What the NWSL’s Historic CBA Means for The Future of the League

The 2022 NWSL season is right around the corner, with players reporting for preseason and rosters being announced. However, there was a chance that no soccer would be played at all.

For the last year, the NWSLPA worked to negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the NWSL to make sure the players get a piece of the pie. Unfortunately, based on how the relationship between owners and players has deteriorated over the last year, it seemed like neither side would come to an agreement.

The league was less than a week away from a strike, yet both sides were able to come together. Here’s what the deal means for the NWSL. 

A statement from the Players Association: pic.twitter.com/7piQ0n9i0z

— NWSLPA (@nwsl_players) February 1, 2022

Every major sports league in America has a CBA or some kind of agreement in place to make sure that the money made from the league is shared evenly. No matter the situation, team owners will do what they can to make sure they make enough money as possible and keep it to themselves.

This CBA allows for tremendous flexibility for the players to choose what they do with their careers. Some of the many things the CBA will now give players: 

1. 60% increase of the minimum salary, which is now $35,000
2. 42 days of vacation, parental or mental health leaves
3. Housing, transportation, insurance, retirement contributions, higher bonuses, more compensation for promotional purposes, and revenue sharing
4. Free Agency (players can choose where they’d like to sign once their contract with their current team ends)

Considering that player conditions and getting the proper benefits/perks have been a huge problem with the NWSL, this deal is enormous. It must be hard for many players around the league to put their trust in the NWSL after all of the ownership and coaching controversies that occurred this year.

This deal will hopefully be the first step in improving the relations between the two sides. Putting such infrastructures in place is what makes the league even more legitimate. Now with the players happier, everything surrounding the NWSL should start to improve. 

The other key aspect mentioned above is free agency. Up until this point, teams have possessed the rights to a player’s contract, giving them total control. If they want to go to another team, they have to be traded, or that team would have to release them, and then the player could re-sign somewhere else. 

With free agency, that changes significantly. If a superstar player is unhappy with where they are, based on the contract they signed, they could have the choice to explore other options or re-sign with their original team.

Now, with more players available in free agency and adding players through the draft, NWSL teams can improve their roster in more ways than one.

This will lead to more media coverage, attention, and add to the fun of which star players will sign with their new teams. Free agency starts in 2023, only one year until the fun begins. 

The signing of the CBA is a historic day for the NWSL because it shows the league is taking steps to be better. Rather than constantly taking from their players, owners are now going to give some of it back, and rightfully so. If it weren’t for the players, it wouldn’t be possible for the owners to make money.

As we head into the future of Women’s Soccer, this CBA is the first major step towards even bigger heights. 

Featured image via @nwsl_players on Twitter

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