<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=22qUgd_0vAmcUuQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=22qUgd_0vAmcUuQ00" width="1920" height="1080" ><figcaption>Players celebrate the new NWSL-union contract Saturday with matching shirts. Photo: San Diego Wave FC</figcaption></figure>As the San Diego Wave fight for a spot in the NWSL playoffs, its players won an <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/08/22/national-women-soccer-league-utah-royals-cba">historic contract with the league</a> that raises salaries and eliminates the draft.Why it matters: The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/womens-soccer-nwsl-contract-15eac07110f52b2387e104facbcfcbd8">agreement</a> puts new pressure on clubs to attract talent, as players have more power to choose which team they want to join.<ul><li>It gives the league agency over its business and the players agency over their careers, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement last week.</li></ul>Driving the news: The NWSL and its players union announced the collective-bargaining pact last week. It runs through 2030 and makes the NWSL the first major U.S. professional sports league to ditch its draft.<ul><li>The agreement also increases investments in staffing, allows for more charter flights, improves facilities, and allows the league to build a year-round schedule.</li><li>All trades will now require player consent.</li></ul>What they're saying: "... To be able to choose where you want to live, where you want to play — with all considerations of reproductive rights, tax laws, culture, and facilities and everything within a team in a state that's provided — it's so important for the player to have that power back," Wave forward and USWNT icon Alex Morgan told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/alex-morgan-new-womens-soccer-contract-players-power/story?id=113064072">Good Morning America</a>.<ul><li>Morgan and Wave teammate Makenzy Doniak helped negotiate the contract as members of the <a href="https://www.nwslplayers.com/cba">players union bargaining committee</a>.</li><li>The Wave did not reply to Axios' request for comment.</li></ul>The intrigue: The new contract also expands parental leave, child care and family-planning benefits.<ul><li>It allows players to travel with their kids and a child care provider, and improves access to fertility clinics, according to Morgan.</li></ul>By the numbers: Under the new agreement, minimum salaries will be bumped from $37,856 to $48,500 in 2025 and $82,500 in 2030.<ul><li>There is no limit for a player's maximum salary, and the league's base salary cap will increase from $3.3 million in 2025 to just over $5 million in 2030.</li></ul>Reality check: In San Diego County, annual income of $53,050 or less is considered very low, according to the <a href="https://www.hcd.ca.gov/sites/default/files/docs/grants-and-funding/income-limits-2024.pdf?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&amp;stream=top">California Department of Housing and Community Development</a>.<ul><li>When the minimum pay jumps in 2030, the $82,500 minimum would qualify as low income based on 2024 numbers.</li></ul>The latest: Wave defender Abby Dahlkemper was <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41003456/abby-dahlkemper-joins-bay-fc-trade-san-diego-wave">traded to Bay FC</a> in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money, the teams announced Monday. She requested the move back home.<ul><li>The 2019 World Cup champion was the first player to sign with the Wave ahead of its inaugural season.</li></ul>State of play: The team returned from the midseason break Saturday with its <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/san-diego/2024/06/26/uswnt-roster-olympics-2024-alex-morgan">Olympians on the field</a> and new interim <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/san-diego/2024/08/16/landon-donovan-interim-head-coach-san-diego-wave">head coach Landon Donovan</a> at the helm.<ul><li>They <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40981670/alyssa-thompson-landon-donovan-nwsl-angel-city-san-diego-wave">lost, 2-1,</a> to rival Angel City FC in Donovan's NWSL coaching debut at Snapdragon Stadium.</li><li>That leaves the team in 11th place and with a deeper hole to dig out of to earn a spot in the playoffs, which includes the top eight teams.</li></ul>What's next: The Wave are back at Snapdragon on Sunday to play the second-place, offensive powerhouse Washington Spirit.</div></body>

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SD Wave chase playoffs as NWSL players gain new power

As the San Diego Wave fight for a spot in the NWSL playoffs, its players won an historic contract with the league that raises salaries and eliminates the draft. Why it matters: The agreement puts new pressure on clubs to attract talent, as players have more power to choose which team they want to join.

SD Wave chase playoffs as NWSL players gain new power

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