NWSL signs new CBA with players’ union

The deal, announced on Thursday, includes two marquee provisions that set the upstart league apart from the rest of American sports. First it will eliminate the draft, allowing newcomers to the league to pick which team they sign for. Second, it will lift any limits on the earnings potential of individual players. 

The NWSL decided to do so after a bout of self-reflection, according to its commissioner Jessica Berman. 

Berman said since being appointed commissioner in March 2022 she had numerous conversations with the board about whether the NWSL should emulate American sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, and NHL, or soccer leagues from other countries. “There’s friction that exists between those two worlds,” Berman told Fortune. “The sport of soccer is a global game, we operate our business in the US.”

Ultimately the NWSL decided to split the difference, ditching the draft altogether but keeping American-style salary caps albeit with a twist. Under the new agreement, teams will have a fixed salary cap, however, they can spend it with far fewer restrictions than other American sports. Namely, teams will be able to pay a star player however much they would like, provided they remain under the salary cap. Players also can’t be traded without their consent, as is currently the standard in other major sports leagues.

“There’s immense power in players having autonomy and control over their careers,” said NWSL Players’ Association executive director Meghann Burke in an interview Wednesday night.

Under the new agreement the salary cap for NWSL teams rose to $3.3 million, up from $2.75 million under the previous deal signed in 2022. The minimum salary increased from $35,000 to $48,500, a 38.5% increase. By the end of the deal in 2030 the salary cap is projected to increase to $5.1 million and the minimum salary to $82,500. 

These new changes were an effort to adapt the league to the global realities of soccer, the world’s most popular sport, according to Berman. “Soccer is one of the few sports where there is truly a global labor market for talent,” she said. 

In virtually all U.S. sports, both men’s and women’s, the draft is considered a rite of passage that marks the moment an amateur player turns pro. But in the rest of the world it’s often seen as an American peculiarity, one that often prevents a player from choosing where they will ply their trade. 

“We’ve accepted this paradigm of sports…