Auriemma of Connecticut and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. Each of those coaches makes over double what Hayes earns.
Still, for soccer, Hayes’s deal is groundbreaking. International women’s soccer continues to grow in both popularity and talent. US Soccer had to splash the cash after disappointing showings at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and 2020 Olympics. Hayes made her first international tournament appearance with the USWNT at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Yet, her contract with the USWNT extends through at least the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Then, in 2031, Hayes could be the boss for another World Cup that the United States is looking to host with Mexico. Over that time, though, other international soccer coaches could emerge as competitors to Hayes’s brilliance.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
