They are not asking for equal pay. They are asking for equitable pay. Until recently, the base salary for a pro women's soccer player in the us (the womens sport that keeps winning world cups for the U.S.) was $15k/year. Most women needed second jobs to play pro soccer. The way to break this is to invest in women's sports, like they originally invested in men's sports until they were super popular.

Look up the history of Dick, Kerr ladies FC. When the men in the UK went off to war, the women started playing soccer and got even more popular than the absent men's teams were prior to the war. Then the war ended and they made it illegal for women to play so the men could get their groove back unhindered