NEW: NWSL CBA Announced

Taylor Vincent
Taylor Vincent, Resident NWSL ExpertAugust 22, 2024
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Today the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) announced a new collective bargaining agreement had been reached with the NWSL which will extend the current contract an additional four years through 2030. Here are the highlights of what we know right now:

Elimination of the Draft

The Collegiate draft is an American mechanism—although the new USL Super League does not use it—but it removes the choice from the players on where they will begin their collegiate careers. Additionally, if you look at last year’s draft class, 25% of the players who were drafted by teams didn’t actually sign with the teams which drafted them. Removing the draft will require that teams stay competitive in the market in order to get young talent and that players less than 22 don’t need to wait until January of any given year to join the league. 

Free Agency For All

As current contracts expire, all NWSL players will become Free Agents. This is a big change from the current CBA where years of service (YoS) is the measuring stick for how much freedom of movement you have. Previously players with 1-2 YoS had their rights retained by their originating team unless waived or released, 3-4 YoS were restricted free agents where other teams could make better salary offers but the originating team had the option to match it, and then 5+ YoS were considered more traditional free agents. The new Free Agency rules align the league more closely with the global market and give players significantly more power over their careers. 

Guaranteed Contracts

Contracts before the CBA were either guaranteed or semi-guaranteed, also the distinction between them wasn’t ever really publicly announced on a player-by-player basis. The big difference between the two is that a semi-guaranteed contract can be dissolved at any time ahead of the late season roster freeze with no penalty to the team versus the fact that a team can only buy-out one guaranteed contract per season without it impacting the salary cap. Switching to only guaranteed contracts gives players significantly more peace of mind and makes the release of a player more of a mutual action versus one-sided. 

No Trades Without Player Consent

There have been a few incidents in the past years where players were traded without their previous knowledge and the practice even began the trend of players getting ‘no trade’ clauses put into new contracts so that their autonomy was protected. They have also eliminated the expansion draft which was a situation that often led to the surprise trades as teams bargained for protection 

Revenue Sharing and Increased Salary Cap

The new agreement significantly increases the league minimum salary going from the current minimum of $37.9k this year, to $48.5k in 2025 up to $82.5k in 2030. Also for the first time, players will be able to reap the benefits of revenue sharing and the salary cap will become the base salary cap with an additional “Minimum Spend” from their previous year revenue. The expectation is media and sponsorship shareable revenues should add at least $200k to the salary cap each year. The NWSL does retain the right to increase the base salary cap at its discretion throughout this new CBA.

The base salary cap each year will be:

2025: $3.3 million

2026: $3.5 million

2027: $4.4 million

2028: $4.7 million

2029: $4.9 million

2030: $5.1 million

Workload management

The new CBA addresses the ever increasing games and length that make up a season setting guidelines for game frequency, travel conditions, and time off. Teams can now use charter flights for up to six legs a season and teams are required to charter midweek games. The midseason break will continue, and there will be a minimum of 28 days off during the offseason. As a part of this, the maximum number of games that may be played annually has increased as well. 

Goodbye Discovery

It’s hard to describe NWSL Discovery in terms other than teams calling dibs on players before they sign them, but then the dibs also just can stay, forever, also if you want to call dibs and it’s not your turn, someone ahead of you can call dibs and either force you to trade them for it or just keep it (i.e. Jaedyn Shaw). As a part of the CBA, the Discovery mechanism is being removed. 

Other Notes

Limited amateur player agreements are ‘contemplated’ in the new CBA. Not sure what they mean by contemplated, but the trend of signing players via the U18 mechanism has been exploding year over year. 

All end-of-season competition bonuses will double their current rate ($5k) in 2027 up to $10k for Best XI, Rookie of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Defender of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and the NWSL’s Golden Boot. Also doubling is the fiscal awards to the NWSL Shield and Championship Winners. The NWSL MVP award will be quadrupling up to $20k. 

Restrictions on the preseason start date and that of the NWSL Championship have been eliminated. This means that technically the season could get longer with a larger summer break or even completely shift to align with the european schedule. 

Additionally, parental leave and childcare benefits will be further expanded along with mental health services and leave policies. Teams are now required to have at least 10 health professionals (up from six) including physicians, athletic trainers, a physical therapist, a sports scientist, a licensed mental health provider, and massage therapists. 


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