Breaking down the NWSL salary cap

The GIST: There have been numerous record-breaking transfers in women’s soccer this year, most recently former North Carolina Courage midfielder Jaedyn Shaw’s $1.25M transfer to Gotham FC. With so many gals on the go, let’s kick around some questions about the state of the global women’s game.

💨 Where are some NWSL players heading?: Shaw’s record transfer to Gotham is more than double the NWSL’s previous intra-league transfer record. However, the league was dealt a tough blow when Angel City FC’s best player, forward Alyssa Thompson, recently signed a five-year contract with Chelsea, a star-studded club in the English Women’s Super League (WSL).

• WSL teams are shelling out serious cash to attract the world’s best talent, from USWNT captain Naomi Girma’s million-dollar Chelsea move to Canadian international Olivia Smith’s $1.36M transfer to Arsenal from fellow WSL squad, Liverpool, over the summer.

• These deals are possible because, unlike the NWSL, the English league does not have a salary cap, aka a limit on the maximum amount a team can spend on player contracts.

💰 What’s the current NWSL salary cap?: This season, it’s $3.3M and set to rise to $5.1M by 2030. There aren’t individual maximum salary limits, so a club could pay just one player $1.3M, but that would leave just $2M to be spread out among the team’s other 24 athletes.

🤔 So are salary caps a bad thing?: Not necessarily, as they promote league-wide parity by enforcing a level playing field. However, some believe the NWSL salary cap will be detrimental to its future growth, particularly with stars like the Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman nearing the end of their contracts — and already dreaming of playing overseas.

• That said, the NWSL is still pulling in and retaining top talent, as evidenced by Shaw’s intra-league move and Mexican star Lizbeth Ovalle’s then–record-setting August transfer to the Orlando Pride. TL;DR? The global competition in women’s soccer isn’t limited to just the pitch.