A statement from the Players Association: pic.twitter.com/7piQ0n9i0z— NWSLPA (@nwsl_players) February 1, 2022
Some highlights from the thread and other threads: +5yr term for this CBA +Immediate increase in NWSL minimum salary to $35k +4% year-over-year guaranteed increases in the minimum salary after that +Free agency for players after a certain number of years in the league (2023-6yrs, 2024-5yrs, restricted free agency in 2024 for 3yrs-players) +workers comp coverage +6mo mental health leave +8wk paid maternity leave +commitment from NWSL each year of $250k-$300k for group license rights Ratified on the eve of the planned player strike, so no play time is actually avoided (and explains why some teams were posting pics of players training earlier anyway) The free agency allowance is notable because it's better than current MLS free agency, despite NWSL being a fraction of MLS' age.
Also "no more playing on fields that require substantial conversion to the dimensions of a soccer field." BTW, I paused at the phrase "subject to approval by the NWSL Board of Governors," but basically, they have to vote on the final language. It sounds like that's just a formality.
That's great! But the question is, can the Clubs afford this? Portland, who is drawing 16,000 per game obviously can, teams that are drawing 3-4,000 per game may not in the long run. That includes other MLS owned teams who are not drawing well on the women's side. Not trying to be negative, just putting out a few questions/thoughts. Will this encourage or deter furthur growth or investment in the league?
The NWSL release said that this will amount to $100mil increase in spending for the clubs. It doesn't specify if that's per-club or overall (I expect overall considering that's orders of magnitude higher than what we've heard of as club yearly operating costs) nor does it specify if that's a $100mil increase immediately or over the course of several years. Depending on how you cut it, I'm guessing it can't amount to much more than double current operating costs per year per club, and probably less. Double would certainly be a lot, but I'm guessing it won't spell doom. The clubs do share funds to an extent because of NWSL's single-entity structure, so I bet the smaller-budget clubs must feel comfortable enough with the state of the league that they feel they'll be supported with the higher expenses. Also, I bet that this very pro-player CBA will encourage more people to attend games *and* encourage more sponsorships as well. Lastly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Spirit ownership battle has caused a "rising tide lifts all boats" situation in terms of the presumed value of each club - it's not an increase in value unless a sale officially happens, but it's still an effective increase in value, which helps.
It's definitely all the teams over the length of the CBA. 20 players at $35k is $700k/team/year. Some players will make more than $35k, teams also have practice squads that make more than zero. Throw social security and medicare employer portion, I would expect teams will be around a million each per season, some possibly quite a bit more. But the rosters weren't playing for free last year, so probably at best half of that is new spending. The other benefits definitely add to the costs. 401k, housing, insurance and such. Unless it's an 8-10 year CBA, I don't see where the NWSL gets to $100mm in new spending. Maybe total spending, especially with expansion, and especially if roster sizes increase to 24 (from 20-22). It'll be interesting to see what the minimum for the players beyond 20 is.
I think we all immediately saw how big of a jump this was from the minimum in 2021, but it's also worth pointing out that this is more than the maximum salary during the first two years of the NWSL. (In 2013, the maximum salary was $30,000; of course, the minimum was $6,000. In 2014, the maximum was $31,500.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/02/trinity-rodman-washington-spirit-new-contract/ This sure as heck doesn’t count 75k per year for 4 years. After standout rookie season, Spirit signs Trinity Rodman to four-year, $1.1 million deal
League may push for more expansion teams to get extra money in expansion fees. League now needs another TV partner to get games on a major network. The CBA is a major deal but the league now needs to find ways to bring more money in.
I was surprised about revealing the contract, now other players may demand something like Rodman’s contract.
Predmores stepping down from operating roles with OL Reign but will remain part of the ownership group: Reign founders Teresa and Bill Predmore have shared their decision to step down from their roles with the club. Both will continue to serve as members of our ownership group.We are forever grateful for their contributions to the club.Read more ➡ https://t.co/juTL0Rpm5D pic.twitter.com/4NzLSRq5dI— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) February 2, 2022
Sad. The Predmore era looked like the perfect spot between professionalism and family atmosphere. I will always be fond of the 2014-2015 Seattle Reign team: a pleasure to watch, a pleasure to root for.
With the new CBA in place, I'm guessing we, the players, and everyone else will start knowing more about every contract that gets signed. MLS salaries were made public once their first CBA was established, I'm guessing something similar will be happening in NWSL.
WOW that’s impressive. What will her extra pay be if she becomes an regular on the UWSNT?(previously valued at around $250K an year)
The league never sets the preseason schedules - only what dates start and end preseason. You'll have to pay attention to individual teams to figure out what they are or aren't doing for preseason. Houston has announced a couple of matches, but that's all I've seen so far (admittedly not having looked very hard yet).
It's not about transparency, it's about whether the teams schedule things or not. Teams have never not advertised preseason games that they've scheduled.
More allegations of past abuse from Dames (from pre-NWSL days), and this time it's not just verbal abuse: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/08/rory-dames-eclipse-select-misconduct-allegations/
And an article link for good measure: https://www.blackandredunited.com/2...chele-kang-2022-nwsl-steve-baldwin-bill-lynch