The NWSL Players Association has announced their continued opposition to the new “High Impact Player” rule announced by the the NWSL by Tuesday. The rule allows clubs to exceed the salary cap by $1 million
for one or multiple players who meet certain criteria.
The NWSLPA, the union that represents NWSL players, released a statement on the new rule, stating that they believe the rule change requires collective bargaining and cannot be made without consent of the Players Association.
“The NWSL Players Association opposes the League’s decision to move forward without bargaining over the High Impact Player Rule,” the statement reads. “Under federal labor law, changes to compensation under the salary cap are a mandatory subject of bargaining — not a matter of unilateral discretion. Fair pay is realized through fair, collectively bargained compensation systems, not arbitrary classifications.”
“A league that truly believes in the value of its Players would not be afraid to bargain over it.”
The NWSLPA proposed an alternative solution to the league retaining top players—raising the salary cap by $1 million, without limitations on who the funds can be used for. This would mean a wider pool of players could be paid higher salaries, instead of just top stars.
The current rule would go into effect on July 1, 2026, and would only allow the extra funds to be used for players who meet certain criteria, including appearing on ranked player lists, USWNT appearances, and achieving honors such as NWSL Best XI First Team.
“The NWSLPA has put forward a clear, lawful alternative: raising the Team Salary Cap to compete in a global labor market,” the union’s statement continues.
“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 deals with certainty. The Union remains ready and willing to engage in good-faith bargaining.”
“The league is trying to control and interfere by trying to dictate which players get paid what with this pot of funds,” said NWSLPA Executive Director Meghann Burke in an interview with ESPN last week. “Our position is that teams — GMs, soccer ops, business folks at the team level — are uniquely positioned to make judgment calls about how to structure their rosters, how to negotiate deals.
The NWSLPA is also still pursuing a grievance over the league not accepting the Washington Spirit’s proposed contract for Trinity Rodman, which the league believes goes against the current salary cap, but the NWSLPA says it does not.
It is uncertain whether the league will be able to implement the HIP rule due to the NWSLPA’s opposition and potential league challenge. Whatever the result, it will surely have a huge impact on the league.
