The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) today announced a new collective bargaining agreement, with sweeping changes the NWSL Players' Association says gives players "freedom over their careers."
Perhaps the biggest change is the abolition of a draft for entry to the league. Many have discussed that drafts are anti-labour and would not be allowed in any other profession . The NWSL is now the only professional sports league in America to get rid of their draft.
The NWSLPA called the draft "an antiquated model that treats people as property to be bought and sold."
According to the NWHLPA, this "groundbreaking new CBA that eliminates the draft, secures free agency for all, ends trades without Player consent, establishes guaranteed contracts for all, safeguards Player health through workload management, and institutes revenue sharing. Notably, the terms negotiated by the NWSLPA will establish the NWSL as the first American major pro sports league to abolish the draft."
Prior to the launch of the PWHL, the PHF had removed their draft with league officials acknowledging the need for players to choose their market for many reasons, which included family, career, and personal considerations.
The PWHL has had issues in both of their inaugural drafts with confusion over eligibility, and players being selected to markets they did not wish to play in, and that pulled them away from their careers. In many leagues including the PWHL and NWSL, players need to continue working jobs outside of their athletic endeavours to make a living. Other players are continuing to complete their academic pathways. This year, this issue was seen with Amanda Kessel and Abby Boreen. Boreen specifically played in Minnesota last season as a reserve and hoped to return to the team this season as a full time player while also completing her pharmaceutical studies at the University of Minnesota. Last year it was the selection of Lina Ljungblom who was not eligible to play in the PWHL.
The NWSL prematurely renegotiated their Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was last ratified in 2022, but this new deal runs through to 2023. Along with the removal of the draft, the NWSL's new CBA also sees a rapid rise in salaries and other benefits not previously afforded in their original CBA.
These included all contracts being guaranteed, meaning contracts can no longer be terminated without just cause. Currently the PWHL follows an at-will contract model where players on single year contracts can have their contracts terminated for any reason, while multi-year contracts in the PWHL are guaranteed, according to the league.
Additional guarantees were put into place for player movement in the NWSL including the necessity for players consent for any trade, protecting players "from being traded against their will and without knowing it in advance."
Another significant aspect added to the NWSL's new CBA that is absent from the PWHL's agreement is revenue sharing.
"For the first time, a collectively bargained salary cap will be tied to revenue sharing on top of a guaranteed minimum base salary cap," the NWSLPA wrote.
The NWSL will operate on a "minimum spend" model guaranteeing players a base salary limit of $3.3 million in 2025, rising significantly to $5.1 million by 2030. The current PWHL salary cap model operates on an 'average salary' model where teams must adhere to a $55,000 average player salary increasing by 3% each year. The NWSL's model, which distributes salary over fewer rostered players and is providing a minimum salary limit more than double the PWHL's current maximum salary limit, and also guarantees more than a 6% annual raise in minimum.
While PWHL Advisory Board member Stan Kasten told media that league ownership has no intention to re-open the collective bargaining agreement related to player salaries, the PWHL's inaugural CBA was based heavily on the NWSL's and the new NWSL agreement could pave the way for early renegotiation of terms with the PWHLPA should league revenue continue to rise over the coming seasons.
The PWHL broke ground becoming the first professional league in history to ratify a collective bargaining agreement prior to the league beginning competition.
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