National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) general managers overwhelmingly believe that recent player reforms have gone too far. The league and the Players Association recently agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The previous deal was not going to expire until 2026, but the two sides wanted an expedited deal.
The new six-year deal incorporates some fairly significant changes. This includes introducing total free agency, a higher salary cap, and a significant raise in minimum salaries. Player drafts are also no more under the new CBA and the league fully guarantees contracts. Trades require approval from the players involved as well. Parental leave and childcare benefits have also expanded.
The updated CBA, as well as other recent reforms, are in direct correlation with a previous sexual misconduct and abuse scandal. The NWSL suffered back in 2021 when serious allegations surfaced across several teams. As a result, half of the league’s teams fired their head coaches, or they resigned. Lisa Baird, the division’s previous commissioner, also stepped down from the role as well.
NWSL exec says reforms have led to a “very stressful” work environment
Although reforms were undoubtedly necessary, NWSL team general managers collectively say that “the pendulum has swung too far the other way.” ESPN recently conducted an anonymous survey of execs from every NWSL team. According to the report, every single general manager claimed that players essentially have too much power.
“I think it’s still a very stressful place for staff,” claimed one GM. “I think you have to be very calculated in every conversation, every interaction that you have with athletes. We have to err on the side of extremely positive or conservative policies that I think in any other professional or corporate environment wouldn’t really necessarily exist.”
ESPN spoke individually with the team executives under the condition of anonymity. Recent reforms were among the main topics in the survey. Nevertheless, the execs also offered opinions on various issues.
“There’s a fear amongst staff about what you can say, what you can’t say, what you have to ask players’ permission for, what you don’t, if you’re going to get in trouble for this,” stated another NWSL GM. “And that means, to me, it’s gone too far.”
NWSL Players Association head slams general managers in rebuttal
NWSL Players Association chief Meghann Burke, on the other hand, offered pushback to the claims. Now a lawyer, Burke previously played soccer at Saint Louis University before turning professional. “I flatly reject that there is an evidentiary or factual basis for the narrative that players have too much power,” Burke told the news outlet.
“It is disingenuous to simultaneously agree that the league has been completely transformed and we’ve created a healthier, better work environment and culture, and to simultaneously claim that players have too much power because you can’t have one without the other.”
“The players did the work of transforming this league. There was no savior — no league, no team, no one else who was going to come in and transform NWSL. It was the players themselves.”
The NWSL has stormed back following the aforementioned sexual misconduct scandal. After the division’s near collapse, the NWSL is back and bigger than ever. The league broke a new attendance record for a single season this past weekend. The outcome of the survey, however, could very well cause a rift between the players and teams once again.
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