The NWSL is eliminating its annual draft, increasing salaries and effectively imposing blackout clauses on players leaguewide, all part of a new labor agreement quietly ratified earlier this month.
The contract contains the most player-centric language of any collective bargaining agreement in major U.S. team sports and moves the NWSL significantly toward the more traditional soccer player contracts often found in Europe. Starting next year, for example, all transfers and transfers will require player consent. All contracts will be guaranteed.
The details show how quickly the NWSLPA has been able to turn a profit as the league’s commercial opportunities (and valuations) have risen rapidly. The NWSL’s current CBA, signed in April 2022, was the first in the league’s history. The NWSL had its first free agency period just two years ago; now all players have been granted unrestricted free agency.
The deal was negotiated last year, even though the league’s current CBA does not expire until after the 2026 season (Sport was first to report a deal). The agreement now expires at the end of the 2030 season, a major extension for the league’s owners. Players receive obvious benefits in a number of key categories, but owners secure labor peace well beyond their next major media negotiations, a stability that will prove valuable in a few years when those talks begin.
“This CBA gives us control of our business and players control of their careers,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement.
The NWSL’s rapid commercial growth is well-documented, but the league is also cautiously looking to Europe, where some of soccer’s biggest brands are beginning to invest more in their long-ignored women’s teams. The NWSL and the Women’s Super League in England are increasingly competing for talent, a commercial rivalry that many expect to become more direct in the coming years. Shortly after Chelsea beat NJ/NY Gotham FC earlier this week, the WSL’s official Twitter account posted: “Is this the end of the debate?” alongside a winking emoji.
Some of the details of this collective bargaining agreement – such as the elimination of the draft, guaranteeing all player contracts and no-transfer clauses – are in line with what is already offered in Europe. The NWSL’s owners have agreed to adapt the league’s standard player contract to FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), moving the league closer to the traditional structure of soccer and further away from the more American framework found in leagues like the NBA or MLS.
Here are some more details from the new CBA:
- The league’s salary cap will rise from $2.75 million this year to $3.3 million next year, and will continue to rise at preset levels throughout the contract term, reaching $5.1 million in 2030.
- In addition to the base cap, the league has agreed to a supplement based on the NWSL’s media and sponsorship revenue from the previous year. Specific details were not disclosed, but the revenue sharing is a first for the league and is expected to lead to greater alignment between the two sides.
- The league minimum will rise from $35,000 this season to $48,500 next season. It will increase each year until it reaches $82,500 in 2030. That means minimum salaries will increase 135% over seven years.
- Charter flights, currently banned except in a few limited cases, will now be allowed for up to six flights per season, plus additional unspecified cases. Last year, the league fined the Kansas City Current more than $55,000 for unauthorized charter flights.
- The NWSL has exclusive rights to market players’ performance data.
- The bonus that players receive for awards such as Rookie of the Year (currently $5,000) or Golden Boot ($5,000) will double in 2027. The bonus for the league MVP ($5,000) will quadruple.
- The right to parental leave and childcare will be expanded, as will the requirements for health professionals such as trainers and physiotherapists.
- In line with the current agreement, there is no age restriction for players in the new contract.
This CBA comes amid growing public interest in both women’s sports and the NWSL, which has dramatically impacted the market for teams. In January 2022, when the current deal was signed, most NWSL franchises were worth in the single-digit millions. Now the average team is worth $66 million, according to Sport‘s numbers. The San Diego Wave was sold for $113 million earlier this year; Willow Bay and Bob Iger are buying a majority stake in Angel City FC in a $250 million deal.
The league is also in the midst of expansion talks. Groups from several cities, including Cincinnati and Denver, met with the NWSL in New York this week. The latest round of expansion teams were sold for $53 million.
The NWSL’s rapid contract renewal, long before its current contract expires, could be in stark contrast to what’s ahead for the WNBA, which is also experiencing commercial growth and rising valuations. Most experts expect the league’s players to get out of their current CBA as quickly as possible to force better terms. WNBPA head Terri Carmichael Jackson gave a taste of those talks last month when she accused the NBA of undervaluing the WNBA in her recent media briefings.
