NWSLPA says ‘Rodman rule’ violates CBA, files grievance

The NWSL Players Association has filed a lawsuit against the league, arguing that the NWSL’s creation of the new “High Impact Player” mechanism violates the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and federal labor law.

The grievance, filed this week, is the second filed by the NWSLPA against the league in the past six weeks. The union’s other grievance against the league is still open and awaiting resolution.

The NWSLPA said in a press release Wednesday that it “seeks to immediately rescind the HIP Rule, an order requiring the League to negotiate in good faith on any proposed player compensation rule before its implementation, and to provide full relief to all players affected by the League’s unilateral actions.” »

“This is a unilateral decision by the League to change how a player’s fair market value is assessed,” NWSLPA Executive Director Meghann Burke said in a statement. “We agree that more investment in player compensation is necessary to remain competitive in the global labor market. The solution is simple and collectively negotiated by increasing the salary cap.

“What the League cannot do is invent a parallel remuneration system outside of the salary cap which was never negotiated, and then limit access to remuneration by criteria controlled by the League which exclude certain players.”

ESPN has reached out to the NWSL for comment on the new grievance filing.

Last month, the NWSL announced the new High Impact Player (HIP) rule that would allow teams to spend up to $1 million above the salary cap on certain players, provided they meet one of the criteria established by the league’s board of directors.

Five days before that announcement, NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke told ESPN that the union opposed the rule’s creation, viewing it as a league trying to “control and interfere” with players who are paid more.

Burke and the union argue that such a rule should be collectively bargained. The union offered the league a counterproposal to increase the cap by $1 million without any further qualifications, which would allow teams to spend as they wish for all players.

“We truly believe that how you measure a player’s value, both in terms of athletic merit and commercial criteria, is nuanced,” Burke told ESPN in December.

“It’s more complicated than a handful of chips. It’s up to teams to make their judgment, and in a free agency system like we’ve all agreed to, that’s how it works. It’s a free market.”

The CBA states that “the NWSL may, in its discretion, after consultation with the NWSLPA, reduce or eliminate salary cap fees for certain roster classifications. »

What “consultation” should entail is not further defined, but Burke said the players’ association does not view the HIP rule as a roster classification.

The NWSL views this as such and believes it has the right to move forward with the rule despite opposition from the union.

Sources previously told ESPN that the HIP rule had been discussed throughout 2025, but its implementation took on urgency recently as the future of U.S. women’s national team star Trinity Rodman hung in the balance.

Rodman seeks a fair market value that she and, more importantly, the Washington Spirit, her team for the past four years, estimate to be at or above $1 million per year.

Under the NWSL’s strict salary cap of $3.5 million in 2025, the Spirit could not compete with other potential offers for Rodman. Rodman and the Spirit reached a creative solution in late November to postpone a four-year contract and take the risk that the salary cap would increase significantly more than currently anticipated, based on revenue sharing from a new media deal.

NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman rejected this agreed contract because it violated the “spirit” of the rules, and the league accused Rodman of preemptive circumvention of the salary cap.

The NWSLPA quickly filed a grievance against the NWSL on Rodman’s behalf, calling the league’s rejection of the deal a “blatant violation” of the player’s free agency and a violation of at least five sections of the CBA.

Rodman’s previous contract expired on December 31; she is currently a free agent.

NWSL teams can begin reporting for preseason on Thursday.

Rodman will join the USWNT in training camp next week for the first time since April.

Under the terms of the CBA, the NWSL was required to issue a written response confirming or rejecting the union’s grievance.

Sources confirmed to ESPN that the league recently filed this response after an agreed-upon holiday extension, but it’s unclear exactly what that response says.

With a formal grievance filed against the HIP rule, the league will have to do the same again.

The next steps in each process would be a review of the matter by a grievance committee made up of one representative appointed by the league and another by the players’ association.

If it cannot be resolved there, the dispute will be referred to arbitration.