AFL-CIO’s Post

How the NWSL’s New Collective Bargaining Agreement Will Shape Women’s Soccer The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has made history by becoming the first major U.S. professional sports league to eliminate the college draft. This decision will affect the future of NCAA women’s soccer players. This change is part of a broader Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that will reshape the league's structure until 2030, granting players more freedom and financial autonomy. Previously, the NWSL draft served as a critical mechanism for distributing talent evenly among teams, giving clubs the first pick of top NCAA players. Now, without the draft, athletes can negotiate contracts directly with clubs, a move hailed by the NWSL Players Association as a step toward empowering players. With a salary cap starting at $3.3 million in 2025 and increasing to $5.1 million by 2030, the league also ensures a more competitive environment for all teams. The financial benefits extend to individual players, with the minimum salary set to rise from $48,500 in 2025 to $82,500 by 2030. This salary boost comes as women’s sports gain momentum, further propelled by the increasing popularity of NIL deals. Now experienced in managing their own sponsorships, college athletes will enter the professional league with more leverage than ever before. Is this the beginning of a new era of player autonomy in professional women’s soccer?

Will college athletes be able to collectively bargain with schools and the NCAA and what impact will that have on college athletics? Please check out the latest from AJ Rudowitz, Bryan Shapiro and me.

Professional sports players' unions filed an amicus brief in support of Dartmouth MBB's ability to unionize. Will the NCAA, players, and teams be able to collectively bargain? What are some of the practical consequences of unionization in college sports? Check out the below article from Sean McConnell Bryan Shapiro and me.

Check out Constangy attorney Chris Deubert's insightful blog post, originally published in Forbes, where he dives into how the new women's soccer collective bargaining agreement is positioning the sport for success and giving players a competitive edge over rival leagues like the Super League. Click the link below to read more! #SportsLaw #WomensSoccer

Check out Constangy attorney Chris Deubert's insightful blog post, originally published in Forbes, where he dives into how the new women's soccer collective bargaining agreement is positioning the sport for success and giving players a competitive edge over rival leagues like the Super League. Click the link below to read more! #SportsLaw #WomensSoccer

Check out Constangy attorney Chris Deubert's insightful blog post, originally published in Forbes, where he dives into how the new women's soccer collective bargaining agreement is positioning the sport for success and giving players a competitive edge over rival leagues like the Super League. Click the link below to read more! #SportsLaw #WomensSoccer

Check out Constangy attorney Chris Deubert's insightful blog post, originally published in Forbes, where he dives into how the new women's soccer collective bargaining agreement is positioning the sport for success and giving players a competitive edge over rival leagues like the Super League. Click the link below to read more! #SportsLaw #WomensSoccer

Check out Constangy attorney Chris Deubert's insightful blog post, originally published in Forbes, where he dives into how the new women's soccer collective bargaining agreement is positioning the sport for success and giving players a competitive edge over rival leagues like the Super League. Click the link below to read more! #SportsLaw #WomensSoccer

Caitlin Clark, who became the leading scorer in NCAA basketball history and the first pick in the WNBA draft this week, will make a $76,535 salary this year. The top NBA pick will make $10.5 million. Clark’s salary compared to top National Basketball Association players is drawing attention to Women’s National Basketball Association players’ pay and the often massive gender gap in professional sports salaries. The highest-paid WNBA player made a $242,000 salary, while the league minimum salary in the NBA is over a million dollars in 2023. The WNBA’s stars aren’t asking to be paid an equal dollar amount to NBA players, however. Not right now, anyway. They acknowledge the reality of being in a league with a smaller pool of revenue to go around, and one that is a lot younger — without 50 preceding years of contract negotiations and the subsequent hard-won worker protections and salaries that come with that longevity. What they want is more an issue of fairness, they say. Read more: https://cnn.it/4aQzW2o