After a week of silence, the United States Soccer Federation and its president have finally issued a public response to the gender discrimination lawsuit filed by players of the women’s national team on International Women’s Day.

No one would’ve been surprised if U.S. Soccer had spent that week gathering ammo to fire back and undermine the lawsuit – after all, that is how such disagreements between the federation and the women’s team have gone in the past. But instead, in an open letter sent to media on Friday, U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro struck a collaborative tone, focusing on how the two sides could find common ground and reach a resolution.

“As we continue to review the lawsuit, we thought it was imperative to reach out to team leaders to better understand their thoughts and concerns. While we believe the current agreement is fair and equitable, we are committed to working with our USWNT players and understanding specifically where they believe improvement is needed,” Cordeiro writes in the letter. “To that end, on Wednesday I spoke with some of the veteran players to better understand their thoughts and concerns. Our initial conversation was open, cordial and professional, and we will continue to work to resolve this matter.”

That initial phone call on Wednesday is what Cordeiro says will be a first step in setting up additional meetings to better understand the USWNT’s grievances. Though U.S. Soccer has yet to file a legal response and its forthcoming legal strategy is unclear, Cordeiro's letter – along with comments he made earlier this year about ending U.S. Soccer’s many legal fights – suggests the federation would like to settle this matter out of court.

While there is time for this issue to devolve into another bitter litigation, U.S. Soccer’s initial response to the lawsuit shows a remarkable shift in tone.

It was only in 2016 that five USWNT players filed a very similar gender discrimination claim and U.S. Soccer, then led by Sunil Gulati, went all out in trying to discredit the allegations. As forceful as the response was, it was just as swift, coming within hours of the filing.

In a quickly arranged a phone call with reporters, the federation cited data that showed the men’s national team brought in more revenue over a four-year or eight-year cycle, in part driven by larger attendance for the men’s team. An attorney for U.S. Soccer expressed befuddlement that the women would have an issue with a contract they agreed to after collective bargaining negotiations. Gulati argued that revenue should be a factor for “compensation in a market economy.”

View photos U.S. Soccer seems more willing than it has in the past to work with the women's national team and resolve their disagreements. (Getty) More

That dispute was never settled and has now been rolled into this latest lawsuit. But this time around, the federation is taking a more measured approach. The federation is resisting direct comparisons to the men’s team, even as U.S. Soccer cedes some of the public relations battle to the USWNT. In the week it has taken U.S. Soccer to respond in the media, Cordeiro has been reaching out directly to the players – the audience that ultimately matters most.

“We are looking forward to additional meetings with the players in the near future so we may learn more about their objectives while they, in turn, can hear from us,” Cordeiro writes. “Our mutual goal is a dialogue that will serve the best interests of the USWNT and U.S. Soccer, so that our collective focus is where it should be – winning the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup at a time when our team and soccer in the U.S. has so much to gain and celebrate.”

On one hand, that shift in tone may be a product of how the landscape had changed for the two U.S. national teams. The men’s team didn’t even qualify for the 2018 World Cup and, as a result, the women’s team has brought in more revenue than the men’s team over the last three financial years. It would be especially hard these days to argue the men are more valuable to the federation.