Historic Deal
The National Women’s Soccer League and its players have reached a deal on a broad new collective bargaining agreement that eliminates the annual college draft, guarantees all contracts and raises minimum salaries.
The decision to do away with the draft and the expansion draft will allow young players greater flexibility in where they play. The move makes the NWSL the first major professional sports league in the U.S. to eliminate the draft.
National Women’s Soccer League Players Association
“The draft is an antiquated model that empowers teams to decide for players instead of players deciding for themselves,” National Women’s Soccer League Players Association President Tori Huster said in a statement.
“Now, players can choose the team environment that fits their needs and maximizes their opportunities. Teams will need to step up to create environments that appeal to players.”
How it Affects the League
A new media rights deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports put the league in front of more viewers this season.
The new CBA also requires player consent for all trades, both within the National Women’s Soccer League and to other teams and leagues, something that gives players greater control over where they play. That brings the NWSL in line with FIFA transfer rules.
Additional Details in the Deal
The new CBA addresses workload management, requiring teams to charter flights for certain midweek games, and establishes a midseason break for players. It also creates a new compensation structure by tying shareable revenues from the league’s sponsorship pacts and media rights deals to salary caps, with teams required to adhere to a “minimum spend” to ensure that those revenues are spent on player salaries. The NWSL Players Association projects that the agreement will add between $200,000 to $1 million to team salary caps each year that the agreement is in effect, raising the salary cap from its current level of $2.75 million to $3.3 million next year and $5.1 million by 2030.
Eliminating the Draft
Gabe Feldman, a professor at Tulane University Law School and the director of its sports law program, said that, in abolishing the draft, NWSL players “have achieved significant freedom and leverage in their ability to determine their careers and their compensation.”
“I think it’s hard to overstate how significant this development is,” Feldman said.
The draft is largely a feature of American sports and, as Berman put it, “outside the bounds of what the culture of soccer expects.” In the world of club soccer outside the US, players have the power to approve or decline a transfer to another team.
Unrestricted Free Agency
The deal also allows unrestricted free agency — previously attained only after five years in the league — and guarantees all contracts.
