The N.W.S.L. and Players’ Union Report on Women’s Soccer

that worsened its financial troubles. By January 2012, WPS suspended operations and announced it would be folding permanently in May 2012.

B. The NWSL’s Founding, Initial Success, and Challenges

After WPS collapsed in 2012, U.S. Soccer, the official governing body of soccer in the United States, convened representatives from various semi-professional leagues to discuss the future of women’s professional soccer in the United States. In November 2012, U.S. Soccer announced that it would manage a new women’s professional soccer league, to begin play in 2013. Former USWNT General Manager Cheryl Bailey would serve as the League’s executive director. To keep costs under control, U.S. Soccer would provide funding for the League front office, pay the salaries of USWNT players, and pursuant to the Management Agreement, administer “management, governance, operational, administrative and advisory services.” Under the Management Agreement, the League was subject to U.S. Soccer’s decision-making in operational areas such as sponsorships and marketing, operations, player affairs, communications, and legal.

This league, eventually named the National Women’s Soccer League, began play in April 2013. At the time, the League consisted of eight clubs, including former WPS clubs: the Flash, Boston Breakers, the Red Stars, and Sky Blue FC; and new additions the Spirit, Seattle Reign FC, the Thorns, and FC Kansas City.

Since then, the lineup of clubs has undergone various changes. Both the Breakers and FC Kansas City folded in 2017. The League added seven expansion teams, and four teams were rebranded or relocated. At the start of the 2022 season, the NWSL consisted of 12 teams: Angel City FC, the Red Stars, the Dash, Kansas City Current, Gotham, the Courage, OL Reign, the Pride, the Thorns, Racing Louisville, San Diego Wave FC, and the Spirit. Representatives appointed by each of the 12 NWSL club owners comprise the League’s Board of Governors, which acts on behalf of the League. Players on NWSL clubs are NWSL employees, while coaches and other team personnel are club employees.

The NWSL has seen a series of changes in its executive leadership between 2012 and 2022. The NWSL’s leaders have included Cheryl Bailey (Executive Director, 2012–14), Jeff Plush (Commissioner, 2015–17), Amanda Duffy (Managing Director of Operations, Managing Director, and President, 2016-20), Lisa Baird (Commissioner, 2020-21), Marla Messing (Interim CEO, 2021–22), and Jessica Berman (Commissioner, 2022–present). U.S. Soccer stopped managing the NWSL in December 2020, and terminated the allocation system through which it paid USWNT players’ club salaries in December 2021.

Despite this high turnover, the NWSL has proven to be more resilient than its predecessor leagues. When the NWSL kicked off its fourth season in 2016, it became the first professional women’s league in the United States to play more than three seasons. The NWSL celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2022.

Formation of a Players’ Union

In 2017, players in the League formed the NWSLPA to unite professional and amateur players on NWSL rosters who were not allocated to the League by the U.S. or Canadian national teams. The NWSLPA was initially conceived as a means to improve communication between the players and the League and to facilitate reporting and addressing of concerns about the player experience. It was not an official or recognized union; it had no full-time staff, and it was run by active players.

C.

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