How the NWSL cooked up the most pro-labor CBA in sports, explained

Typically, in professional sports, when there’s a collective bargaining negotiation between a player’s association and the league the players are part of, there’s a bunch of haggling done through the media.

Usually, the players come to the league with demands that give them more agency over their career choices. Sometimes, the leagues concede a bit. But it’s never always everything. Sometimes, they end up being a lot more restrictive, like the NBA’s most recent CBA. Other times, players will get concessions, but eventually, they just don’t feel like enough, like with the WNBA.

But with the new CBA announced by the NWSL on Thursday, it feels like the players got everything. 

On Thursday morning, the league and the player’s association announced their new collective bargaining agreement, which has to be considered one of — if not the most — pro-labor CBAs in professional sports.

Not only did it eliminate the NWSL draft and allow rookies to start their careers with free agency, but it also gave them complete control of their careers on the backend.

Let’s dive into the details and talk about how we got here.

Wow. Is the deal that good for the players?

Pound for pound, this has to be one of the best labor deals any players’ association has been able to negotiate. This is going to transform the NWSL completely.

The headline-grabbing story is the league completely scrapping its draft, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

Here are some other notable concessions players won:

• Every contract in the league is now fully negotiated and the minimum salary will nearly double from $48,500 next year to $82,5000 in 2030 when this new deal expires.
• The league also doesn’t have a maximum salary anymore, meaning there’s no limit on what a player can negotiate on an individual contract.
• Now, every player effectively has a no-trade clause. The players involved in a potential deal must consent before the league approves trades.
• End-of-season compensation bonuses in the league are doubling.
• The league’s salary cap will be buoyed by a pool of cash from revenue sharing with the league, which comes from media and advertising deals.
• Parental leave and childcare benefits for the players are also expanding.

That’s a long list of things — many of which players in other leagues can only dream of at this point.

Wow. Why was the league willing to offer so much here?

The league reportedly needed to make this move to keep the talent around.

Players in the NWSL were being scooped up by clubs overseas who could afford to play more and played in leagues where there was more movement.

Plus, on top of that, women’s American soccer just hadn’t been the dominant force that we were used to it being. Here’s more from Vanity Fair’s Tom Kludt:

“New powerhouses had emerged––chief among them Spain, which won last year’s World Cup, and England, winner of the 2022 Euros. Both of these countries had become hubs of the sport, boasting domestic leagues that produce and attract some of the best women’s soccer players in the world.

None of this was lost on leaders of the National Women’s Soccer League, the organization in which most members of the US women’s national team ply their trade. In August of last year, the league invited the NWSL Players Association, the labor union representing its players, to enter negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The two sides had already agreed to a contract the year prior that wasn’t set to expire until 2026, but the outcome of the World Cup hastened the desire for a new one.”

By giving players all these concessions along with more money and agency over their own careers, the league hopes it can retain some of the best talents in the world.

Basically, it dropped its American soccer approach and decided to compete on a global scale.

Wow. So, what is the downside of this?

Well, honestly, there’s not much of one. All of those concessions are substantial for the players. It’s pretty much everything they could’ve wanted.

The only downside to this might be the timing of it all.

The league actually approached the players early to get this done. The league’s previous contract wasn’t set to expire for another few years, but owners wanted to get ahead of it for one reason: TV money.

Here’s more from ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle:

“Sources told ESPN that the impetus for opening negotiations early, in addition to long-term labor peace, was the fact that the league wanted a CBA expiration date that took place after the end of the current broadcast rights deal, which will occur at the end of the 2027 season.”

This new CBA will expire in 2030, well after the league negotiates its next broadcast deal.

Why does the NWSL’s next TV deal matter?

Because the league is about to rake in the cash, folks.

The value of the NWSL has skyrocketed. The league currently has 14 teams but plans to expand to 16 over the next few years, with ownership groups already putting in bids.

On top of that, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Willow Bay, the dean of the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, just purchased a majority stake in Angel City FC for a whopping $250 million. The league’s current TV deals are worth $240 million over the next four years.

Considering everything happening in the league right now, it’s a safe bet that the next deal in 2027 will be a lot bigger.

And that’s a bad thing for the players?

No, it’s not a bad thing. There’s nothing bad about this deal — again, they got all the concessions they could want.

But, considering that the deal was negotiated before the next big influx of cash comes into the league, the players will have to wait a little longer to take advantage of that. You always want to negotiate with the most money and leverage possible on the table.

Regardless, this is an excellent deal for the NWSL’s players and, pound for pound, the most player-friendly CBA in pro sports.

It’s awesome to see this happen. I can’t wait to watch how this shifts things, not only in the NWSL but also in professional sports overall.