NWSL proposes $1m salary cap breach to keep players like Trinity Rodman in US | NWSL
The NWSL introduced a new “high impact player rule” on Tuesday that allows teams to exceed the salary cap by up to $1 million to help attract and retain star players. The rule takes effect July 1, 2026.
One of the first players likely to benefit from the new rule is Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, who has reportedly received lucrative offers from European teams.
“Ensuring our teams can compete with the best players in the world is essential to the continued growth of our league,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “The high-impact player rule allows teams to strategically invest in top talent, strengthens our ability to retain star players and demonstrates our commitment to building world-class teams for fans across the league.”
The rule increases league-wide spending by up to $16 million in 2026 and up to $115 million over the life of the current collective bargaining agreement.
“These investments represent an intentional and deliberate action to respond to an increasingly competitive global market for top players, while expanding the overall ability of clubs to invest in their rosters,” the NWSL said in a press release.
However, the proposal was rebuffed by the NWSL Players Association, which said it would take action “to uphold the rights of the players we represent.”
In a statement, the union said: “Under federal labor law, changes to compensation within the salary cap are a mandatory subject for negotiation – not a matter of unilateral discretion. Fair pay is achieved through fair, collectively bargained pay systems, not arbitrary classifications.”
“A league that truly believes in the value of its players would not be afraid to negotiate.
“The NWSLPA has proposed a clear and legal alternative: increase the team salary cap to compete in a global labor market.
“Additionally, we have proposed that, through collective bargaining, we work together to create a system for projecting revenue sharing numbers in future years so that teams and players can negotiate multi-year agreements with certainty. The union remains ready and willing to engage in good faith negotiations.”
Under the league’s new proposal, players must meet at least one of the following sporting or commercial criteria in order to meet the definition of “high impact player”:
– The player is selected in the Guardian Top 40 Top 100 football players in the world for the previous two years.
– Player is included in SportsPro Media’s Top 150 Most Marketable Athletes in the year prior to the current league season.
– The player is selected in the Top 30 Ballon d’Or voting in the two years preceding the current league season.
– The player is selected in ESPN FC’s Top 40 of the 50 best football players in the world for the previous two years.
– Player is in the top 11 in minutes played for the United States women’s national team over the previous two calendar years for outfield players for all competition types.
– Player ranks first in minutes played for the USWNT over the previous two calendar years for goalkeepers in all competition types.
– Player selected as an NWSL MVP finalist in the previous two championship seasons.
– Player selected to the year-end NWSL Best XI first team in the previous two league seasons.
The $1 million threshold will increase from year to year at the same base rate as the league salary cap. The additional allocation can be applied to a single player or split between multiple players. The salary cap of the high impact player(s) must be at least 12% of the base salary cap.
The NWSL salary cap in 2025 was $3.5 million following revenue sharing adjustments.
